The mother of Michael Christian Martinez, the lone Philippine representative to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics revealed to the media that they got no support from the Philippine government which is contrary to the report posted by PhilStar.
Michael Martinez (Photo: Facebook)
According to the mother of Michael Martinez, the athlete got no support from the Philippine government as reported by CatholicRegister.org last January 2014, quoting the mother of the figure skater that their sponsor is a private corporation and not the Philippine government.
The controversial issue came to the limelight after a Facebook post from a certain Pablo Hernandez went viral on Facebook on February 10, 2014. Aside from the post on Facebook, the post is also shared in various social networking sites.
Michael Christian Martinez is the lone representative of the 2014 Winter Olympics currently held in Sochi, Russia attended by more 88 countries and territories from various parts of the world.
The 17-year-old figure skater garnered a ticket to the Winter Olympics after his performance in the 2013 Nebelhorn trophy competition held in Oberstdorf, Germany, wherein he ranked fifth in the World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
In a report posted by CatholicRegister.com, the mother of Michael Christian Martinez revealed that his son’s lone sponsor is SM Mall, owner of the only two ice skating rinks in the Philippines. The company gave Martinez more than $22,000 while the Philippine Skating Union also supported with $11,000 amount.
With regards to the support of the Philippine government, the mother of Michael Martinez was quoted “I don’t even think anyone at the president’s office knows there’s a Filipino skating in the Olympics,” said Teresa Martinez, who said she has written the office several times asking for help.
The mother of Michael Martinez, Teresa revealed further that “My house is mortgaged. It’s crazy investment,” she said.
According to Teresa Martinez, their family farm was hit hard by the recent typhoon, right now they have received financial backings from their family, friends and even strangers, mostly Filipino-Americans.
Netizens have reacted negatively with the recent expose that the lone Philippine representative to the Winter Olympics in Sochi got no backings from the Philippine government.
