Despite becoming the first-ever Olympic gold medalist from the Philippines everything’s not alright in Carlos Yulo’s life. The Filipino gymnast who won back-to-back gold medals in Paris has detailed the strained relationship between him and his mother, Angelica Yulo over her disapproval of his girlfriend. This rift has even seen Angelica praise her son’s rivals on her social media during the Olympics. Meanwhile, adding to the drama Carlos Yulo has revealed another reason behind the tensions within his family.

The rift between the duo started when Yulo decided to leave Tokyo to settle in Manila with his girlfriend, Chloe Anjeleigh San Jose. This was a decision that was not well received by his mother. While this was the widely believed reason behind their rift till now, a recent TikTok video by the Olympic gold medalist opened a can of worms.

Carlos Yulo claimed financial mismanagement by his mother

Enraged by her son’s decision to move back to the Philippines with San Jose, Yulo’s mother cut all ties with the gymnast. Even after winning a double Olympic gold medal, Angelica has not yet congratulated his son in any social media post. More shockingly, Yulo’s mother hinted at supporting a Japanese athlete who was in fact, a competitor of Carlos Yulo in France. A look at her social media accounts will reveal that Angelica has been actively supporting her other children while distancing herself from Yulo. 

Well, if this was not controversial enough already, recent allegations made by Carlos Yulo have added an entirely new dimension to the debate. Sitting beside his girlfriend in a TikTok, Carlos Yulo on Tuesday, accused his mother of constantly draining money from his bank account without his knowledge.

He said that his mother managed his bank account which contained money he had won in gymnastics competitions. Yulo also added, “Apart from the incentives, my mom also had access to my bank account and my monthly allowances for gymnastics. When I finally got control of that bank account, I found out she had been draining it. I have the bank statements showing the withdrawals she made.” 

The Olympic gold medalist further stated that he was due to receive a six-figure incentive from the 2022 World Championships. However, his mother didn’t mention receiving any such amount.

“The 70,000 pesos (US$1,221) incentives she mentioned from the World Championships in 2021, first of all, it was actually in 2022,” Yulo said. “I didn’t just receive 70,000 pesos, I know it was a six-digit amount because I won two medals.”

While commenting on the situation, Yulo said the money was “no longer mine”  “The principle here isn’t the amount, but about the fact that incentives were hidden and used without my consent,” Carlos said. However, Angelica has denied these allegations.

Speaking to the Bombo Radyo on Monday, Angelica defended her actions. She said she transferred money from Carlos’s account to her own for the safety of her son’s future and reiterated she never took money from her son’s account for personal use. “It was given to me. As a mother, I felt that my child might run out of money in the future. So, what I did was deposit it under my name at BPI here in Vito Cruz. Then, I held on to it and turned it into a bond for a credit card.”

She further claimed her son has received the full amount of his incentives. “I didn’t do it. For me, I know he worked hard for that money. He should spend it in a way that makes him happy. Because, at the end of the day, he should be the one benefiting from all his hard work. Caloy got his money, a total of P11 million, in full from BDO. He received it.”

Meanwhile, Carlos Yulo is set to be heavily rewarded with incentives following his gold in men’s floor and vault competitions. Filipino newspaper Philstar has reported that Yulo will receive 10 million pesos($172,519) from the government as promised to any gold medalist from the Philippines. In addition, the country’s House of Representatives is set to reward him with 6 million pesos ($103,511) after Yulo’s double gold medal victory.

Megaworld Corporation will provide him with a condo in the city of Taguig on top of 3 million pesos ( $51,800) in cash.

The gymnast also shed light on why his mother did not like San Jose. Angelica openly mentioned that San Jose had been the reason for the rift between Carlos Yulo and his family. The Olympian reaffirmed these claims but defended his girlfriend. Yulo said that born and brought up in Australia, his girlfriend imbibed the culture of the land Down Under. And that was vastly different from how people walk, talk, and dress back in the Philippines.

San Jose is a TikToker with over 700,000 followers on the platform and over 89,000 followers on Instagram. “She judged Chloe right away because of how she dressed and acted. Chloe and I grew up in different environments…Our relationship worsened when I started setting boundaries, Yulo.

Still, the Philippines athlete called for tensions to be eased and requested her mother to move on.

Angelica Yulo issues an apology after son calls for healing

In the video, Yulo sent a message asking his mother to heal and saying that he had forgiven her. “My message to you, Ma, is to heal and move on. I forgave you a long time ago. I pray that you are always safe and in good health. Let’s stop this (bickering) and instead celebrate the hard work and sacrifices of every Filipino athlete here at the Olympics.”

In response on Wednesday, Angelica Yulo was joined by lawyer Raymond Fortun for a press conference. “Other people don’t need to know about our conflicts because they don’t know the whole story and may not fully understand. But I ask for forgiveness from you and the public for what I said in the interview,” she said.

She referenced the comments she made after his son’s gold medal win. She added, “Forgive me, my child. I understand if others think I’m only speaking out now because of your success and prosperity. I’m speaking to put this issue to rest.”

Carlos Yulo’s father, Mark said that the issues with their son were minor but were blown out of proportion. He hoped for reconciliation once their son returned home from Paris.