After some delays, the Medal of Valor – the highest award a policeman could receive – was finally awarded to a Boholano trooper who was killed in the botched operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25 last year.
Dr. Christine Cempron, who now resides in Consolacion, Cebu, received the posthumous award for her slain husband PO2 Romeo Cempron from President Benigno Aquino III during the commemoration ceremony of the Mamasapano tragedy at Camp Crame last Monday.
Also accorded the same recognition was Chief Insp. Gadnet Tabdi.
PO2 Cempron and Chief Insp. Tabdi were among the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who were killed in the encounter.
Dr. Christine wore a black Filipiniana terno with white embroidery, the same outfit that she was going to wear during the awarding ceremony originally scheduled in August last year, in time for the Philippine National Police anniversary. The ceremony was postponed.
The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) also commemorated the tragic incident.
Chief Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, acting director of the PRO-7, told reporters that after a year of deliberations by the Special Promotions and the Awards Board in Camp Crame, it was decided that only Tabdi and Cempron were qualified for the Medal of Valor.
“In fact, before I came here I was the vice chairman of the board that evaluated the SAF 44 accomplishments,” said Gaerlan. He explained that Cempron qualified for the award based on interviews with the lone survivor and witnesses.
PO2 Cempron earned the award for helping and protecting PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor from 55th SAF.
Tabdi was also bestowed the award after he “directed beyond his capacity as team leader of the troop.”
“The grant of medal of valor is a long process. It is not wholesale, it can never be given that easily. It entails a very tedious process accompanying witnesses, as based on our law, to testify on their heroism,” Gaerlan explained.
Senior Supt. Renato Dugan, information officer of PRO-7, added the travel expenses of Dr. Cempron were shouldered by Camp Crame.