THE House of Representatives will bestow the Congressional Medal of Distinction on boxers Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial for winning two silver medals and a bronze for the Philippines in the recently concluded Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano have filed House Resolution (HR) No. 2093 congratulating, commending and conferring the Congressional Medal of Distinction to Petecio for winning the country’s first-ever Olympic silver medal in women’s boxing.

The House leaders are also filing similar resolutions for Paalam and Marcial, who have won silver and bronze in the men’s boxing flyweight and middleweight categories, respectively.

“Speaker Velasco’s leadership recognizes our athletes’ achievements during the Tokyo Olympics. Thank you for showcasing your commitment to bring pride and honor for our country,” Romualdez, chairman of the House committee on rules, said.

“Our athletes worked very hard to achieve the country’s best Olympic bid ever with record-breaking four medals and made the Philippines as the best performing nation in South East Asia. All of you made us extremely proud,” Romualdez, president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).

Team Philippines finished its Olympic bid with the country’s historic, first gold, two silvers and one bronze medals.

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the gold medal while boxers Petecio and Paalam bagged silver medal each and boxer Marcial got bronze medal.

Other members of the 19-strong Filipino athletes in Tokyo Olympics were Carlos Yulo (Gymnastics), EJ Obiena (Pole Vault), Yuka Saso (Women’s Golf), Kristina Knott (Women’s 200m), Cris Nievarez (Rowing), Irish Magno (Boxing), Margielyn Didal (Skateboarding), Kiyomi Watanabe (Judo), Jayson Valdez (Shooting), Kurt Barbosa (Taekwando), Luke Gebbie (Swimming), Remedy Rule (Swimming), Bianca Pagdanganan (Women’s Golf), Juvic Pangunsan (Men’s Golf), and Elreen Ando (Weighlifting).

“Winning a medal at the Olympics was no easy feat as our boxers had to compete against the best athletes in the world,” Velasco said. “Nesthy, Carlo and Eumir are considered as our national heroes in sports.”

The Congressional Medal of Distinction is given to Filipino achievers in sports, business, medicine, science, and other fields. It was the same award given by Congress to Diaz five years ago when she won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Following Diaz’s historic gold medal win in the Tokyo Games, the House—through a resolution filed by Velasco, Romualdez and Paduano—created the Congressional Medal of Excellence to be given exclusively to Olympic gold medalists.

A separate resolution, filed by the three House leaders and two other lawmakers, makes Diaz the first recipient of the award. Both resolutions were adopted by the House during the plenary session held last August 3.

Velasco said the Congressional Medal of Excellence was created to give honor and commendation to “exceptional modern-day national heroes in sports who win the gold medal in the Olympics.”

“The award will immortalize the achievements of Olympic gold medalists and give them a legacy to leave behind by providing future generations with inspirational lessons that they can take to heart,” Velasco pointed out.

In HR 2093, the House leadership said Petecio deserves utmost emulation and recognition for her “remarkable feat in the Olympics, and for bringing great honor and pride to the Filipinos and the whole country.”

It described Petecio’s triumph as “significant” as it marked the “first Olympic medal for a Filipina boxer in a nation where boxing is highly celebrated and revered, perhaps second only to basketball.”

“Petecio’s win is also noteworthy because a Filipina has brought home the long-sought honor for a sports considered by majority of Filipinos to be the domain of men,” the House leadership added.

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Ryan Ponce Pacpaco