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Hidilyn Diaz gets additional P2M from Duterte

MANILA: Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz gets an additional P2M from President Rodrigo Duterte on top of the P5M given to her by the government.

Hidilyn Diaz flew to Davao City to pay the President a courtesy call after arriving in the country last Thursday. She was accompanied by her parents when she visited Duterte and presented him the silver medal she won at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

CNN reported that Duterte handed Diaz a ₱5M check, an amount given by the government as an incentive for athletes to bag an Olympic medal. Later, Duterte told the media that she gave another sum to Diaz. “She got a ₱5M prize, I added another ₱2 million,” the President said.

When asked why he decided to hand over the extra reward, Duterte said: “Maybe because of the joy and the distinct honor that she brought home, and for all of the things that the other countries would look at us at least a contender because we can spring a miracle every day in any of the games that are coming our way in the future.”

Meanwhile, Diaz said that she planned to put up a weightlifting gym in Zamboanga City with the money she received. “Plano kong bumili ng lupa sa side ng bahay namin patayuan ko din ng weightlifting gym.”

Diaz also said she was setting her sights on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — hopefully with a gold medal this time.

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