SAN JUAN, La Union, Philippines – Army lieutenant Jun Corpuz, one of the soldiers killed in an ambush by Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sumisip, Basilan last Nov. 2, was buried with military honors at a private cemetery here yesterday.
Major Alberto Diaz of the Philippine Army led military delegates including 27 of Corpuz’s mistahs at the Philippine Military Academy Class 2014 during the ceremony.
Seven Army soldiers gave 21 gun salutes after Corpuz’s coffin was laid at the Forest Lake Cemetery at 12 noon.
On Nov. 23, AFP chief Gen. Pio Catapang presented the Corpuz family with a Gold Cross Medal in recognition for the slain officer’s courage and bravery.
The provincial government of La Union declared Corpuz, who died along with five other soldiers while guarding a government project, a hero.
The slain officer was the fourth among the eight children of Cresencio and Elizabeth Corpuz.
He was a platoon leader of the Alpha Company of the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion based in Basilan.
He enrolled at the PMA in April 2010 and was in the Top 13 of Siklab Diwa, PMA Class of 2014.