1 medal for Magno; another for Balido

By NITZ ARANCON, Correspondent

THE officer in charge of the National Police flew in and gave the widow of the late Senior M/Sgt. Jason Magno a posthumous award on Sunday.

Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa came over to visit the wake of Magno in Initao town in Misamis Oriental.

At the Magno family’s home, Gamboa personally handed to the late policeman’s widow Vivian a posthumous “Medalya ng Kadakilaan.”

Gamboa then proceeded to the Polymedic Plaza in Barangay Kauswagan here to check on Magno’s wounded colleague, M/Sgt. Alice Balido.

He gave her the “Medalya ng Sugatang Magiting.”

Balido was wounded in the grenade explosion at the Initao Community College shortly before midday Thursday while Magno, who picked up the grenade lobbed by an amok from Lanao del Sur, was killed when it went off. Police said Magno cushioned the impact of the explosion by turning himself into a human shield.

Gamboa was accompanied by Brig. Gen. Rolando Andoyan, police director for northern Mindanao, and Col. Robert Roy Bahian, Misamis Oriental’s police chief.

In Initao, Gamboa described what Magno did on Thursday as a “supreme sacrifice” to save students and teachers from the grenade of Ibrahim Bashir of Tulay Madamba, Lanao del Sur. Bashir, who went berserk, was shot to death by the police after the explosion.

“He (Magno) did not die in vain. His death gave new meaning to the undying line in the PNP Hymn, ‘Ihandog ang iisang buhay,’ which is exactly what Magno did,” Gamboa said.

Lt. Princess Joy Velarde, spokesperson of the Misamis Oriental police, said Magno would be laid to rest in a San Pedro cemetery in Initao after a 9:30 am mass at the St. Francis Xavier Parish Church on Saturday. A necrological service is scheduled at the Initao municipal hall at around 7:30 am.