Soldiers wounded in battle with BIFF get medals
AFP Chief of Staff General Emmanuel Bautista. Photo from AFP Public Affairs Office
COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The Armed Forces of the Philippines pinned meritorious service medals on least 19 members of the Sixth Infantry Division who were wounded in recent battles with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, who led in the pinning of medals at General Siongco Hospital at Datu Odin Sinsuat town on Monday morning, described the event as recognition of the soldiers’ bravery and courage in going after lawless elements.
Bautista, who was joined by Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in congratulating the injured soldiers, attributed the successful weeklong operation to teamwork and cooperation between the armed forces and local government units.
The BIFF is the military arm of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, a splinter of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front led by Ameril Umbra Kato.
Hataman handed over checks for P10,000 to each awardee and P1 million to the Army’s Sixth Infantry Division for its peacekeeping mission.
“Peace and development are inseparable; there can never be one without the other,” said Hataman, who thanked the AFP for providing the needed security not only in Maguindanao, but all other provinces within ARMM.
Hataman said security threats such as bomb attacks within the 34-hectare compound of the Office of the Regional Governor, where other vital regional offices and installations are located, have been quelled by the presence of the Philippine Marines, and the posting of Army troops in other sensitive areas.
Maj. Gen. Romeo Gapuz, 6th ID commander, assured the local government that any threat to security would be the AFP’s primary concern.
The 19 soldiers who were decorated on Monday belong to the 57th, 33rd, and 46th, and the 601st Infantry Brigade, First and Second mechanized brigades.
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