AS FALLEN police officer Mark Monge was laid to his rest Sunday, July 24, 2022, at the public cemetery in Palo, Leyte, simultaneous indignation rallies were held across Eastern Visayas towns that strongly condemned the alleged atrocities of the New People's Army (NPA).
Patrolman Monge, 28, and a native of Palo, was killed in a firefight with the suspected members of NPA while doing a humanitarian activity in Barangay San Nicolas, San Jose de Buan, Samar on July 16, 2022.
“I am calling the public to be cooperative enough in the speedy identification of the perpetrators and do not hesitate to report any activities made by the communist terrorist group in their respective areas,” said Brigadier General Bernard Banac, police regional director.
The police official also assured Monge’s parents that the Philippine National Police (PNP) “is doing its best in serving justice for the untimely death” of the young policeman.
The Regional Mobile Force Battalion-Eastern Visayas accorded Monge funeral honors as the entire regional police force condemned the “treacherous attack” against PNP personnel.
Earlier, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. personally visited Monge’s wake at his residence in Barangay Pawing, Palo, and extended financial assistance to the bereaved family.
Lieutenant General Jose Chiquito Malayo, commander of Area Police Command-Visayas, posthumously awarded Monge a PNP Medal of Heroism (Medalya ng Kadakilaan) and handed cash assistance to his family, the police regional command disclosed.
Aside from Banac, PNP Chief Lieutenant General Vicente Danao Jr. extended financial aid to Monge’s family.
The police regional command has also processed the other government benefits due to Monge.
Eastern Visayas, particularly Samar Island, has remained a hotbed of insurgency with the continued presence of the NPA, which has been waging a Maoist-inspired guerrilla war since the late 1960s. (SunStar Philippines)