BANTAY, Ilocos Sur - Princess Sheryl Valdez, who is starting to establish herself as an arnis prodigy at age 11, has already done her family a big favor.
Thanks in large part to her athletic prowess, her family now has another source of income aside from their boarding house business.
In the 2017 Palarong Pambansa last year, Princess and her sister Shena combined for seven gold medals in the arnis competition and earned cash incentives from the Department of Education main office, regional office, and city government amounting to P100,000.
The siblings from Tucarong City, whose father is no longer fit to work after suffering from Parkinson's disease, used the money to buy a tricycle.
"Last year they amassed incentives amounting to a hundred thousand," said Soccsksargen coach Ryan Muyco. "They used the money to buy a tricycle which is now their source of income."
It was only Princess, though, who qualified for this year's version of the annual showpiece among 17 regions in the country. Her sister failed to win in the synchronized event in Region XII.
Still, the incoming Grade 6 student of New Isabela Elementary School continues to do a splendid job as she bagged five gold medals in the elementary girls individual single weapon, individual double weapon, individual espada y daga, synchronized single weapon events, -and mixed event, respectively.
Muyco said that right now, the bemedalled Valdez earned nearly as much as she did with her sister last year.
But the soft-spoken lass insisted she wasn't really driven by monetary incentives. The youngest of two girls simply wants to become a policewoman someday.
"I studied the sport so I can practice self-defense," she said in Filipino. "I just want to be a member of the police force like my grandfather."