Honor your parents

The holidays have passed but we did not hear anything about Carlos Yulo reconciling with his parents.

For a nation obsessed with athletic victories, but at the same time still observes the old-fashioned way of loving and respecting their elders, seeing our Olympic hero engaged in a controversial catfight with his parents is truly heartbreaking.

Yulo may have made an indelible mark on Philippine sports after winning two gold medals in the gymnastics competition of the Olympic Games in Paris, but he has yet to completely gain the love of Filipinos due to his bitter dispute with his parents. He is respected, yes, but he is definitely not loved.

Well, the reason behind their dispute is something that happens among ordinary Filipino families.

Sideliners say that when he was building up to the Tokyo Olympics at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, he locked himself up in a training facility in Tokyo and dedicated his time to getting better. But getting to the top is such a lonely journey.

Along the way, sadness crept in and he slowly drifted apart from his parents. Then on the balmy night of 20 April 2020, a Melbourne-based content creator slid into his social media DM (direct message) to say “hi.”

The simple greeting sparked a romance that inspired the then 20-year-old Yulo to work harder until he won a gold medal in the World Championships, 10 gold medals in the Asian Championships, and seven gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games.

At one point, his now girlfriend, Chloe San Jose, took the backbreaking 10-hour flight from Melbourne to Hanoi to cheer for Yulo in the SEA Games. Truly, love was in the air.

Sadly, it also eroded Yulo’s once-sturdy relationship with his family.

Things came to a head when Yulo’s younger brother, Eldrew, was preparing for the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore.

Eldrew and a teammate, Miguel Besana, were supposed to stay in Yulo’s apartment while training in Tokyo. The plan, however, was aborted as Yulo’s mother, Angelica, claimed that Eldrew and Besana had a change of heart after learning that San Jose was staying with the gymnastics star at the time.

San Jose, however, didn’t take anything sitting down. She fired back at Angelica on social media, especially in the aftermath of the Paris Olympics when Yulo was over the moon with two gold medals and over P100 million, properties, cars and massive fame in his back pocket.

For one fleeting moment, the attention was not on Yulo’s historic achievement — it was on Angelica and San Jose. The nation was divided between Team Mommy and Team Chloe.

There was a light at the end of their dark relationship tunnel when senatorial aspirant Luis “Chavit” Singson offered P5 million to Yulo to mend fences with his parents. He also gifted the parents with cash and gave incentives to Eldrew for his previous achievements.

But the goodness of Singson’s heart didn’t move the needle. Yulo remained away from his family and the Yuletide season, which was a perfect time for them to be together, passed without a single trace of love, forgiveness and moving on.

Parents play a very important role in the lives of successful athletes. They are their first coaches and cheerleaders. The children would not be there if not for the parents’ love, support, and encouragement.

Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first ever Olympic gold medalist, treasures her time with her parents, while Ernest John Obiena would not have risen to become one of the world’s most elite pole vaulters if his father, Emerson, didn’t exert a lot of patience in correcting his form.

Even the late Lydia de Vega-Mercado would not have blossomed into a legendary figure if her father, Francisco “Tatang” de Vega, hadn’t motivated her. And, of course, let’s not forget that June Mar Fajardo, the only Philippine Basketball Association player to win eight Most Valuable Player awards, cried a river of tears when the love of his life — his mother — passed away four years ago.

That’s why it’s really important for Yulo to reach out and extend the olive branch to his parents. He should do it not because he has achieved success, but because he is their son and it is his moral responsibility to love and respect them.

Should he do this, he will be remembered not just as an Olympic champion but as a loving son who brushed away all the pride, hate and bitterness in his heart to honor his parents. And, believe us, it’s a feat that’s far more precious than Olympic gold.