Philippines holds victory parade for double gold medalist Carlos Yulo

Special Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo joins a welcoming parade for Filipino athletes who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo joins a welcoming parade for Filipino athletes who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 14 August 2024

Philippines holds victory parade for double gold medalist Carlos Yulo

Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo joins a welcoming parade for Filipino athletes who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, in Manila.
  • Philippines was the best-performing Southeast Asian country at Paris Olympics
  • President Marcos promised to develop country’s sports after meeting Filipino Olympians

MANILA: Thousands of euphoric Filipinos jammed the streets of Manila on Wednesday in a grand homecoming parade for the country’s Olympians led by Paris Olympics double gold winner Carlos Yulo. 

Yulo’s victories in the men’s floor exercise and vault events earlier this month were the largest victory ever by an athlete from the Philippines since the country joined the Games a century ago. Two Filipino boxers, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, won bronze medals in women’s boxing in Paris. 

Adoring fans were shrieking and waving little flags on Wednesday to greet Yulo and the Philippines’ Olympics contingent as they rode on a float adorned with the five Olympic rings as a backdrop, cruising through major Manila streets. 

“I’m here to welcome Carlos and our other athletes. They deserve a warm welcome,” Manila resident Berns Tolentino told Arab News. 

“Congratulations, Carlos … What’s important is you made us Filipinos proud.” 

Ligaya Sardiya, another Manila resident, said she was very happy to see the Filipino athletes who performed at the Olympics. 

“It is very important for me to be here, to see them, because I am a Filipino, so I want to see all those athletes who made us proud as a nation,” she told Arab News. 

With his medals hanging proudly on his neck, a beaming Yulo flashed victory signs, took selfies and signed T-shirts that were later thrown back to the street crowd. The parade ended with Yulo and his fellow Olympians addressing thousands of people gathered at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. 

“This is overwhelming … We will do better in the next competition, and rest assured that we will get more medals. I thank all the people who support us,” Yulo said. 

The 24-year-old is the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win two golds at a single Olympics, making the Philippines the best-performing country in the region for this year’s Games, followed by Indonesia. 

Across the archipelago nation, other government offices, leading Philippine companies and local brands have showered Yulo with various pledges of gifts. 

These include a fully furnished three-bedroom condominium in one of Manila’s posh neighborhoods, free ramen for a lifetime and also free consultations from a gastroenterologist after he turns 45. 

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave the 22 Filipino athletes presidential citations and 1 million pesos ($17,500) each, while Yulo was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit and given 20 million pesos. 

“Your performance was the result of … (your) sacrifice of yourself, your coaches, trainers, nutritionists, and especially your families … You made the Philippines famous all over the world,” Marcos said. 

Marcos acknowledged how the Philippines currently had “no formal structure” to help its athletes, a longstanding concern in the country’s sports development. 

“That’s what we are going to establish now,” Marcos said. “I want to be part of the development of sports in the Philippines. We have been left behind.”


Kremlin says former minister’s suicide is shocking

Updated 1 sec ago

Kremlin says former minister’s suicide is shocking

Kremlin says former minister’s suicide is shocking
MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the suicide of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit just hours after his dismissal by President Vladimir Putin was shocking.
Starovoit was found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound and the principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said on Monday, hours after Putin fired him.
A presidential decree published on Monday gave no reason for the dismissal of Starovoit after barely a year in the job.

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator
Updated 13 min 16 sec ago

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator
  • Francisco Tolentino was banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over ‘egregious conduct’ detrimental to relations between Manila and Beijing
  • He lost his bid for a second term in the Philippines’ midterm elections in May

MANILA: The Philippines’ foreign ministry has summoned China’s ambassador to Manila over Beijing’s imposition of sanctions against former senator Francis Tolentino, the president’s office said on Tuesday.

Tolentino, who lost his bid for a second term in the Philippines’ midterm elections in May, was banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over “egregious conduct” detrimental to relations between Manila and Beijing.

Tolentino helped in approving laws last year that defined the country’s sea lanes and maritime zones, which China opposed. He also accused the Chinese embassy of contracting a firm that maintains troll farms to sow disinformation.

“The imposition of punitive measures ... is inconsistent with the norms of mutual respect and dialogue that underpin relations between two equal sovereign states,” presidential press officer Claire Castro told a briefing.

