I WROTE this three years ago, but the clamor for then-Staff Sergeant Antonino Basa to be awarded the Medal of Valor has been revived in social media.
How many times must a soldier risk his life—again and again, above and beyond the call of duty—before we call it what it is: the highest act of valor?
Three years ago, Staff Sergeant Basa of the 14th Scout Ranger Company already held five Gold Cross medals—each one for gallantry in combat. His record is staggering: wounded once in Basilan, three times in Marawi, and in Sulu in March 2018. But not all his awards came from injuries; some were earned through extraordinary feats, like infiltrating an Abu Sayyaf stronghold in Basilan, or, in perhaps his most selfless act, lying over an improvised explosive device to shield his comrades—an IED that, by a miracle, did not detonate.
Twice, he was recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Star, the second-highest military award. After his heroism in Marawi, he was recommended for the Medal of Valor—the rarest and most prestigious honor in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, awarded only 40 times in history, with just 17 recipients still alive. That recommendation was revived by then–Lt. Gen. Charlie Galvez of the Western Mindanao Command, now OPAPP Secretary, after Basa’s near-fatal encounter with the Abu Sayyaf in March 2018.
When I asked him why he repeatedly risked his life, Basa’s answer from his hospital bed was simple: “To follow orders and serve the country.” When I pressed if he would consider resting, his reply was just as steadfast: “Depende po sa nakakataas sa akin, following orders lang po ako.”
What more must be done to prove “conspicuous courage, gallantry, and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty”? To me, Sergeant Basa had already crossed that threshold.
As a postscript, I later learned there are AFP officers who have received more than five Gold Cross medals—three I know had earned 7, 13, and 16, respectively. But numbers aside, Basa’s acts of courage stand out, particularly when he charged a machine gun–manned foxhole in xBaguindan Complex under heavy fire, lobbed a grenade, and silenced the threat. That, to me, is Medal of Valor material.
