Marcos to grant cash incentives, awards to Filipino Olympians

MANILA’S PRIDE. Tarpaulins welcoming double Paris Olympics gold medalist Carlos Yulo are up in the streets of Manila on Monday (Aug. 12, 2024). Yulo and other members of Team Philippines will meet President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at Malacañang Palace on Tuesday (Aug. 13) while a homecoming parade will take them around Manila on Wednesday (Aug. 14). (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to grant cash incentives and awards to all the 22 Filipino athletes who represented the country in the recently-concluded 2024 Paris Olympics.

In a Palace press briefing Monday, Presidential Protocol chief Reichel Quiñones said the Filipino athletes will arrive in Manila on Tuesday afternoon and will be received by their family.

“They will be received at Maharlika Airbase by their family and only their family because the President wants to make sure that it’s a private welcome,” Quiñones said.

The athletes will then proceed to Malacañang Palace where they will be hosted by Marcos and the First Lady.

“After that, they will proceed directly to the ceremonial hall for an awarding ceremony and dinner reception,” she said.

Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Dale De Vera said the President will announce during the ceremony cash incentives for all the Filipino Olympians.

“The President will be announcing the cash incentives upon the welcome honors for the Olympians,” De Vera said, adding it will be on top of the incentives provided by the law and extended by the private sector for Filipino Olympic medalists.

All the athletes will also be given presidential citations, while two-time gold medalist Carlos Yulo will be bestowed the Presidential Medal of Merit.

On Wednesday, the athletes will embark on a parade from Aliw Theater in Pasay City to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

Quiñones said the heroes welcome for the Filipino Olympians will be “simple but meaningful.”

“The peg for it, I think from the organizing committee, we want it to be a heroes’ welcome. It’s very much focused on them and what they’ve done for the nation,” she said.

With two gold and two bronze medals in Paris, the Philippines is coming off its best Olympic performance in its 100-year participation in the Games.