CAGAYAN de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez has filed a resolution that urges the House of Representatives to honor soldiers who died or were injured in the C-130 crash in Patikul, Sulu.
In Resolution 1957, Rodriguez said the soldiers should be honored as heroes since they were "on their way to Sulu to join the fight against terrorism."
Rodriguez said the soldiers were to be deployed with the 11th Army Division in the province to be in the frontline in fighting the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group.
The soldiers' superiors even attest to their "heroism and bravery," he added.
Rodriguez also promised assistance to the four crash victims who are from Cagayan de Oro City.
In another resolution, Rodriguez asked the House to thank the residents of Patikul, Sulu, who are mostly Tausugs, who helped rescue and recover the dead and injured people in the ill-fated C-130 crash.
“Almar Hajiraini Aki, a 12th grader at the Sulu National High School, said that he, together with some friends, immediately rushed to the crash site and when they got there, they saw some soldiers sprawled on the ground and found some of them alive and they were able to help three soldiers,” Rodriguez said.
Tausug militiamen ran to the site and took at least 20 soldiers to safer grounds.
According to Rodriguez, testimonies from the soldiers who survived stated that they saw civilians running toward them and dragged them out of the burning plane.
The lawmaker also pointed out that some of the surviving soldiers did not expect Tausugs to help them, as they heard stories of the ambushes against government troops in Sulu.
The C-130 aircraft crashed around 11:30 a.m. of July 4, 2021 in Barangay Bangkal, Patikul, Sulu.
A total of 49 soldiers and three civilians perished and 46 suffered varying degrees of injuries in the military crash.