PNP chief Acorda awards cops hurt in Maguindanao Sur ambush
Maguindanao del Sur map. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
ISULAN, SULTAN KUDARAT — Police Director General Benjamin Acorda Jr. awarded the police officer injured during the operation that killed seven members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur on Sunday, June 18.
Acorda was in this town for a short visit on Monday to confer honors to families of police officers who died and those who survived the June 14 ambush in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur.
But aside from the two posthumous awards he gave to the families of two soldiers who died and the honors to four soldiers wounded in the June 14 ambush, he also conferred the “Medalya ng Sugatang Magiting” to Special Action Force (SAF) Corporal Artchen Echavia, who was injured not in that ambush but in a separate law enforcement operation on June 18 in Datu Paglas.
Police claimed that the seven alleged gunmen, who died in the Datu Paglas operation, were members of the breakaway group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), although the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the government, claimed the slain seven belonged to their fold.
Acorda’s short visit, however, was mainly to confer honors to those who died and were injured in the June 14 ambush.
He conferred the “Medalya ng Sugatang Magiting” and “Medalya ng Kadakilaan” medals to Police Master Sergeant Rey Vincent Gertos, PSSG Benjie Delos Reyes, Patrolman Abdulgapor Aliv, and Patrolman Arjie Val Loie Pabingit, who were wounded during the June 14 ambush in Shariff Aguak.
He also gave the posthumous “Medalya ng Kadakilaan” to the relatives of Patrolmen Saipoden Shiek Macacuna and Byan Polayagan, who died in the 8 p.m. ambush.
“Your sacrifices will be remembered, get well soon,” said the PNP chief at the Sultan Kudarat provincial hospital here, accompanied by Maguindanao del Sur Governor Bai Mariam Sangki Mangudadatu. The injured police officers belong to Maguindanao Mobile Force Company.
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