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PH Army honors FVR with simultaneous gun salutes nationwide
MANILA – The Philippine Army (PA) has fired its saluting batteries to honor and pay respects to former president Fidel V. Ramos who passed away last July 31 at the age of 94.
“The Fort Bonifacio-based Saluting Battery of the Army Artillery Regiment also joined the nationwide simultaneous gun salute at key military camps. An initial eight-volley fire kicked off the gun salute that started in the 5 a.m. reveille and ended in the 5 p.m. flag retreat,” PA spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a statement Monday night.
He added that all Philippine flags at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio and PA camps and bases nationwide were also flown at half-mast.
“The Philippine flag in Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila, and other key military installations nationwide were flown at half-mast on August 1, 2022 in a show of solidarity with the nation that is grieving the passing of the 12th President and Commander-in-Chief Fidel V. Ramos,” Trinidad said.
He also added that the PA chief Lt. Gen. Romeo S. Brawner Jr. led the Army headquarters-based officers and personnel in wearing the ‘badge of mourning’ on the left sleeve of the uniform following the official reading of the former president’s notice of death on the morning of Aug. 1.
“The 110,000-strong Philippine Army mourns the loss of a great leader and an illustrious soldier who truly embodied the organization’s core values of honor, duty, and patriotism,” Trinidad said.
Ramos served as the Philippines’ 12th president from 1992 to 1998 and as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief from 1986 to 1988.
He was appointed as defense secretary by former President Corazon “Cory” and served from 1988 to 1991.
Ramos was born on March 18, 1928 in Lingayen, Pangasinan and is a member of the United States Military Academy Class of 1950.
He was a member of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) and served in various military command positions throughout his long military career.