The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Executive Board is giving a $5,000 (around P290,000) cash incentive to each member of the national men’s curling team that won the historic gold medal in the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China recently.

POC President Bambol Tolentino said the move is a sign of their gratitude for the team’s dedication and perseverance in putting the country on the spotlight in a winter sporting event.

“The incentive may not parallel their effort and dedication -- and even the expenses they personally incurred -- but it’s one small way for the POC to show its gratitude to the team,” said Tolentino.

The team of Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister, Alen Frei and Benjo Delarmente made heads turn by stunning South Korea, 5-3, for the country’s first-ever gold medal in the said continental showpiece.

They arrived in Manila a few days ago before flying back to Switzerland on Monday, Feb. 17.

Apart from the said incentive, the team also stands to receive a bonus from the government under Republic Act No. 10699 also known as the “Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001.”

Under the law, individual gold medalists for Asian Games, Asian Winter Games and Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games are entitled to receive P2 million “with competitions with five or more participants per team stands to receive 25 percent of the cash incentives for individual medal winners as herein provided.”

Tolentino said serious steps for the team—and other winter sports athletes—to qualify for next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are now being undertaken.

“The path to Milano Cortina has become clearer, and on to our goal of a first Winter Olympics medal,” Tolentino said.