“Bantay lang mo mudaog mi, makabalos gyud mi.”
Isn’t that what most politicians and their supporters think during a heated election campaign? They have scores to settle, favors to hand out and favors to collect.
“Mag-puasa mo!” Didn’t one Cebuano senator tell that to Cebu when the island supported the losing presidential candidate? And it’s sort of expected, right? Politicians being politicians.
Hidilyn Diaz, in the moments of her greatest triumph, thought of all the people who have wronged her. Who have bashed her and who have threatened her.
They were many. From the goverment and from its army of trolls. One script being relayed by her detractors was of how she wanted the government to pay for the services of her boyfriend. The more vulgar supporters say it was like Diaz was prostituting herself and was asking the government to pay for the services.
I know. It’s crass. But I point that out to show the things Diaz had to hurdle because she got mentioned in that matrix.
Do you know what she has to say for that?
In her moment of triumph she knew she had to forgive all of them. She forgave them. She chose to be the bigger person.
We can never relate to what Hidilyn has done; to lift something that’s more than twice our weight. Diaz, who weigh under 55 kilos, lifted 127 kilos to win the gold medal. That’s equivalent to two sacks of 50-kilo rices, a 25-kilo rice plus change.
We can never find ourselves in a situation like that. But the politicians and ordinary citizens who support them will find themselves in a situation that Hidilyn found herself in 2022, to forgive those who wronged them in their moment of triumph.
There will be plenty of politicians who will win next year and I hope they’ll heed this valuable lesson from Hidilyn.
GOLD MEDAL VALUE. Hidilyn’s financial windfall, as of July 30, has breached P70 million, including five condo/house and lot. A lot are asking if anyone else wins a gold medal, will they get the same? Before the Olympics started, the guarantee for a gold medal was P33 million — P10M from the incentives act, P10M from Ramon Ang, P10M from the MVP Sports Foundation and P3M from Rep. Mikee Romero.
Whether those personalities and companies who added their own rewards will also add should we have another gold medalist remains to be seen.