THE House of Representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 7 conferred the first Congressional Medal of Excellence on 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz.
**media**
The chamber also honored with Congressional Medals of Distinction silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam and bronze winner Eumir Marcial.
Speaker Lord Alan Velasco led the chamber in honoring the four Filipino sports heroes.
The four Olympic medalists personally received their awards from Velasco after House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin G. Romualdez, acting floor leader, read the separate resolutions of their citations that were earlier adopted by the House of Representatives.
The Congressional Medal of Distinction was the same award received by Diaz five years ago when she won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Velasco handed out to the four Olympic medalists the congressional medals and framed copies of the House-adopted resolutions congratulating and giving them congressional honor.
“You gave us hope. You gave us something to dream about. And in those shining moments of triumph, you have all made our kababayans young and old, residing here or abroad, extremely proud to be called Filipinos,” he said.
Also at the plenary, Speaker Velasco announced the adoption of House Resolution 198 congratulating and thanking the women and men of the Philippine delegation for their highly successful and historic performance in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
A framed copy of the resolution was received by Philippine Olympic Committee president and Deputy Speaker Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Philippine Sports Commission chair William Ramirez, on behalf of the Philippine Olympic delegation.
“Their achievements inspired many to soar to greater heights and achieve great success in life. They have overcome many trials and challenges thru hard work and determination, thereby contributing to, if not restoring, national pride, dignity and self-respect,” he added.
Also honored were1996 Atlanta Olympics Silver medalist Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco, Jr.; Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez, 2020Tokyo Olympics Chef De Mission Mariano Araneta, Jr., PoC CommissionerCelia Kiram, PSC National Training Director Marc Velasco, Boxing Team led by Olympic Head Coach Donald Walter Abnett, Head Coach for Men Ronald Chavez, Head Coach for Women Nolito Velasco, Coaches Elmer Pamisa and Reynaldo Galido, and Mental Performance Coach Marcus Jarwin Manalo; and Weightlifting Team that includes Sports Psychologist Karen Katrina V. Trinidad, Coaches Kaiwen Gao and Julius Irvin Hikaru Takamura Naranjo, and Nutritionist for both Boxing and Weightlifting Jeaneth Aro.
On August 2, 2021, Romualdez said “the House of Representatives adopted House Resolution (HR) No. 198 to express its congratulations and deepest gratitude to the dedicated men and women of the Philippine Olympic Delegation for the highly successful and historic performance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.” Romualdez said the House adopted HR No. 193 on August 2, 2021 to congratulate, commend, and confer the first Congressional Medal of Excellence to Diaz for winning the country’s first-ever Olympic gold.
On August 25, 2021, Romualdez said the House adopted HR No. 195 to confer the Congressional Medal of Distinction to Petecio for winning the first-ever silver medal in women’s boxing.
On the same day, Romualdez said the House adopted HR No. 196 to confer the Congressional Medal of Distinction to Paalam for winning the silver medal in the men’s flyweight division.
Romualdez said the House of Representatives also adopted HR No. 197 on August 25, 2021 to confer Congressional Medal of Distinction to Marcial for capturing the bronze medal in the men’s boxing middleweight division.