Palace congratulates Padios for winning Philippines' first gold medal at 31st SEA Games

Malacañang on Wednesday congratulated Mary Francine Padios for bagging the first gold medal for the Philippines in Pencak Silat Women’s Seni (Artistic) Tunggal single event at the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.

"Congratulations. We are proud of you. Good luck to the rest of our athletes in Team Philippines. Mabuhay ang atletang Pinoy sa Hanoi," acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said in a statement.

Padios defeated Indonesia's Puspa Arum Sari, with a score of 9.960 against Arum Sari's 9.945.

The Philippines already secured eight medals courtesy of kickboxing athletes with Renalyn Dacquel being assured of at least a silver medal after she pulled off a 3-0 victory over Thailand's Kanwara Boonpeng in the women’s full contact -48 kg class semifinal on Tuesday night.—AOL, GMA News