Honesty not buried in landslide-hit village

LA LIBERTAD, Negros Oriental— Virginia Callora was worried when she approached Privates Danny Faigane and Marlon Vera while they were digging with other Army soldiers in a landslide area in Barangay Solonggon here last week.

Her house was among the 60 buried in the rubble caused by the Feb. 6 earthquake, and the woman had been keeping her cash savings of P70,000 in a tin can inside the house.

Responding to Callora’s appeal for help, Faigane and Vera continued shoveling through the mounds of rocks and soil until they struck what had remained of the woman’s house. They finally found the can containing the rolled money bills.

They looked for Callora to give her her savings but could not find her. So they decided to hand over the tin can to her relative.

For their honesty. Maj. Gen. Jose Mabanta, 3rd Infantry Division commander, commended Faigne and Vera, according to a press release posted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Central Command on its blog. The two soldiers belong to the 32nd Division Reconnaissance Company (32DRC) of the 3rd ID.

After turning over the money, Vera was brought from Solonggon to the 302nd Infantry Brigade headquarters at Camp Leon Kilat in Tanjay, Negros Oriental, for treatment of a cut in his right hand that he had after hitting a galvanized iron sheet during the retrieval operation.

He said he was happy they were able to help Callora.

Vera and Faigane also informed 1st Lt. Gerald Deles, commanding officer of the 32DRC, about the P70,000 they found from the landslide site.

Undersecretary Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said he would write a letter addressed to the AFP recommending that Faigane and Vera be promoted as reward for their good deed.