BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Twenty-four Army soldiers who figured in a gunbattle with a group of New People’s Army rebels on March 9 in Brgy. Amin, Isabela, Negros Occidental, have received medals from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.
Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, 3ID commander, led the giving of recognition and pinning of Military Merit Medals to the 24 soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion on Saturday at Brgy. Libas, Isabela, Negros Occidental.
Arevalo also conferred the Wounded Personnel Medals to two 62IB troopers who were injured in the encounter that claimed the lives of a rebel leader and his comrade who were linked to the series of liquidation activities of innocent civilians suspected by the NPA as military informants.
The two slain rebels identified as Virgilio Marco Tamban, commander of the SYP Lenovo Platoon under the Leonardo Panaligan Command, and Ben Jack Ruales,alias Ka Yuhan, a member of the Regional Striking Force, were left behind by their fleeing comrades at the encounter site.
Their remains were turned over on March 10 by the 62IB and Isabela police to their respective families, as facilitated by the Guihulngan City and Isabela Task-Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Arevalo personally pinned the medals to 62IB soldiers, in recognition of their heroism during the combat operationsthat yielded the neutralization of a notorious rebel hitman and his companion.
“We don’t do this to become famous, but we do it because it is our mission to secure peace and prosperity in our area of operations,” Arevalo stressed during the recognition rites held at 62IB headquarters in Isabela town.
He was assisted by Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, in the pinning of medals to 62IB soldiers.
“People surely appreciated our effort in maintaining peace, because we are willing to give our life, in propagating and maintaining peace,” Arevalo stressed.*
