Senate agrees to give cash incentive to Hidilyn Diaz from Senate savings

The Senate on Wednesday agreed to give cash incentive to Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, the weightlifter who ended the Philippines' 20-year medal drought in the quadrennial games.

The decision was arrived at upon the suggestion of Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon that the Office of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III authorize an incentive sourced from Senate savings to be given to Diaz.

The Senate, however, has yet to agree on the amount of incentive to be given to Diaz, who is set to get at least P5 million from the Philippine government as part of the incentive program for athletes.

During Wednesday's Senate session, which was attended by Diaz, the Senate also approved nine different resolutions lauding the Zamboanga City athlete's victory in the 53-kilogram weightlifting division of the Rio Olympics.

The senators who filed the resolutions were Manny Pacquiao, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Vicente Sotto III, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Cynthia Villar.

Pacquiao, Binay, Ejercito, Villanueva, Angara, and Legarda all read out their respective resolutions during the session.

Drilon and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, meanwhile, also spoke to personally congratulate Diaz.

In his speech, Villanueva described being "starstruck" upon seeing Diaz in the Senate gallery. "Malaking karangalan ma-meet si Hidilyn. Sa totoo lang, starstruck kami Hidilyn. Marami sa Senado ang certified sports fanatic," he said.

Villanueva said Diaz is a "living testimony that indeed hard work pays off."

Legarda, meanwhile, said Diaz's victory was "an inspiration for every Filipino and an empowering victory for women."

For his part, Pacquiao, who chairs the Senate committee on sports, said: "Binigyan tayo ng katwiran ni Hidilyn para magbunyi. Nagbigay siya ng malaking karangalan."

Pacquiao, an international boxing icon, reiterated his earlier statement that he would reward Diaz cash from his own pocket. 

Binay, for her part, said: "Siya ay isang inspirasyon, hindi lang para sa mga atleta kung hindi sa bawat Pilipinong nais patunayan ang sarili sa kung anumang larangan."

Zubiri, on the other hand, took the opportunity to highlight the small budget being given to the sports sector.

"There is a need for us to focus on our sports development program. In spite of the fact that the Philippine Sports Commission only had P400 million budget, they still were able to get a silver medal," he said.

Zubiri compared the Philippines' budget for sports to that of Singapore, which just got its first Olympic gold medal courtesy of swimmer Joseph Schooling. He said the Philippines' budget for sports is only one-tenth of Singapore's P4.5 billion annually. —KBK, GMA News