The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) donated P500,000 worth of monetary assistance to "Asia's fastest woman," Lydia de Vega-Mercado, who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.
The cheque was received by her daughter, Stephanie Mercado-de Koenigswarter, in a turnover ceremony held at the PCSO Headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
"We will continue praying for her, we will continue supporting and be with her," Mercado-de Koenigswarter said in her thank you message.
According to her, De Vega is still in a critical condition and is, “at times,” unresponsive.
"She's really a fighter, alam kong hindi sya papayag na hanggang dito nalang ang time nya with us (She's really a fighter, I know that she will not let this be her last moments with us)," she added as her mother continues with the "biggest race of her life."
According to the new PCSO Chairperson Junie Cua, who was also present at the event together with Vice Chairperson and General Manager Mel Robles, the donation was from the office of the general manager and board of directors which have an allotted special fund for this kind of assistance.
"As we all know, the PCSO is an institution of many decades, have been in this kind of charitable service for many many years," Cua said.
"We take pride in saying that we want to continue this legacy of PCSO," he continued.
Cua said that the PCSO is always providing help to people all over the country, most of which are not being broadcasted. They wanted the public to know that it is ready and willing to help everyone, especially personalities who have brought honor to the country, he added.
"The PCSO family daily, in fact, hourly has been extending help not only in the central office but in the field offices all over the country," Cua assured.
De Vega was the first person to win back-to-back gold medals in the 100-meter dash after winning in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and in the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul.
She was dubbed the "Sprint Queen" in the eighties and was the first Filipino to run in the Olympics.