ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 12 November) – Twelve soldiers wounded in the skirmishes in Ungkaya Pukan in Basilan were awarded Wounded Pesonnel medals by acting Defense Secretary Jose Faustino last Friday.
The medals were given to soldiers of the Division Reconnaissance Company (DRC), 64th Infantry Battalion and 18th Infantry Battalion.
Faustino spoke with the soldiers and thanked them for their service.
Jose Faustino, OIC of the Department of Defense, pins a Wounded Personnel medal on a soldier at the Camp Navarro General Hospital in Zamboanga City while Western Mindanao Command chief Brig. Gen Arturo Rojas looks on. Photo by F. Carreon
“The soldiers were engaged in a defense stance,” said Task Force Basilan and 101st Infantry Brigade Commander Domingo Gobway.
Gobway told MindaNews in a telephone interview that three soldiers were killed while 16 others were wounded.
The encounters with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) began on November 8, and continued to November 9 and 10 in the morning, until the intervention of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity that led to the forging of a ceasefire late afternoon of November 10.
The ceasefire agreement was signed at Bohe Pahu, Ungkaya Pukan by Brig. Gen. Eduardo Gubat, chair of the GPH-CCCH (Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities), Col. Frederick Sales, Team 3 leader of the GPH-AHJAG (Ad Joc Joint Action Group); Lt. Col. Cyril Santander, 18thIB commanding officer; Joint Task Force Basilan commander, Brig. Gen. Domingo Gobway; and Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas, acting commander of the Western Mindanao Command,
Killed were Corporal Alberto C Dal Jr, Private First Class Nelson Bantoc, and PFC Junry T Vega, all from the 18th Infantry Battalion.
The 16 wounded soldiers who received medals were: Corporal Jay Borongon, Private Genito Maloloy-on Jr, both from the Division Reconnaissance Company, Privates Juanito Bicoy, Jr. and Hans Andrie Pulmano, Private First Class (Pfc) Gemar Buctolan on November 8; Sgt Marlon Entorum, Corporals Ronaldo Gampoan, Balvestero Roxas and Alvien Zamoras, Pfc Rixon Bucog, and Pvt Alfie Java on November 9; and on November 10, 1Lt. Aurelio Fergene Torres, Pfc Eugene Recto, and CAA Joselito Sojor of the 18th Infantry Battalion, Pfc. Remil Arth Marote and Pvt. Joemar Saquin, of the 64th Infantry Battalion; (Frencie L. Carreon / MindaNews)