Military camps nationwide fly Philippine flag at half-mast for whole week   

June 12, 2017

Military camps nationwide have started to fly their flag at half-mast on Independence Day and for the end of the week to commemorate the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the ongoing military operation in Marawi City. “In consonance with the observation of the day of silence and prayer for our heroes and innocents who have been victims of the atrocities of terrorists in Marawi, we have also at high noon brought down to half-mast all flags in all major camps and stations of the military,” Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman said Monday. “Today we observed the day of silence and prayer to commemorate the sacrifices of all these men, the half-mast shall be for the rest of the week in salute to the contributions of these brave souls,” he said. “This is in salute to the bravery, gallantry, dedication and sacrifice of every soldier who gave their all in the current and ongoing fight in Marawi. The armed forces are determined to finish this mission for the people of Marawi, for the people of this country and for the Republic,” he added. Padilla said the military had a nationwide tribute in cooperation with all the major television and radio networks to the fallen soldiers. “The reason behind this event and the high noon tribute, although for a short period of time in all networks, is to remind people that the freedom they enjoy on this, their, our independence day was not because of anything else but the sacrifice of many Filipinos who live in the past and gave their all to attain the freedom that we now enjoy and the freedom that we must to continue to work hard to preserve,” he said. “And your soldiers, your Armed Forces, are seriously performing that task so that every Filipino, everywhere in the archipelago can live freely as is assured in the constitution,” Padilla added. Padilla assures that every soldier is willing to make ultimate sacrifice to preserve the freedom in the country. “In the preservation of the freedom of our country every soldier who takes his oath to serve the republic is dedicated to his task and his mission and among that is a readiness to offer the supreme sacrifice ,if need be, for this land,” he said. “Today as we celebrate the Independence Day, we rededicate ourselves, every member of the Armed Frces, to protect the state and our people from any threats from within and without and we shall work closely with all sectors who are working to ensure that our freedoms are protected and preserved,” he added. Padilla also requested other government agencies to take part on the commemoration of the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers by putting their flag into half-mast starting Tuesday “Other agencies of government were also requested to fly their flags at half-mast tomorrow, the first official working day of the week,” he said. (Robina Asido/DMS)