Jasmin Joy Escobido shows the portrait of her partner Corporal General Tinangag through her smartphone.
MANILA, Philippines — The widow of Medal of Valor awardee Corporal Gener Tinangag said the loss of her husband remains palpable six years after the Marawi siege.
“Our grief could not just go away,” Jasmin Joy Escobido told INQUIRER.net over the phone on Monday.
During the Battle of Marawi, Tinangag, 23, was the assistant rifleman who rescued four wounded Marines before succumbing to an enemy sniper shot to the stomach.
Escobido recalled the moment she first heard the fate of her husband: “My mind went blank when I heard he had died of gunshot wounds.”
“He told me not to worry because he told me that he would come back home. Yes, he came home, but only his lifeless remains came back.”
Tinangag’s heroic deeds earned him the highest military honor. Recently, the Philippine Navy also named after Tinangag one of the country’s fast-attack interdiction craft platforms.
It was on May 23, 2017, when the Maute terror group, which has expressed alliance with the Islamic State, raided and occupied Marawi City.
Government forces successfully liberated the city by October of the same year.
The five-month siege led to the death of 168 soldiers and police officers, along with 900 Maute militants and scores of civilians.
For Escobido, her husband’s sacrifice to liberate the city was worth it.
“At least, the city has been [liberated], and the fighting has ceased,” she said.
Escobido and Tinangag have an eight-year-old son who also dreams of following in his father’s footsteps.
“But I hope he does not get deployed in a similar mission,” she said.