LOOK: 3 Marawi siege widows join PH Army

Photo from TEAM TABAK Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Three widows of slain soldiers of Marawi City siege in 2017 have channeled their grief and honored the legacies of their husbands by joining the Philippine Army.

Private Grace P. Allaga, wife of late Corporal Ardnie R. Allaga from the 10th Infantry Battalion; Private Merzie G. Rogador, wife of late Private First Class Eldon C. Rogador, from the 51st IB; and Private Christine Mary E. Montero, wife of late Corporal Marjone G. Montero, from the 51st IB, joined the military through special enlistment, the Army’s 1st Infantry Division said in a Facebook post.

They were among the 649 newly-commissioned Privates of the 1st and 11th Infantry Divisions, and 55th Engineering Brigade who finished a four-month candidate soldier course on Wednesday in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.

“Rogador’s husband was the cousin of Late Private First Class Bayot, the one who called for artillery fires in his location. Both of them were at the same team and died during that incident,” the 1st ID said.

Montero’s husband died during Father’s Day.

Allaga’s husband died in August 2017, when the troops in Marawi were gaining ground and captured the strategic locations of the Maute terrorists.

The ISIS-linked Maute Group laid siege to Marawi City for five months in 2017. It killed more than 1,000 people and it was the biggest urban war the government had faced in recent years. /je