Olympic medalist Diaz gets additional ₱2M from Duterte
By CNN Philippines
Hidilyn is received by the President in Davao City.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Four hours after returning to the country, Olympic weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz paid a courtesy visit to President Rodrigo Duterte late Thursday evening.
Diaz was greeted by Duterte with a congratulatory salute at the Presidential Guest House in Panacan, Davao City past 10 p.m.
Duterte handed Diaz a ₱5M check, an amount given by the government as an incentive for athletes to bag an Olympic medal.
Later, Duterte told the media that he gave another sum to Diaz.
"She got a ₱5M prize, I added another ₱2 million," the President said.
The President and Diaz, together with her parents, hold the Olympic silver medal. Duterte said he gave the extra amount to encourage others and show them that after their hard training and sacrifice — a reward would await them.
"Honor in sports is very hard to get by," he said.
Meanwhile, Diaz said that she planned to put up a weightlifting gym in Zamboanga City with the money she received.
"Plano kong bumili ng lupa sa side ng bahay namin patayuan ko din ng weightlifting gym [I plan to buy a piece of lot beside our house to put up a gym]."
Earlier, Diaz said she was setting her sights on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — hopefully with a gold medal this time.
Duterte with Diaz and family and PSC chair Butch Ramirez For his part, Philippine Sports Commission chair Butch Ramirez said the he was optimistic that with the Duterte leadership, the government would be able to put up the Institute of Sports before Christmas.
Ramirez also underscored the importance of developing grassroots sports program to improve the chances of our athletes in the international
arena.
