The Philippine STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 8,2009, Page 1
By: AUREA CALICA
With Cecille Suerte Felipe, James Mananghaya
The four honor guards who stood
throughout the day long funeral procession
for former President Corazon Aquino have
been given cash rewards by various donors
in recognition of a job well done.
Former senator Agapito "Butz" Aquino,
brother-in-law of Mrs. Aquino, along with
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, donated P25,000
to each of the four honor guards.
Aquino and Cayetano personally handed
the cash awards to Police Officer 1 Dani-
l0 Malab Jr., Armv Pfc. Antonio Cadiente,
Airman Second Class Gener Laguindan and
Navy Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez at
a ceremony in Makati City yesterday.
Aquino said the money came from private
donors who considered the four as symbols for the
thousands who showed support for the late president.
Aquino said the donors recognized the sacrifice
of the four, who stood motionless during the nine hour
funeral procession.
The STAR president Miguel Belmonte revealed
that an anonymous donor also sent P25,000 for each
of the honor' guards.
Aquino said the family could not possibly express
proper thanks to each of those who condoled, and
so "we chose symbols for the people,"
He said his niece, Kris Aquino-Yap, wanted to
thank everyone but it would be difficult to do because
there were just too mam·.
"The four were the most visible during the nine hour
funeral procession. It's not an easy task standing
for nine hours under the rain, getting hungry,
and ignoring the call of nature," he said. '.
"(What they did was) bring back the condolence
in the (uniformed) forces," Aquino said,
The Makati Business Club also acknowledged the
stoic heroism displayed by the four honor guards who
earned the admiration and respect of the public.
Mrs. Aquino's grandson Jiggy Aquino-Cruz described
them as the "Fantastic FOUL"
Malab, who represented the Philippine National
Police (PNP) in the honor guards, said they were
grateful (or the monetary rewards given to them,
Malab said they found themselves busy granting
interviews from the media.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman
Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner added the four honor
guards are even scheduled to appear as contestant
in "Singing Bee," a television musical show of ABS-CBN next week.
On Thursday night, the "Fantastic Four" were guests
at a dinner hosted by the Cojuangco-Aquino family.
Malab said thev attended a ma% before the dinner
and posed for pictures with the members of the
Cojuangco-Aquino family. .
Malab told the family that being part of the last moments of late
former president was his memorable experience and the
recognition and praises he earned from the effort was
just too much,
"I thought our orders to stand as honor guards during the
funeral was part of our ordinary duties, but I realized it carried
a lot of responsibilities on our part. We didn't realized our little contribution to
stand as honor guards for the late president made us
the inspiration for the people," he said.
Aside from promotion, recognition, and monetary rewards, Malab, a
member of the PNP Headquarters Support Service (PNPHSS), was given a
week long rest by his superiors, Chief Superintendent
Franklin Alpabeto and Senior Inspector Jesus Manalo.
Even without the promotion, recognition, monetary
reward, Malab said he would stand for nine
hours again as an honor guard if he has to.
"It was a great honor for us to have stood beside the
former president, we never knew we would be given
this much attention," Rodriguez, for his part, said.
Cadiente also said they never expected the recognition
and admiration for their effort.
."We never expected this, that we would be given
this kind of treatment but we really appreciate it, the
rewards they gave us in appreciation for what we
did would go a long way for our families," he said.
Laguindan said that the recognition that they got
alter servll1g as honor guards made them feel that
every assignment in the Armed Forces is never too
little for anyone.
"Even if, as a soldier, you are not fighting out in
the field, even If you are assigned in the office, we
should do our share and do our job in the best way
we could," he said.
Rodriguez, on the other hand, said the financial rewards
given to them would be a big help for his family.
He said he would use the money for their house
and sustain the needs of his three children.
Rodriguez said his youngest child was very happy
seeing him on TV.He added he would be grateful
if the Senate approves the resolution commending
them for their effort.
Rodriguez admitted that he almost buckled during
the nine-hour funeral procession.
"My knees were already hurting because my feet
were soaked by the rain. I was praying hard and kept
reminding myself not to give way to fatigue and
show them what it takes to be in the avy," he said.
Rodriquez said the crowd gave him inspiration
to continue standing.
"After the funeral procession reached the destination
I was not even able to walk straight. ..my
knees had locked for standing straight so I had to
be assisted down the truck," he said.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
4 honor guards stand motionless on truck for 9 hours
PDI, Thursday, August 4, 2009
By: Jocelyn R. Uy
THE FOUR HONOR GUARDS
who stood motionless and
braved the rains for almost nine
hours atop the flat-bed truck
that carried the late President
Corazon Aquino from Manila
Cathedral to Manila Memorial
Park were trained to do just
that.
They were handpicked from
the elite honor guard units of
the Philippine Navy; Army, Air
Force and National Police,
Navy spokesperson Lt. Col.
Edgard Arevalo told the INQUIRER
last night.
He identified them as Pfc.
Antonio Cadiente, Airman
2nd Class Gener Laguindam,
Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez
and Police Officer 1
Danilo Maalab.
"They're specially trained to
undertake such ceremonial duties,
specially to bear such difficult
task to be immobile,"
Arevalo said. He added they
were trained even to resist "the
call of nature."
Rigorous field training and
routine formation were among
the secrets to their remarkable
strength, he added.
If nature called, they would
have to do it where they were
standing, he said. But since the
four men were among the fittest
in the pack, it was expected that
they would stand still up to the
final moments of their task for
the day, he said.
