Pacquiao, solons commend Olympic skater Michael Martinez

MANILA, Philippines - At least 27 House members including Philippine sports icon Manny Pacquiao, former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and actresses Lani Mercado and Lucy Torres Gomez filed several resolutions commending the country's lone representative to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Pacquiao, the Saranggani District Representative, said Michael Martinez merits recognition for his character display and for finishing at 19th place overall in the men's figure skating event.

"Despite being born with asthma and frequently in the hospital due to asthmatic bronchitis at such a young age, Michael Christian, now 17 years old, triumphed over the said medical condition through hard work thereby being worthy of admiration," said Pacquiao, an eight-division world boxing champion.

Pacquiao also commended the athlete's mother, Maria Teresa Martinez "for her love, sacrifice and unwavering support for her son."

For his part, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said Martinez gave an impressive performance after getting 64.81 points for the short program and 119.44 for the final free skate routine, for a cumulative score of 184.25 points.

He also praised Martinez for becoming the first Filipino and lone Southeast Asian athlete to reach the finals of his sports event in the Winter Olympics.

"The athlete has shown tremendous talent, ability, and heart, quietly achieving his dream of competing despite numerous obstacles and injuries through the years," the Speaker said.

'Wake-up call'

Meanwhile, Gomez said the young skater's "very memorable sports accomplishment" is a wake-up call to all sectors "to pull their acts together" and allocate more resources for the training of local athletes, especially those with world-class potentials.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon also said the case of Martinez also raises a compelling challenge for the national government to support Filipino athletes by implementing a comprehensive and state-funded athletic training program in various sports, including figure skating.

To recall, the government was assailed for supposedly not giving adequate help to Martinez, whose mother even sent an electronic mail to the office of Pres. Benigno Aquino III.

Read: Palace: Email of Olympic skater's mom likely went to 'spam'

But the athlete's mother had since clarified that they received financial aid from the Philippine Sports Commission, which had pledged a $50 daily allowance for Michael's 24-day participation in the Winter games.