J M
2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz hopes that the government would treat the accusation against her as a lesson regarding the irresponsible red-tagging of Filipinos.
Amid her gold win, she stated that the Administration should not state any person without any proper investigation.
“Sana it will serve as a lesson sa government. Sana hindi mag tag ng kung sinu-sino man. Sana mag-imbestiga,” said Diaz.
It all started when the athlete was accused of being a conspirator against the Duterte administration, saying that she and other personalities – including athlete and television host Gretchen Ho – was plotting to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
Diaz received death threats from the supporters of the President after then Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo put her name in a matrix presented to the media in May 2019.
The athlete then denied the claims and said that she began to fear for her and her family’s safety.
Recently, during her courtesy call on Duterte, the President thanked her for enduring the hardships she faced before her Olympic win and urged her to “forget” them as she already has the gold medal.
“Salamat naman sa pagtiis mo. I hope that the years of toil, the years of disappointment, and the years na hindi maganda ang nangyari in the past, just forget them,” said Duterte.
“You already have the gold. Gold is gold and it would be good for you to let bygones be bygones and dwell solely on your victory together with your family and, of course, with the nation.”
Diaz previously asked for financial support from the private sector to help her training process for the Tokyo Olympics.
On the other hand, Panelo has apologized to the gold medalist for hurting her feelings but told her that she should’ve analyzed the situation better before getting emotional.
“I am sorry and I am sad to know na nasaktan si Hidilyn. I am sorry for that, kawawa naman. Hindi naman iyon ang intensiyon nung mga gumawa ng matrix,” he said.
“The message is before you feel pain, tignan mo muna kung tama ang sapantaha mo.”
