PSC issues erratum after Alex Eala's family denies receiving support from Philippine government

Alex Eala became the first Filipino to reach the semi-final round of the French Open girl's tournament, and on Facebook Saturday, the Philippine Sports Commission congratulated the athlete and said they were "happy to be part of her journey."

In the now-deleted post, the PSC on Saturday claimed it provided the Filipino athlete monetary sport, including some P3M for her tournament travels.

But her mom Rizza Maniego-Eala quickly refuted the claims. "PSC post NOT true," began Rizza, saying while they are "thankful to the government," they "have not received any of the funds in the millions of pesos mentioned here in this post."

"In fact, we have been trying to reimburse Alex's travel expenses for Australian Open that happened last January but we are being given a run around at the PSC. I kid you not, our documentation is 2 inches thick with receipts, boarding passes, etc, but we are asked to submit more and wait for different people to report for work," Rizza wrote.

"There was and is also NO support in the form of a 'two-month training in Europe, US and other parts of the world," Rizza continued.

Shortly after Rizza's clarification post, the PSC issued an erratum on FB saying it "would like to correct previous posting made today of a 3 Million assistance for Alex Eala."

"It was unintended misinformation," it said.

"While there was an approved board resolution to this effect, it was later clarified that this is still being processed, awaiting required documents."

"We apologise to the public and the family of Ms Eala for any misunderstand this may have caused."

On Twitter Sunday, Alex's uncle Noli Eala said "Alex has not received a single centavo from the government."

He clarified that the Filipino athlete, who is based in Spain, "is on a scholarship from the Rafa Nadal Academy. All her trips are paid by the family through Alex generous private sponsors."

Acknowledging that the PSC has corrected the post, Noli stated a request: "Let's give credit where credit is due. Alex is sacrificing a lot for the country. Stop grandstanding."

Alex is based in Spain on a scholarship from the Rafa Nadal Academy. All her trips are paid by the family through Alex generous private sponsors. PSC has since corrected the post. Lets give credit where credit is due. Alex is sacrificing for the country. Stop grandstanding. pic.twitter.com/P6ghl16gAw

— Noli Eala (@NoliEala) October 11, 2020

Alex eventually lost the semifinal match to hometown bet Elsa Jacquemot 6-3, 6-2. — LA, GMA News