ISULAN, SULTAN KUDARAT—Staff Sgt. Reynold Pallado and his colleagues from the Army’s Light Reaction Regiment were inching their way into an enemy-held area in Marawi City in July when a bomb went off.
“The last word I uttered was, ‘I’m dead,’” Pallado said of the incident that wounded him and six others.
Two of his severely wounded companions subsequently died but Pallado—who was hit by shrapnel in the eye and nape—and four others survived.
The government lost 165 soldiers and policemen in the five-month war against terrorists that also saw a large part of Marawi reduced to rubble.
Pallado, who attended a recognition program for soldiers here on Monday, said he would not think twice about returning to the battle zone.
“We appreciate your heroism, we recognize your sacrifices,” Gov. Pax Mangudadatu said as he handed checks worth P10,000 to Pallado and 66 other soldiers from Sultan Kudarat.
Mangudadatu said his heart also bled for those who died in the fighting in Marawi, seven of them from Sultan Kudarat.
“To the wives and families of our fallen kababayan, my smart salute to you for allowing your loved ones to serve our country,” he said.
Mangudadatu handed P20,000 each to the families of slain soldiers. —EDWIN FERNANDEZ