Ilonggo wushu artists receive cash incentives from city gov’t

After winning gold medals in the just-concluded SEA Games 2019, two Ilonggo wushu artists were recognized by the Iloilo City Government. 

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas and Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon personally awarded the P10,000 cash incentives to Francisco Solis and Arnel Mandal on Dec. 23.

Solis, a native of North Baluarte, Molo, won the gold in men’s wushu 56-kg division; while Mandal, a pride of Calaparan, Arevalo got another gold in the men’s 52 kg division wushu-sanda. 

To recall, Mandal notched the gold medal after beating Minh Duc Vu of Vietnam and Benghenem Abdelkarim of Algeria in the men’s 52kg division of the World Wushu Sanda Championships. 

According to Mandal, the gold medal finish was overwhelming, especially that he failed to compete in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I wasn’t able to participate because my weight category was removed by the organizers. But somehow, I feel great that I took home the gold medal in this recent tournament,” he said.

Solis, on the other hand, bounced back from his silver medal finish in the men’s 56kg event last year with a gold haul in this year’s biennial
tournament.IMT