Manila’s foreign ministry said it summoned Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian on Friday. China’s embassy in Manila said in a statement the ambassador notified the Philippines’ foreign ministry of China’s decision to impose sanctions on Tolentino.

“It should be noted that such sanctions fall purely within China’s legal prerogative, and there are consequences for hurting China’s interests,” the embassy said.

The Chinese foreign ministry has previously accused some Filipino politicians of making “malicious remarks and moves” that hurt ties between the two nations.

Relations between China and the Philippines have soured under President Ferdinand Marcos over a longstanding dispute in the South China Sea.

In 2016, an international tribunal ruled Beijing’s sweeping claims to the waterway had no basis in international law. China has rejected the decision. Several other countries in Southeast Asia also claim parts of the South China Sea.


Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown

Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown
Updated 49 min 24 sec ago

Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown

Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown
  • Golos said it had “no choice” but to end its activity after the sentencing of its co chair, Grigory Melkonyants, as it put its participants “at risk”

MOSCOW: Russia’s main independent voting observer Golos, which monitored the country’s increasingly tightly-controlled elections for 25 years, announced its closure on Tuesday, two months after its co-chair was jailed.
Golos — which means “voice” in Russian — had for years meticulously recorded voting fraud across the huge country as elections under President Vladimir Putin’s long rule turned into a ritual with little real choice.
Putin faced no real competition at the last presidential election in 2024 and a domestic crackdown accompanying Moscow’s Ukraine offensive has made voicing different views dangerous.
“Justice, alas, does not always win — it must be fought for. And there is always the risk of losing. This is how it turned out this time,” Golos said in an online statement, adding: “Goodbye.”
The group’s co-chair Grigory Melkonyants, Russia’s most respected independent election observer, was sentenced to five years in prison in May as part of the Kremlin’s sweeping crackdown.
Golos said it had “no choice” but to end its activity after the sentencing as it put its participants “at risk.”
Melkonyants, 44, was found guilty of working with a European election monitoring association outlawed as an “undesirable organization” in Russia — which Golos has repeatedly denied.
Golos has described itself as an “all Russian social movement in defense of voters’ rights.”
It had observers across Russia’s regions and had for years published online reports and maps of violations during elections and had a hotline to report voting fraud.
It said Tuesday it had shut down its regional offices.
International observers have for years reported widespread voter intimidation, ballot stuffing and other election fraud in Russia.


Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges
Updated 08 July 2025

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges
  • Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Banská Bystrica

BRATISLAVA: A man went on trial Tuesday over last year’s attempted assassination of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Juraj Cintula, appearing in court in the central city of Banská Bystrica, has been indicted on terror charges.
“Long live democracy, long live free culture,” Cintula shouted as he arrived at the Specialized Criminal Court.
The 72-year-old is accused of opening fire on Fico on May 15, 2024, as the prime minister greeted supporters following a government meeting in the town of Handlová, located 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital.
Cintula was immediately arrested and was ordered by a court to remain behind bars. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Banská Bystrica. He underwent a five-hour surgery, followed by another two-hour surgery two days later. He has since recovered.
Cintula originally was charged with attempted murder. Prosecutors later dropped that charge and said they were instead pursuing the more serious charge of engaging in a terror attack, based on evidence the investigators obtained, but they gave no further details.
Government officials initially said that they believed it was a politically motivated attack committed by a “lone wolf,” but announced later that a third party might have been involved in “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator.”
Fico previously said he “had no reason to believe” that it was an attack by a lone deranged person and repeatedly blamed the liberal opposition and media for the assassination attempt.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. He returned to power for the fourth time after his leftist Smer, or Direction, party won the 2023 parliamentary election after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.
His critics have charged that Slovakia under Fico has abandoned its pro-Western course and is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s pro-Russian stance and other policies.


China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues

China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues
Updated 08 July 2025

China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues

China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues
  • The Dalai Lama is accused of engaging in anti-China separatist activities

BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the United States was in “no position” to point fingers at the country on Tibet-related issues, urging Washington to fully recognize the “sensitivity” of the issues.

Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks when asked to comment on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement on the Dalai Lama’s birthday.

Mao said at a regular press conference that the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” and has “no right” to represent the Tibetan people.