Iwonder what Michael Martinez must be feeling when he read the news that the reward for the first Olympic gold medal is now at P33 million, after House Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero promised he will chip in an additional P3 million on top of the other incentives promised.

You see Martinez has become the forgotten Olympian. The figure skater, our lone representative to the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, has been reduced to do the online equivalent of begging as he seeks a spot in the 2022 Winter Olympics, launching a GoFundMe campaign to fund his campaign.

To be honest, I’m surprised why he had to do that. I may disagree with a lot of things the Duterte administration has done, but when it comes to supporting the national athletes,it is a cut above the rest. Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez is on his second stint at the helm, while commissioner Charles Maxey, as a former sports editor, knows the politics in the business. In their early days, Ramon Fernandez batted for Mary Joy Tabal in her fight with her NSA. So, when it comes to supporting athletes, the PSC has a proven track record.

Heck, in the past, the PSC bypassed troublesome NSAs and supported athletes directly and I know that it didn’t earn them a lot of support from the Old Boys’ Network. And while I’m confident that Martinez will get the PSC’s support, I hope guys like Romero and those who seemed to jump on the “incentives bandwagon” won’t forget Martinez.

They don’t have to dangle P3 million at him but maybe, they could shell out half of that to support his quest?

By the way, the quest in Tokyo officially begins at 10 a.m. on July 24, when Nesthy Petecio faces Congo’s Marcelat Sakobi Matshu in the round-of-32 of the women’s featherweight division. To get to the medal round, Petecio needs to win three straight fights since a semifinal entry means a sure bronze, which is now worth P7 million after all the added incentives.

It’s been a long time since we as a nation cheered as one. The Manny Pacquiao matches no longer do that and unfortunately, it seemed only the serious basketball fans were tuned in to Gilas’ success.

But with Petecio’s first match scheduled at 10 a.m. on a Saturday, I hope we get to drop everything and watch a fellow Filipino fight in the sport’s biggest stage.

To remind us that we may disagree on some things, we are still all Pinoys.

The Manny Pacquiao matches no longer do that and unfortunately, it seemed only the seri- ous basketball fans were tuned in to Gilas’ success. But with Nesthy Petecio’s first match scheduled at 10 a.m. on a Saturday, July 24, I hope we get to drop everything and watch a fellow Filipino fight in the sport’s biggest stage