Lower House welcomes and honors Filipino Olympians, vows to boost efforts to further raise, develop PH sports

Transcript

00:00Less than 12 hours after last night's grand welcome, reception dinner, and presidential

00:05citation and incentives award in Malacañang, the Paris Olympians kicked off this auspicious

00:11day at the House of Representatives headquarters for a congressional salute and honor ceremonies

00:17led by House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

00:20Our Mela Lesmoras has the details on the affair that ended with cash rewards distributed to

00:25the athletes.

00:28The House of Representatives warmly welcomed earlier today the Philippine delegation from

00:33the recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympics.

00:37During the congressional reception, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, along with other

00:41House leaders, personally handed copies of the resolutions they adopted to honor the

00:46country's athletes.

00:48Among them, Congressional Medal of Excellence awarded to Olympic double gold medalist Carlos

00:53Yulo and the Congressional Medal of Distinction for bronze medalist Neste Pateso and Ira Villegas.

00:59According to Speaker Romualdez, our Filipino Olympians can be considered as modern-day heroes

01:05for bringing pride and glory to the country and for uniting our countrymen.

01:09He assured, they at the lower house will intensify efforts to further raise and develop sports

01:15in the country.

01:16We will conduct a review of our legislation among others, Republic Act 10699, the National

01:24Athletes and Coaches Benefits Incentives Act.

01:38So we shall be conducting a review, I will ask our chairman, Mike Lee, to conduct a review

01:43on how we can further improve the legislation so that we can support sports in the Philippines

01:51and to make the appropriate appropriations.

01:55Apart from honoring the athletes, the House also awarded them cash incentives.

02:00Overall, Yulo took home more than 14.5 million pesos.

02:05Pateso and Villegas got 4 million pesos each, while the rest received 1 million pesos each.

02:11On behalf of the entire delegation, Yulo expressed deep gratitude, not just for the

02:16awards they received, but also for the overwhelming support from the Filipino people.

02:41Pateso and Villegas were also overjoyed, they even promised they won't give up.

03:12Meanwhile, even though he didn't win a medal, Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena was still

03:28mobbed by many fans.

03:30He emphasized, the fight is not yet over.

03:42I do appreciate it big time and I hope, as I said, I'm going to do you proud.

03:47Melales Moras from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.