Palace cheers Petecio for Olympic silver medal win

Malacañang on Tuesday congratulated Filipino boxer Nesthy Petecio for winning silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics' women's featherweight division.

"Napakagaling ng pinakitang lakas at gilas ng ating Nesthy Petecio, congratulations for the silver medal in boxing," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said shortly after Petecio narrowly lost the Olympic gold medal match against Japanese slugger Sena Irie.

"We are proud of you, Nesthy," Roque added.

Petecio's silver medal win marked the first time that a Filipino female boxer won an Olympic medal since the Philippines participated in the Summer Games in 1924.

Petecio's feat followed Filipino female weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz's unprecedented Olympic gold medal win.

The feat also made Petecio match what the last Filipino Olympic medalist, Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco, did in the 1996 Atlanta Games, where he won silver.  —KBK, GMA News