Kapuso comedienne Pokwang shared her thoughts about the Government trying to ride on Hidilyn Diaz’s victory at the Tokyo Olympics.
On Tuesday, July 27, Pokwang irked the people who criticized and mocked Diaz. But after snagging the first-ever gold medal for the Philippines–the said detractors suddenly became the female weightlifter and Olympiad gold medalist’s ‘supporters.’
ang aga ha! Pero kasi ni red tag nyo at hinusgahan nang humingi ng tulong pinansyal tapos ngayon gumawa ng karangalan para sa bansa kani kanyang claim at pa puri! Wooohoo shuta ka besh! #LabanmanlalarongPinoy#TokyoOlympics2020#HidilynDiaz
In 2019, during a public briefing, Panelo presented a matrix of names of celebrities (including the athlete) and groups who got tagged to planning to oust Duterte from being the President.
It occurred after Diaz sought help from the Government to sponsor her training for the upcoming weightlifting competition. Instead of receiving funding, she was red-tagged and ridiculed by Duterte’s supporters.
The athlete back then decided to seek private sponsorship. But after being included in Panelo’s list of names, Diaz feared for her life. She also had a mental breakdown during an interview with Atom Araullo since she struggled to continue her training amid the accusations thrown at her.
Panelo denied having included the name of the athlete on his Matrix despite evidence that showed otherwise. He also insisted that he does not need to apologize, blaming the media for their “wrong analysis.”
Aside from Panelo who was hogging on Diaz’s victory, a DDS propagandist named Mark Lopez congratulated the weightlifter while linking her victory to the Duterte Government.
Prior to winning the gold medal, Lopez lambasted Diaz by claiming that the athlete had no problems with her lack of resources after she asked the Duterte Administration for some support.