Wushu champion comes home to a hero's welcome but forgets medal
He must've been very excited to come home.
A hero's welcome greeted Asian Games gold medalist Rene Catalan yesterday at the Iloilo Airport.
To his chagrin, however, the 28-year-old Wushu champion forgot the very reason for the welcome.
"I must have left it at my bed at the gym in Metro Manila," Catalan said of his gold medal. "I'm sorry I misplaced my medal," he said after rummaging through his baggage for about 10 minutes and before leaving the airport.
Before going out of the airport terminal building, he kept on apologizing to Sta. Barbara town vice mayor Arnold Delgado.
Catalan was one of the four Filipino gold medalists in the recently concluded 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
He instead showed a certification of having bagged the gold in the Wushu event. It was signed by the event's organizing committee.
But that did not take away the smile from Catalan.
"I am very happy because this is my first time," Catalan reacted to the reception he got at the airport. Hordes of reporters waited at the arrival area.
His mother, 56-year-old Loreta, also felt the same.
"I am happy that my son finally got the recognition he deserved," she said, while waiting for his son's arrival at the airport terminal building. "I've never been so happy before in my life." The 56-year-old sells native foods at the town market for a living. She has 13 siblings, of whom Rene is the 6th. "The only thing I ask of the government is to help my four younger children go to school."
"When I watch him fight on TV, I just sit back and relax," she said, adding that she had just suffered a mild stroke.
From the airport, the motorcade carrying the diminutive gold medalist went around the City. People got out of their houses to take a look at the new hometown hero.
Before proceeding to his hometown of Sta. Barbara, Catalan paid a courtesy call to Governor Niel Tupas, who waited for him at the Provincial Capitol.
At the lobby of the Capitol, Tupas and Board Member Cecilia Capadosa handed a certificate of recognition to Catalan.
"By winning the gold medal, you have brought honor to Iloilo," the governor said. Capadosa assured Catalan that the provincial government will be giving a financial incentive, but they have yet to decide on the amount.
"But for sure, there will be a financial incentive," she stressed.
Catalan, a father of two, confirmed that he was offered the coaching position for the Yemeni Wushu team.
He said that Yemeni sports officials offered him a car and a $100 monthly allowance on top of a $1,000 monthly salary.
But he declined the offer, in effect, avoiding what could have been a ridiculous situation where a Filipino-coached Yemeni Wushu team would be facing that of the Philippines.
"They told me that as long as I could fight, I should," Catalan said, quoting what his teammates told him.