MANILA, Philippines — Kapamilya actor Matteo Guidicelli is now officially a second lieutenant of the Philippine Army Reserve.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed Guidicelli's papers, allowing the actor to move up from being a probationary second lieutenant.
Girlfriend Sarah Geronimo accompanied Matteo during the donning of rank ceremony at the Philippine Army headquarters.
In his speech, Matteo said he is honored that the army allowed him to tell the extraordinary stories of the soldiers to the world.
“The Army, in the beginning, is a very closed-door organization not wanting to let the outside to know much about them. But I'm very honored and thankful that they allowed me in to at least spread the message on how these men and women sacrifice for the country and I will continue to do so,” Matteo said.
“Being with the soldiers in Mindanao, Jolo, Sulu, you see their eyes and sacrifice and fear in order to fight for our country every single day,” he added.
The ABS-CBN actor promised to give his best in representing the army as well as the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“I will do my best to give my part as a Filipino citizen and now part of the Army reserve to represent the Army and AFP the best way possible and to tell and show the people how important the Army in each and every individual to give discipline, honor, and patriotism and to look at our flag with love and to say I'm Filipino and I'm proud of that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Matteo thanked showbiz personalities who have joined the reserve forces of the AFP as he hoped for more soldier-related TV series from two giant networks, ABS-CBN and GMA.
“I'm also very honored that a lot of showbiz personalities have joined the reserve forces - 'A Soldier's Heart' of ABS-CBN and now GMA's 'Descendant of the Sun.' Hopefully in the future we do more AFP-related material and represent what soldiers do for our country and how they sacrifice not just by being soldiers but also their families,” Matteo said.
Matteo joined the Philippine Army as reservist last April. Last June, he completed his month-long training, obtaining the highest grade of 95.20 percent from the course, making him the most outstanding student among 76 students in the class.