THE remains of Philippine Marines Private First Class Gener Tinangag, the third Cordilleran casualty in the Marawi crisis, arrived at the Saint Peter’s Chapel in Baguio City on Tuesday night.
Tinangag, 24, from Barlig, Mountain Province was a member of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 who was killed-in-action during an encounter with the terrorist group in Barangay Lilod Madaya in Marawi City on June 9. He was among the 13 Marines who died during the clash.
According to reports, Tinangag was rescuing injured colleagues when he was shot by a sniper. He was killed on his third return to Barangay Lilod Madaya to rescue his fellow soldiers.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday night attended a solemn arrival ceremony at Villamor Air Base for eight of the 13 Marines slain in the fighting in Marawi. The President also extended financial assistance to the families of the fallen soldiers.
Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Marie Banaag, a native of Natonin, Mountain Province and a relative of Tinangag, paid her last respect to the fallen soldier at the Philippine Marine Corps on Monday.
Banaag hailed the fallen Marine as a hero who should remain as an inspiration to all the Cordillerans and the Filipinos as well.
The remains of Tinangag will be brought home to his hometown in Barlig on Friday where he will be buried on Sunday, June 18.
Tinangag was among the 58 government forces who have died since clashes with local terrorists erupted in Marawi City on May 23, and the third Cordilleran.
The two other Cordillerans who sacrificed their lives for the country were Police Senior Inspector Freddie Manuel Solar of Baguio City and Philippine Army Corporal Benito Serrano of Conner, Apayao. (PIA–CAR)