14 Scout Rangers given military merit award

FOURTEEN soldiers were given medals in connection with a successful operation that led to the killing of nine members of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group (DI-MG) in Lanao del Sur last week.

Lt. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of the Zamboanga City-based Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), awarded the medals on Monday during a visit to the headquarters of the 103rd Brigade in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur.

The 14 soldiers, all members of the Army’s 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion, received the Military Merit Medal. They were led by 1Lt. Allan Kenny Manuel, 2Lt. Feljoy Ending, and Private First Class Mark John Culaway.

Manuel, Ending and Culaway were awarded the Military Merit Medal interim to Distinguished Conduct Star, the second highest military decoration in combat after the Medal for Valor.

The 11 other soldiers received the Military Merit Medal interim to Gold Cross Medal, the third highest military decoration in combat.

Manuel, Ending and Culaway were cited “for acts of conspicuous courage and gallantry” during the firefight with 15 DI-MG members in Barangay Taporog in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur on Thursday last week, leaving nine of the terrorists dead.

The military initially said two of the slain suspects, Saumay Saiden and Abdul Hadi, were involved in the December 3 bombing at the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City that left four people dead and 50 others injured.

On Tuesday, AFP spokeswoman Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said another member of the DI-MG who was slain in the encounter also figured in the MSU bombing. She named him as alias Muhajeer who cased the MSU prior to the attack.

Padilla said three members of the DI-MG involved in the MSU who are still at-large.

Wesmincom, in a statement, said the 11 soldiers “were part of the operating force during the conduct of deliberate operations against the DI-MG.”

“The unwavering courage and uncommon self-sacrifice of First Lieutenant Allan Kenny Manuel and his team were instrumental in the neutralization of nine DI-MG members,” Wesmincom also said.

“The decisive military operations also resulted in the recovery of eight high-powered firearms, one bandolier, four Baofeng radios, and one smartphone,”