Tolentino: "WPS hero doing well, in high spirits"
June 26, 2024
Tolentino: "WPS hero doing well, in high spirits"
The Philippine Navy personnel who lost his thumb during the June 17 encounter between Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) personnel and Filipino troops undertaking a routine rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal is doing okay and is in high spirits.
This was shared by Senate Majority Leader Francis 'Tol' Tolentino, who personally met and had a brief chat with Seaman First Class Jeffrey Facundo, on the sidelines of the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday, June 25.
"I'd like to share with our kababayans that Seaman First Class Jeffrey Facundo, one of our brave heroes in the West Philippine Sea who lost his thumb during the June 17 encounter in Ayungin Shoal, is doing well, and is in high spirits," said the senator.
(Gusto ko pong ibalita sa mga kababayan natin na si Seaman First Class Jeffrey Facundo, ang isa po sa ating magigiting na bayani sa West Philippine Sea na naputulan ng hinlalaki sa naganap na engkwentro noong Hunyo 17 sa Ayungin Shoal, ay nasa mabuting kalagayan, at nananatiling mataas ang kumpyansa.)
"Nakaharap ko po sya kahapon at matagal din kaming nag-usap. Naka-bandage po ang kamay ni Jeffrey, at sya ay nagre-rekober," added the senator on his daily radio program, 'Usapang Tol.'
In their conversation, the senator learned that Facundo, a member of the Navy Special Operations Unit, hails from Zamboanga City.
Incidentally, Tolentino was in the city over the weekend to spearhead the opening of the Mindanao leg of the Philippine ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) Games.
A principal author of the ROTC Bill (Senate Bill No. 2034), Tolentino will return to Zamboanga Peninsula this week to lead the distribution of financial aid to indigent residents in various localities, and to oversee the conduct of the games, which will conclude on June 28.
Earlier, Facundo told the foreign relations committee that he lost his finger when it got caught against a CCG boat that rammed their rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) on their way to BRP Sierra Madre in the morning of June 17.
Tolentino is the principal author and sponsor of two measures that have been included in the priority measures of the LEDAC (Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council ) which seek to bolster the country's assertion of its sovereign and economic rights in the West Philippine Sea.
These are the Philippine Maritime Zones Act (SBN 2492) and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act (SBN 2665).
EIN Presswire does not exercise editorial control over third-party content provided, uploaded, published, or distributed by users of EIN Presswire. We are a distributor, not a publisher, of 3rd party content. Such content may contain the views, opinions, statements, offers, and other material of the respective users, suppliers, participants, or authors.
