Pacquiao, Dragon Boat Team among heroes cited

Boxing champion and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao and members of the Philippine Dragon Boat Team were among the Filipinos honored by the Philippine Army in this year’s commemoration of National Heroes’ Day.

Pacquiao and the “Pinoy Dragon Warriors” joined peacekeepers, Medal of Valor awardees and veterans who fought in World War II and the Korean War who were hailed by the Army.

“In today’s celebration of National Heroes Day, the Philippine Army recognizes not only heroes in combat, but also contemporary heroes in the field of sports, the arts and sciences who have brought honor to the country,” said Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Antonio Parlade Jr.

An Army reservist, Pacquiao holds the rank of senior master sergeant, the highest rank for a reservist without college degree.

The Army also praised the Dragon Boat Team which was stripped of its national team status but went on to win in the recent world championships held in the United States while competing as a private team.

The 11 soldiers on the team were awarded Military Merit Medals.

The Army also honored Filipino soldiers serving as United Nations peacekeepers in various conflict areas such as Syria, Haiti and Liberia.

Of the 25 Army recipients of the military’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor, 13 are still in the active service, among them, Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz.

Ortiz received the Medal of Valor for his leadership of five teams of the 606th Special Forces Company and paramilitary troops who fought 300 communist guerrillas in a rebel camp in Murcia, Negros Occidental, on April 6, 1990.

The Army also cited Korean War veteran Conrado Yap who served with the 10th Battalion Combat Team of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea.