By Nitz Arancon
CAMP Evangelista greeted soldier Adonis Jess Lupiba with a hero’s welcome even as 4th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao promoted him from private 1st class of corporal on Saturday.
Lupiba (not Lupeba as misspelled in earlier reports) was welcomed during a program that became emotional when his wife Henny was asked to speak and broke into tears at Camp Evangelista.
Lupiba, of Barangay Iponan, this city, was taken captive by the New People’s Army (NPA) during a rebel offensive in Gingoog City in July 11. After a 132-day captivity, he was released by the NPA to an independent group led by Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano at Kaulayanan, Sugbongcogon, Misamis Oriental, on Friday.
“Ma-o na gyud kini ang akong nadawat nga pinaka tsada nga Christmas gift karong pasko,” said Mrs. Lupiba in tears. “Abi nako nga sa iyang pagpauli sa akong kiliran, ma-usab na ang iyang kina-iya, apan wala gyhud siya ma-usab sukad pa sa among panag-uyab hangtud karon, nagpabilin gyud siya nga bo-otan nga pagka bana.”
Corporal Lupiba’s parents Danilo and Erlinda also cried. His mother said, “Sus, halos dili kami makatulog, polos kahadlok, ug kabalaka ang among gibati niadtong panahon nga ang akong anak, gidagit sa NPA.”
She said she prayed day and night, particularly to the St. Niño, until Lupiba was freed by the NPA in Misamis Oriental.
Lupiba is one of the three children of Danilo and Erlinda. Because they could not send him to college due to poverty, Erlinda said, their son enlisted in the Army after he graduated from high school in the hope that he could help the family with its finances.
Col. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro, 4th ID chief of staff , said Maj. Gen. Lactao gave Lupiba a promotion for his gallantry during the encounter with the NPA in Gingoog. He said Lupiba and his fellow soldiers saved many civilians “by sacrificing himself in exchange for their lives.”
Capt. Patrick Martinez, Camp Evangelista spokesman, said the NPA took civilians as hostages and used them as shields against the government troops, and Lupiba begged rebels to spare the civilians and take him instead.
“Dili sayon kadtong iyang gihimo kay iyang gipalabi nga siya ang ma-hostage kay sa mapahamak pa sa gira ang mga sibilyan ug mga bata,” Martinez said.
He said Camp Evangelista would give Lupiba, who is undergoing stress debriefing, time to rest. (nitz arancon)
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