The 2026 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos awards carry a meaning that goes beyond medals and recognition. For me, this year's three outstanding soldiers—Staff Sergeant Joebelle O. Cerdinio, Staff Sergeant John Daren P. Noche and Lieutenant Colonel Rommel M. Geli—represent something I have personally witnessed: the Filipino soldier as protector, partner, and humanitarian.
Cerdinio, wounded during the 2017 Marawi Siege and later declared unfit for combat, transformed adversity into another form of service. He helped develop the GESCON command-and-control platform, cutting information-processing time by more than half, and helped establish a unified radio network in Zamboanga Sibugay that trained more than 250 operators and strengthened emergency response in 16 municipalities.
Noche likewise proves that innovation is not confined to formal training. Teaching himself programming, he developed digital systems that reduced firearms-accounting time by 50 percent, personnel processing by 90 percent and mission-risk assessments from hours to seconds. During the pandemic, he also became his unit's sole certified swabber and response point person.
But Geli's recognition is especially personal to me.
I had the privilege of working with him—then a Major—and the Marine battalion he led, during a Mindanao Humanitarian Volunteers for Peace (MHVP) mission in Green Island, Roxas, Palawan, in July 2022. The island's scorching heat and difficult conditions tested even humanitarian volunteers. My fellow MHVP member, Mary Joy Bustamante, and I eventually developed community-acquired pneumonia and were hospitalized at St. Luke's BGC for seven days.
That experience gave me a deeper appreciation of what soldiers like Geli do in geographically isolated communities. The Marines were not there merely as security escorts but as partners in bringing medical and humanitarian services to people who could otherwise remain beyond the reach of government and civil society. The Green Island mission itself provided medical consultations and other services with the support of Marine Battalion Landing Team 3. Geli was likewise recognized for advancing maritime surveillance and intelligence, while also leading literacy, medical, educational and youth initiatives.
It is fitting, too, that the Senate has honored the late Aniceto “Chito” Sobrepeña, longtime president of the Metrobank Foundation, through Proposed Senate Resolution No. 640. I had the privilege of engaging with Sobrepeña over the years while covering the Metrobank Foundation awards, giving me a personal appreciation of his commitment to recognizing Filipinos who exemplify excellence and service. Various senators have likewise honored his legacy, which continues through the Foundation’s search for outstanding teachers, police officers and soldiers.
Perhaps that is the finest tribute to Sobrepeña: the recognition of Filipinos who quietly serve where service is most needed. And for me, as a Warrior Diplomat who has seen that kind of service firsthand, I have long known that these soldiers are not simply awardees. They are reminders that patriotism is often found far from the spotlight—on battlefields, in communities, and even on the remotest islands of the country, where help is desperately needed.