Salute, EJ Obiena!

     I salute EJ Obiena, not only as an athlete, but as a person. He knows the essence of respect to parents as a Filipino, I saw him being interviewed in Boy Abunda's My Mother, My Story. He has achieve acclaim worldwide in pole vault although he was unlucky not get any medal in this year's Olympics but he has won in many other pole vaulting competitions before the Olympics putting him as high as world ranked no. 2.

Obiena on My Mother, My Story interview

     Yet, he remains grounded and respects his parents, especially his mom. Parents may not be perfect, they may have shortcomings but it is in the Filipino culture that respect and love for parents is second to none. EJ Obiena is reared to be a respectful son ever.

     I am dismayed with Carlos Yulo,  the Filipino gymnast who won two gold medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has his spat with his mother publicicize after the Olympics, and publicly shown his preference of his new girlfriend, a Filipino-Australian, who is the root cause of this family drama, I believe. I think she is the bad influence in Carlos, although claiming she is the reason for Yulo's Olympic success for being an inspiration. I don't think the same though, Carlos Yulo would have won with or without Chloe in his side.