PARIS Olympics double gold medalist Carlos Yulo and his fellow Olympians were whisked to Malacañang shortly after their arrival last night at the Philippine Air Force tarmac in Pasay City.
They called on President Marcos Jr., who recognized the Pinoy standard-bearers and handed out cash incentives to the medalists later in the night.
Yulo was to get a total of P20 million, P10 million apiece for each mint he won at the Bercy Arena.
Marcos gave out P2 million to all Olympians — P1M from the Office of the President and P1M from Pagcor — and P1M for their coaches and staff (P500k from OP and P500k from Pagcor) in recognition of their achievements of making it to the Olympics.
Most of the athletes were met by their relatives and friends, but oddly absent at the arrival was Yulo’s family, whose mother, Angelica, swallowed her pride last week in a press conference asking for the athlete’s forgiveness and left the door for reconciliation.
Yulo’s hectic arrival schedule will spill over today with a grand parade arranged by the Manila City government, led by Mayor Honey Lacuna, and Malacanang starting at 3:30 p.m. at the Aliw Theater and ending at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The heritage-rich arena is near the GAP national training gym where the gymnast’s grandfather, Rodrigo Frisco, brought the then-frisky toddler and introduced him to Cynthia Carrion, the gymnastics president, who saw his potential and took him under her wings.
Joining the Olympic golden boy are all of the locally-based Pinoy Paris campaigners, including Petecio and Aira Villegas, another bronze medal winner, plus Marcial and Delgaco, among others.
From the Aliw Theater, the motorcade will trek to Roxas Boulevard then pass through Padre Burgos St., Finance Boulevard, Taft Ave., President Quirino Ave., and Adriatico St. before finally winding up at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
