FIGURE skater Aleksandr Korovin yesterday took his oath of allegiance as a Filipino citizen after President Marcos Jr. signed his naturalization papers (RA 12115) last month.
Korovin, 30, who hails from Russia, took his oath before Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino in simple ceremonies at the Senate.
Tolentino, who heads the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, sponsored Korovin’s naturalization by filing Senate Bill No. 2461 on October 5, 2023 that was eventually signed into law by the President.
Korovin has been the regular partner of Filipina Isabella Gamez in various international figure skating competitions since 2021. They have been carrying the Philippine flag in international figure skating competitions after the Philippine Skating Union formally asked that Korovin be released from the Russian Skating Federation, a set-up allowed in other international figure skating competitions.
As partners, Korovin and Gamez won the first international medal for the Philippines, a silver medal at the 2022 Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur, an international figure skating competition in Nice, France.
They were also the first figure skating pair from Southeast Asia who qualified for the World Figure Skating Championships event.
Korovin said he met some Filipino skaters in the country last month and advised them to believe in themselves to achieve their dreams of becoming champion figure skaters.
“I told them they need to believe in themselves and to be more disciplined and it can help them achieve their goals. It’s not only about figure skating but in any sports of life. So for me, discipline is everything,” Korovin said.
Tolentino said the Philippines’ future of bagging a medal in figure skating in next year’s Winter Olympics now looks “brighter.”
“Aleksandr Korovin is fully committed to becoming a Filipino and he is also dedicated to bringing more honor to the Philippines by continuously winning in international figure skating competitions with Isabella Gamez… It is high time that the Philippines win a medal in the Winter Olympics, just as how the country won its first gold medal in the Summer Olympics,” Tolentino said in Senate Bill No. 2461.
Tolentino also pushed for the passage of a measure that granted Philippine citizenship to Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee.
