One of the Igorot Marawi siege heroes has been confirmed dead in a clash between government troops and the New People's Army (NPA) in Barangay Villa Rey, Echague, Isabela, December 14.
Corporal Adonis Valera, a member of the 86th Infantry Battalion, was a scout ranger, one of Marawi siege survivors and a resident of Pinukpuk in Kalinga.
Corporal Valera is also among President Rodrigo Duterte's third-highest medals in the miltar for his fight in Marawi.
In an interview with Major Noriel Tayaban, Chief of Public Affairs Office of the 5th Infantry Division, he said that the soldiers were again saddened by the loss of one of their comrades.
The victims were Corporal Harold Ganagan, resident of Kalinga, and Fajaro Manuel, resident of Paracelis, Mt. Province and assigned to the 86th Infantry Battalion.
The wounded soldiers are still recovering at a private hospital in the City of Santiago.
According to Major Tayaban, an estimated 30 members of the terrorist group clash with the military in Barangay Villa Rey.
Earlier, they received a report on extortion activities conducted by the NPA in Barangay San Carlos and Madadamian Echague, Isabela, causing them to launch Focus Military Operation in the area.
December 14, before 6:00 pm, the clashes broke out between the two groups and as Corporal Valera maneuvered the rebels' direction, he was shot dead.
