Not condolences but congratulations

A candidate for the Medal of Valor among the soldiers who died fighting Moro extremists in Marawi City is Marine 1st Lt. John Frederick Savellano.

Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, Marine commandant, said Savellano showed exceptional bravery in the face of imminent death.

If Salamat’s recommendation is approved, Savellano will join a select few who are Medal of Valor awardees.

There are 44 recipients of the award but only 14 are still alive, among them retired Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, former Army chief, and retired Marine Col. Ariel Querubin.

Savellano, 29, was hit by shrapnel from a mortar round while leading his men to save 10 other Marines trapped near a row of buildings where members of the Maute group had set up a sniper and mortar nest.

Two days earlier, he and his men had come across P52.2 million in cash at a house captured from terrorists.

The 10 trapped Marines were saved but Savellano and 12 of his men, including his executive officer, were killed by enemy fire.

Pvt. Pablo Obis, one of the survivors now recuperating at the Marine Base hospital in Fort Bonifacio, said Savellano was running toward the place where the 10 Marines were trapped when he was hit by a mortar round in the knees and a sniper bullet in the head.

Had Savellano not taken a bullet to the head, he would still be alive although he would never be able to walk again.

The young Marine lieutenant wouldn’t have wanted that.

“You know Ma, I would prefer to die rather than be paralyzed for the rest of my life,” his mom, Mercy Sagmit-Savellano, 56, quoted John as once telling her.

Mercy, a car sales executive, and her husband, Freddie, 57, a certified public accountant, thanked this writer for visiting their son’s wake at the Marine chapel but told me I should not say “condolences” but “congratulations.”

“Our son died a hero; he would have wanted it that way,” Mercy, the more vocal of the Savellano couple, said.

John Frederick had always wanted to be a soldier, she added.

A licensed nurse who graduated from Far Eastern University, Savellano joined the Marines because he found his life meaningless working in a private hospital, Mercy said.

A reserve officer, Savellano was sent to the US Marine Basic Officers’ Course in Quantico, Virginia, where he bested other classmates who were graduates of the Philippine Military Academy.

When Mercy praised her son over the phone for turning over the P52.2 million in cash to authorities, John Frederick said: “This is not about my career. It’s about my integrity and that of my organization (the Marine Corps).”
Let’s extol the Marines not only for their courage but also for their honesty and integrity as exemplified by Savellano.

In contrast, let’s denounce the police and firefighters who responded to the shooting rampage and fire at Resorts World.

My source at the hotel-casino, who doesn’t want to be identified, said some P200 million in cash went missing from the casino after the police and firemen arrived.