The four honor guards boarded
the truck at past 11 a.m.
when police generals, acting as
pallbearers, carried Aquino's
wooden casket out of the cathedral
after the more than two hour
Requiem Mass.
They got off the truck past 8
p.m. when they reached Manila
Memorial Park where the
revered People Power heroine
was laid to rest next to her martyred
husband, former Sen. Benigno
"Ninoy" Aquino Jr.
"Apart from discipline inherent
in security forces, the prestige
of the various services of
the AFP and PNP is at stake
here," he said.
He added that he was inclined
to believe that aside from
skills acquired from training, it
was the privilege and the honor
to stand guard on the remains
of Aquino, "the epitome of sacrifice,
selflessness and
strength," that made them last
long, said Arevalo.
"That was their own tribute
to the former President," he
added.
By: Jocelyn R. Uy
THE FOUR HONOR GUARDS
who stood motionless and
braved the rains for almost nine
hours atop the flat-bed truck
that carried the late President
Corazon Aquino from Manila
Cathedral to Manila Memorial
Park were trained to do just
that.
They were handpicked from
the elite honor guard units of
the Philippine Navy; Army, Air
Force and National Police,
Navy spokesperson Lt. Col.
Edgard Arevalo told the INQUIRER
last night.
He identified them as Pfc.
Antonio Cadiente, Airman
2nd Class Gener Laguindam,
Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez
and Police Officer 1
Danilo Maalab.
"They're specially trained to
undertake such ceremonial duties,
specially to bear such difficult
task to be immobile,"
Arevalo said. He added they
were trained even to resist "the
call of nature."
Rigorous field training and
routine formation were among
the secrets to their remarkable
strength, he added.
If nature called, they would
have to do it where they were
standing, he said. But since the
four men were among the fittest
in the pack, it was expected that
they would stand still up to the
final moments of their task for
the day, he said.
The four honor guards boarded
the truck at past 11 a.m.
when police generals, acting as
pallbearers, carried Aquino's
wooden casket out of the cathedral
after the more than two hour
Requiem Mass.
They got off the truck past 8
p.m. when they reached Manila
Memorial Park where the
revered People Power heroine
was laid to rest next to her martyred
husband, former Sen. Benigno
"Ninoy" Aquino Jr.
"Apart from discipline inherent
in security forces, the prestige
of the various services of
the AFP and PNP is at stake
here," he said.
He added that he was inclined
to believe that aside from
skills acquired from training, it
was the privilege and the honor
to stand guard on the remains
of Aquino, "the epitome of sacrifice,
selflessness and
strength," that made them last
long, said Arevalo.
"That was their own tribute
to the former President," he
added.
Friday, August 7, 2009
4 honor guards endure slow cortege
The Philippine STAR, Page 1
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2009By JAMES MANANGHAYA
with stories from Jaime Laude, Cecille Suerte Felipe
For more than eight hours, they stood in snappy military
fashion, undaunted by rain and steadfast in form despite
the hunger everybody else experienced during the long
procession that brought the late former President Corazon
Aquino to her final resting place at Manila Memorial Park
in Paranaque City yesterday.
Army Pfc. Antonio Cadiente, Airman Second Class
Gener Laguindan, Navy Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez
and Police Officer 1 Danilo Maalab, who served as honor
guards for Mrs. Aquino's remains, displayed exceptional
discipline in the performance of their extraordinary task.
The ride from the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros was
agonizingly slow due to tens of thousands who wanted to pay
their last respects to the leader they fondly call "Tita Cory,"
but the four men in uniform stood in finest tradition, adding
solemnity and honor to the ceremony.
Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) spokesman told The STAR that the organization
is glad to have been given the chance to honor their
former Commander-in-Chief.
"And we are happy because
our soldiers and our police counterpart displayed our finest
tradition of discipline and professionalism."
Brawner said that the Army and Air Force soldiers came
from thei r mother unit' s escort battalions, while the Navy enlisted
man came from the office of reservist affairs. He said that after the exceptional
display of dedication to duty by these soldiers, the AFP
might recommend that they be given awards equivalent to
their recent task. "They were handpicked from the among the best our
honor guards. They can with stand hours and even a day I
without doing something but stand in attention. It's part of
their training. We call it discipline," Marine Lt. Col. Edgard
Arevalo, spokesman for the Philippine Navy (PN), said.
Also during the funeral rites, Mrs. Aquino's former security
chief, retired Lt. Gen. Voltaire Gazmin, her former junior military aide now Cavite
Rep. Jun Abaya and her former close-in escorts chief Lt. Gen. Jose Angel Homado
served as pallbearers at the Manila Memorial Park.
At the Manila Cathedral, senior police officers carried
her casket out of the church for the funeral march.
The Philippine National Police also rendered full honors
to the former President before she was laid to rest.
RP gives $20,000 to protect seamen
Manila Bulletin Sunday, July 26, 2009 7
By MADEL R. SABATER
In a bid to secure Filipino seafarers against piracy, President Arroyo has contributed US $20,OOO to the United Nations (UN) Trust Fund in Support of the Somali Transitional Security Institutions. The Department of Foreign Affairs(DFA) said the funds will be used by the Somalia's Transitional Federal Government to beef up its security forces which will play a critical role in combating sea piracy and their principals on land. The fund will be managed by the UN Political Office for Somalia. There are currently 44 Filipino seafarers in the hands of Somali pirates. The Philippine Government has imposed a ban on the deployment of .Filipino seafarers in the Gulf of Aden and surrounding areas. It recently designated a Philippine navy officer to act as naval liaison to the Combined Maritime Forces in Manama, Bahrain.
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