Hidilyn Diaz is just the recent Philippine athlete who took another glory for the country for winning an Olympic silver medal in Rio 2016 Olympics. After arriving from abroad, Hidilyn was welcomed by President Rodrigo Duterte along with the other executives of the government. Rodrigo immediately handed his promised reward of 5 million pesos for Hidilyn Diaz. But there was a surprise. Rodrigo Duterte gave another cheque to Hidilyn amounting to 2 million pesos, so it will be a total of 7 million pesos.

However, Onyok Velasco was still in despair because he was still waiting for the promised 2.5 million pesos from the government. The mentioned amount was promised by the government under the Ramos administration when Onyok won a silver medal during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the United States. The financial compensation was promised by the Ramos administration after the Philippines bagged another medal.
Onyok Velasco from left and Hidilyn Diaz on the right are both silver medalists from separate Olympics
Onyok Velasco has been in despair, trying to wait for any opportunity to claim his reward. But after two decades, all promised words from the Ramos administration were brought into dreams. He stated that he tried to contact the government but failed. This was because the Philippines transitioned into different political administrations such as when Joseph Estrada took over, succeeded by Gloria Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III, and now, President Rodrigo Duterte.

Mansueto Velasco was still thankful that despite from the lack of word of honor from the government, there were many doors who were opened for him in order to take the chance to become productive. He was given numerous entertainment projects to host, guest to various television sets, commercial model for a brand, and as a host. He earned a significant amount of compensation while working in the entertainment industry as a celebrity athlete.

Velasco is not questioning against the immediate release of reward money towards Hidilyn Diaz. He was just amazed by the immediate response of the government of the present administration on how they tackle things that were not applied before. Velasco was amazed on how the government is responding to various issues rapidly, which indicates that there is a real substance to what their advocacies for the Philippine society.

Onyok is now getting older, he is now in his middle 40's. And he fears that he might not ever receive the reward money because it was already two decades ago since he won the silver medal from the government.

As an aging former athlete, he needs medical insurance to pay for his health maintenance as part of his basic needs. He may be an athlete who took an opportunity to take pride to the Philippines, but he can no longer maintain his health due to physical, emotional, and environmental factors.

Mansueto Velasco is a former Olympic boxer who hails from Bago City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. He previously competed in the 448-kilogramlight-flyweight division boxing category in 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He took home a silver medal after losing the gold medal round against his Bulgarian foes.

Aside from bagging the silver medal from the Olympics in Atlanta, he was also a gold medalist athlete during the 1994 Asian games in Hiroshima, Japan.

Onyok's brother, Roel Velasco was also an olympian, bringing home a bronze medal for the Philippines in 1992 Barcelona Olympics in Spain.

Recommended articles

Loading...
 
Top