Ex-Olympian Gifted With Almost $12K, Roasted Chicken Store To Compensate For 'False Promises'

A former Olympian has received an array of gifts despite not competing in any sport at the recent Tokyo Games 2020.

Mansueto Velasco Jr., better known as “Onyok,” won a silver medal in boxing at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics.

Despite not turning pro, Velasco was still highly-regarded in the Philippines, having been the only Olympian to win a medal for his country in the prestigious competition that year.

In the heat of Hidilyn Diaz’s Tokyo Games 2020 triumph, Velasco Jr. bared that he has yet to get a huge portion of the rewards he believed he was entitled to for the medal he earned in 1996, including full government benefits.

Shortly after his shocking revelation, Velasco was gifted by “Chooks-to-Go,” a famous roasted chicken retail business in the Philippines, a physical store registered to his name.

Atop that, “Chooks-to-Go” also handed the 47-year-old an additional ₱100,000 ($1978.15) as the company believes they “owe” him for “bringing honor” to their country.

"We’re giving one Chooks-to-Go store to ‘Onyok’ because as a Filipino, we owe it to him for bringing honor to our country," company president Ronald Mascariñas told ABS-CBN News. "We are also giving him an additional ₱100,000 so that he can have a long-delayed honeymoon in Boracay with his wife."

Acknowledging the said “surprise,” Velasco expressed his genuine gratitude to the organization’s gesture.

“I was asked by sir Ronald [Mascariñas] to come and present to him my medal,” Velasco revealed. “I was clueless until I finally learned that it was a surprise for me.”

“This is a great source of income that me and my family will surely benefit from, especially for my kids, now I will be able to secure their future because of this."

Philippine Senator Bong Go, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, also gave Velasco Jr. ₱500,000 ($9890.73) as financial aid for the said “false promises.”

“We have nothing to do with those false promises since they happened more than 20 years ago,” Go told Inquirer of Velasco's case. “We just want to recognize ‘Onyok’s’ accomplishment for giving honor to our country and somehow compensate for those false promises.”

“Based on the records, the government was able to give ‘Onyok’ the cash incentives given to medal-winning athletes at that time,” the senator added. “But there were those who made pledges who failed to keep their commitment.”