BAGUIO CITY – Support from kind-hearted individuals and groups continue to pour for the beneficiaries of the 44 fallen Special Action Force (SAF) heroes in order to allow them to hurdle the difficulties of having lost a bread winner in their respective families.
The latest group to turn in their accumulated donations to the beneficiaries of the fallen SAF heroes was the Upsilon Sigma Phi Alumni Association who gave the representatives of the 14 SAF members from the Cordillera their share from the funds that the fraternity raised during its fund raising marathon in Camp Aguinaldo last March 25.
Each of the representatives of the 14 Cordillera SAF heroes received from Leyte 1st district Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and chief of staff lawyer Jessie Andres the amount of P7,000 in check and a total of P100,000 scholarship grant each with the AMA Education system from Lito Devilos of the Baguio-based AMA Computer Learning Center.
The Upsilon Sigma Phi Alumni Association was able to raise more than P300,000 in cash during the one-day marathon and was able to convince the management of the AMA Education System to provide a total of P4.4 million worth of scholarships to the beneficiaries of the fallen SAF heroes.
Romualdez cited the small donation that their fraternity raised for the SAF beneficiaries is just a simple token that they can provide the family members and relatives of the declared heroes in recognition of their gallantry and bravery in holding their ground against the Muslim bandits that waylaid them in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25.
“We have to make sure that the families left behind by our SAF heroes will be able to move on despite having lost their respective bread winners and these small things mean a lot to them, especially in having to sustain the education of the children that were left behind,” Romualdez stressed.
Among the prominent members of the Upsilon Sigma Phi Alumni Association aside from Romualdez and Andres include Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gregorio Pio Katapang and CIS Party-list Rep. Samuel Pagdilaw, who was also the founder of the SAF, the elite strike force of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The nearest of kin of the fallen SAF heroes will be authorized to avail of the full scholarship given by the Upsilon Sigma Phi Alumni Association and AMA Education System in the nearest AMA school of their choice, especially in the areas where the courses of the beneficiaries are offered by the higher education institution.
According to the Leyte lawmaker, their group will continue generating resources which could be used to extend whatever assistance to the beneficiaries of the fallen SAF heroes for them to be able to recover from the dark side of their lives and move on towards achieving success in their respective endeavour.
The group of Romualdez will be going around the country to distribute the generated funds and scholarships to the beneficiaries of the fallen SAF heroes and for them to personally be updated on how are their beneficiaries doing over four months after their tragic experience in life.
By Dexter A. See
