It was around 9 p.m. Sunday when my phone started buzzing and in almost all group chats I am in, the news was about Carlos Yulo making history by bagging two gold medals in the Paris Olympics.
That second gold moved the Philippines up the ladder of bemedalled countries to 21 from 31st place out of 184 participating nations and that is something.
I was quite woozy by then but couldn’t help searching for that moment of glory online and like many Filipinos, I shed a tear and felt pride when our National Anthem was played at the awarding ceremony.
What makes Yulo’s story interesting was that prior to the Paris games, he got ditched by his Japanese coach and had to hop from one country to another to train alongside other gymnasts and learn from them.
His perseverance will be rewarded as he is expected to get a hero’s welcome when he lands in Manila, not to mention that overnight his worth increased in tens of millions.
The Philippine Sports Commission will give Yulo a P10 million cash reward as stipulated under the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act and another P6 million from the House of Representatives.
In a press release yesterday, real-estate conglomerate Megaworld has upgraded its reward to Yulo to a fully-furnished 3-bedroom condo unit in posh McKinley Hill worth P32-million plus a cash reward of P3 million as well.
Megaworld said this is a “significant milestone” for the Philippines that is celebrating 100 years of participating in the Olympics, but also for their company that is celebrating their 35th year anniversary.
He truly deserves this and we will always be proud of him for taking Filipino excellence to the next level,” says Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, president, Megaworld.
The Philippine Olympic Committee will also provide Yulo and other Olympic medallist with a house and lot as they did for those who took home medals during the last Tokyo Olympics where weightlifter Hidalyn Diaz also made history for bringing home the first Olympic gold medal for the Philippines.
In fact, after the Tokyo games, Hidilyn reportedly received over P50 M in incentives including condo units and free flights for life. Sana ol!
Even prior to the games, the Philippine contingent of 15 athletes already got P30 M assistance from the House of Senate which even landed in the news because apparently, P23 M of that came solely from Senator Risa Hontiveros. I wonder how much the others gave then.
What is sure though is how senators will likely support the call to give Yulo the prestigious “Senate Medal of Excellence,” even if they didn’t give much in cash assistance to our athletes.
Yulo will also never go hungry as he was awarded a lifetime free buffet by Vikings and many other establishments are also poised to give him more incentives like lifetime free food and drinks in all branches from Tipsy Pig, lifetime free engineering design from Nexa Engineering, lifetime double double box from BOK Korean Friend Chicken, lifetime free meals from JT’s Kalayaan, a free franchise from coffee-shop, Don Macchiatos, and because of all that food and drinks probably, a lifetime free gastrointestinal and colonoscopy consults from Dr. Virgin Lo, known as “PinoyGastro,” is well thought of.
Trying to dampen the mood, but unsuccessfully so, was Yulo’s mom, Angelica, whose cryptic post about her son, was assailed by netizens. In news reports, the rift between mother and son was allegedly because of Carlos’ girlfriend, Chloe San Jose.
What is usually juicy for Filipinos went sour as the country refused to have their pride stifled by negativity from the champ’s mother.
Female boxers, Neshty Petecio and Aira Villegas are also assured of bronze medals and will see action for the finals in a couple of days and just perhaps, Paris will be good for the Philippines to haul in some silvers, or better yet, a few more golds.*