MANILA – The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) honored the medalists of the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya with the latest iPhone 18 models during its fourth General Assembly of the year at the East Ocean Palace in Parañaque City on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026.
POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino thanked SportsPlus for providing 49 of the 53 iPhone 18 units with 512GB storage – three iPhone Duo for the gold medalists, 11 iPhone Pro Max for the silver winners, and 35 iPhone Pro for the bronze medalists.
“All the athletes who won a medal here are so happy to get a new iPhone 18 model through the help of SportsPlus, and we are all thankful for their generosity. That is a total of P7 million because even all members of team sports that won a medal have an iPhone each,” Tolentino said.
The Philippines bagged 29 medals in Nagoya – four golds, nine silvers and 16 bronzes. Gymnastics star Carlos Yulo, a double gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, accounted for two golds, while pole vaulter EJ Obiena and taekwondo jin Jeus Yape won one gold each.
All medalists received their iPhones except Yulo and younger brother Karl Eldrew, who are competing at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in the Netherlands; Obiena, who has returned to training in Athens; and Alex Eala, who is in China for the WTA 500 Ningbo Open.
“Very thankful I have a new iPhone that I can use, but I will keep my old phone,” Yape said.
The gold medalists will also receive P2 million cash incentives each from the government through the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
The nine silver winners will get P1 million each, while the bronze medalists will receive P400,000 each.
“I will give this iPhone Pro Max to my wife when I come home to Kalinga,” said MMA fighter Jean Claude Saclag, referring to his nurse wife Rochelle. “Feeling so blessed with this reward.”
Meanwhile, the POC General Assembly granted regular membership to Pilipinas Climbing, Philippine Kabaddi Federation, and Philippine Mixed Martial Arts Federation. / PNA