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He is just one of the many examples, seen in many rescue missions including China's SiChuan quakes. Bearing own injuries and pains and the lost of family members & still strongly fighting to help others. These are those who set examples for SAF, these are the ones who deserves SALUTES, not these AirCon Generals.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...h-for--victims

Rescued Filipino soldier joins search for victims
By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:53:00 01/16/2010

Filed Under: Disasters (general), Earthquake
NOT EVEN his harrowing experience could keep this Filipino soldier from joining the search and rescue operations in quake-hit Haiti.
Cpl. David Catacutan, a member of the 10th Philippine Contingent to Haiti, was trapped for more than a day beneath the collapsed Montana [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Hotel[/COLOR][/COLOR]
in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
Hours after he was rescued and had his injuries treated on Jan. 14, he joined his fellow Filipino peacekeepers in searching for others still missing in the hotel rubble.
“It was a courageous act considering that Corporal Catacutan himself was trapped under the ruins of that same hotel,” Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the Inquirer by phone Saturday.
“His familiarity with the hotel actually helped a lot in rescuing other survivors,” Brawner said.
Catacutan had bruises and contusions all over his body when he was found. Two other Filipino soldiers—Maj. Ariel Reyes and Staff Sgt. Bonifacio Paet—also suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital in Argentina.
“Despite his wounds, Corporal Catacutan readily offered his help in saving other earthquake victims,” Brawner said.
Typical of Filipinos
According to Brawner, the mettle that Catacutan showed was typical of the more than 500 Filipino soldiers and policemen serving as peacekeepers in various countries.
“Our soldiers prove the Filipino’s willingness to lend a helping hand to anybody despite the odds,” he said, adding:
“They also characterize our resiliency as a people in facing natural disasters, like what happened when Tropical Storm ‘Ondoy’ struck the country last year.”
Brawner said the account of Catacutan’s bravery was e-mailed to him by Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, the head of the AFP contingent in Haiti.
“It’s really difficult contacting our people there. Fortunately, Dagoy is able to send e-mails from time to time to update us on their conditions there,” he said.
Like their military counterpart, members of the 15-man Philippine National Police contingent in Haiti also immediately joined rescue missions after the magnitude 7.0 quake virtually flattened Haiti.
Supt. David Vinluan, the deputy chief of the PNP’s United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Center, said Filipino policemen had been assigned to medical missions or were helping in actual rescue operations.
Still missing
Six Filipinos have yet to be accounted for in devastated Haiti.
These include Grace Fabian who, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs, was rescued on Friday from the collapsed Caribbean Supermarket in Port-au-Prince.
Brawner told reporters in Camp Crame that contrary to an earlier report from the DFA, Fabian had yet to be found.
“There was a miscommunication [regarding her condition],” he said, adding that Dagoy issued the clarification by e-mail at about 10:40 a.m. Saturday.
“We are not saying that Ms Fabian is in danger now. We are in the process of checking [on her],” he said.
Brawner said the five other missing Filipinos were Petty Officer 3 Pearly Panangui, Sgt. Janice Arocena, Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez (all members of the Philippine peacekeeping contingent), Jerome Yap and Geraldine Lalican.
Panangui, Arocena and Bermudez are believed trapped under the rubble of Christopher Hotel, the United Nations headquarters in Port-au-Prince.
Brawner said there was “still a great chance” that the peacekeepers would be found alive.
He cited reports that voices and tapping sounds had been heard from the hotel rubble, and said the arrival of heavy equipment from China, Brazil, the United States and France would speed up the search and rescue efforts.
Hopeful
The DFA earlier reported that a Filipino woman, identified as Aurora Aguinaldo, was rescued on Friday from the ruins of the Caribbean Supermarket.
Hearing such news has allowed Dr. Leticia Yap to cling to hope that her 43-year-old son would soon be found.
“I hope it will be Jerome next,” Yap, a pediatrician, told the Inquirer in Pampanga’s capital city of San Fernando.
Jerome Yap is a staffer for 15 years of the UN office of field personnel, which sends peacekeeping forces to troubled areas, and which held office in Christopher Hotel.
He spent the Christmas and New Year [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]holidays[/COLOR][/COLOR] in San Fernando, where his mother lives. He is a member of the city’s multisectoral governance council and served as a Pampanga board member 20 years ago.
For a rare holiday break last month, Jerome Yap, a bachelor, took his mother, sister and sister-in-law to Bangkok.
“He left last Friday (Jan. 8) for New York and Sunday (Jan. 10) for Haiti. The quake occurred on Tuesday (Jan. 12). I have yet no contact with him,” Leticia Yap said. “Please pray for his welfare and safety.”
As she waited for word on her son’s condition, she said she had placed him in “Mama Mary’s holy mantle.”
Sleepless
In Gamu, Isabela, Gemmalyn Quiling has been spending sleepless nights awaiting word from her husband, Sgt. Josedel Quiling.
“We are very much worried about his safety. We had no communication with him after the earthquake,” she said.
Josedel Quiling, 39, was deployed to Haiti in August 2009.
His wife said she last spoke with him on Jan. 15, and that he told her that he was at the Port-au-Prince airport to secure an official.
She said Army officials at Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac City had advised her to be calm because “almost all the soldiers [in Haiti] are safe except for a few who had been trapped.”
One of the couple’s four children, 5-year-old Kenjersie, is missing his father, Gemmalyn Quiling said.
“Kenjersie always asks when his father is expected to return,” she said.
The other members of the Isabela-based 5th Infantry Division that have been deployed to Haiti are Staff Sgt. Alex Yunzon, Staff Sgt. Roel Sanchez, and Sgt. Ireneo Vicente Jr., all of Isabela, and Sgt. Melchor Albing of Mountain Province.
The family and friends of Remigio de Guzman, the regional transport supervisor of the UN Development Program in Port-au-Prince and also of Isabela, are happy that he is safe.
His wife, Irene, said De Guzman sent text messages early on Jan. 15 saying he had arrived safely in Port de Paux when the earthquake struck.
Commitment as UN member
The AFP’s Brawner said taking part in foreign peacekeeping missions was not easy.
Soldiers who want to be UN peacekeepers undergo stringent qualifying exams and physical training for a year, Brawner said.
“Since the 1960s, the Philippines has been sending foreign missions around Asia and other parts of the globe. It’s our commitment as a UN member,” he said.
According to Brawner, Filipino peacekeepers receive allowances from the UN on top of their salaries as AFP personnel.
Police peacekeepers, on the other hand, receive a $150 daily allowance, the PNP’s Vinluan said.
“Policemen on UN missions do not receive a salary from the UN, but they still get their salary as regular PNP members,” he said.
Vinluan, who headed the PNP mission in Haiti last year, said policemen posted on UN peacekeeping missions were usually given a yearlong [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]tour[/COLOR][/COLOR] of duty.
A hero’s welcome will await Catacutan and the 157-member AFP peacekeeping team when they return to the country in March, Brawner said.
He said another batch of Filipino soldiers were preparing to be deployed to help in the rescue efforts and reconstruction in Haiti.
“We are proud of what our soldiers have achieved in Haiti and other parts of the world. Recognizing their deeds is just a small token of gratitude for their efforts to show the world what Filipinos are capable of,” Brawner said. With reports from Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon