Kin grieve over loss of 'good brother,' 'dedicated soldier' in Marawi combat
October 8, 2017 | 5:56am
Corporal Gerald Aparte of the 11th Scout Ranger Company was killed in an encounter with Maute terrorists in Marawi City Friday, 34 years after his father, a member of the now-defunct Citizens Home Defense Force, perished in a gunfight with Moro rebels who raided their village in Barangay Limulan in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat. Photo courtesy of John Unson
COTABATO CITY — Like father, like son.
Corporal Gerald Aparte of the 11th Scout Ranger Company and his father, Zosimo, a militiaman, were both killed in separate encounters more than three decades apart with state enemies in defense of the Philippine flag and the nation it stands for.
Aparte was killed Friday in an encounter with Maute terrorists in Marawi City, 34 years after his father, a member of the now-defunct Citizens Home Defense Force, perished in a gunfight with Moro rebels who raided their village in Barangay Limulan in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat.
He was still an infant when his father got killed, according to relatives.
Superiors of Aparte in the 11th SRC told The STAR Saturday that he was an obedient and disciplined subordinate who exemplified courage in the most hostile combat engagements of their unit even in his junior years in the service.
He was twice injured in action in Marawi City from between August and September and was not even supposed to return for duty yet, but reported to his unit there just the same for love of work.
“He was passionate with his work. He was a dedicated soldier. We can’t thank him enough for the supreme sacrifice,” said Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, commander of the Western Mindanao Command.
Life for Aparte and his four siblings, Evelyn, Jocelyn, Chealmea and Jerome, became so tough after their father died on Aug. 1, 1983 defending their village from marauding Moro rebels who attacked after residents refused to pay protection money on periodic basis.
Their mother, Norie, died of cancer about 10 years later, worsening their situation. They have two siblings —Noime and Noel—in the second marriage of their mother.
The orphaned Apartes provided for each other’s needs as they grew up together in Kalamansig, a seaside town home to mixed Christian, Muslim and Lumad communities.
Officials of the Army-led anti-terror Task Force Marawi said Aparte was first wounded in August in the arm in a fierce gunfight with Maute terrorists.
He was nearly killed in September when a big chunk of concrete fell on him from the second floor of a two-story house terrorists bombarded with B-40 anti-tank rockets while he and other Rangers were trying to enter the building to search for enemies.
“He was a good brother to us,” Aparte’s sister, Jocelyn, told The STAR on Saturday.
Relatives of Aparte in Kalamansig said he was known in their barangay as a friendly and polite man.
He survived through hard life during his childhood and adolescent years with the help of peasant relatives who adopted him on a rotational basis. He joined the Army in 2009 after he graduated from high school.
His classmates in elementary and high school said they were saddened by his death.
“His death was honorable. He brought our town honor. We are proud of him,” a driver of a hauler truck plying the Cotabato-Kalamansig route, Celso Quintos, said in Hiligaynon dialect.
Aparte shall be buried in Davao City where his immediate family resides. He is survived by wife, Rowena, who is from Davao City, and two children.
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