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ROTC cadet catches student who jumped off 5th floor

By Hilda Austria

November 30, 2019, 3:02 pm

<p><strong>ADOPTED SON OF DAGUPAN CITY.</strong> Mart Stephen Navarro (in green) was made an adopted son of Dagupan City by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Nov. 19, 2019. The ROTC cadet catched and saved a suicidal student who jumped from the 5th floor in their school. Navarro said he was enabled by God in doing the act and at the same time aided by the discipline he learned from ROTC training. <em>(Photo courtesy of Atty. Joey Tamayo's Facebook account)</em></p>

ADOPTED SON OF DAGUPAN CITY. Mart Stephen Navarro (in green) was made an adopted son of Dagupan City by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Nov. 19, 2019. The ROTC cadet catched and saved a suicidal student who jumped from the 5th floor in their school. Navarro said he was enabled by God in doing the act and at the same time aided by the discipline he learned from ROTC training. (Photo courtesy of Atty. Joey Tamayo's Facebook account)

DAGUPAN CITY -- A 20-year-old criminology student here and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadet has saved the life of his fellow student who jumped off the ledge of a five-storey building of their school.
 
Mart Stephen Navarro said the incident happened on a weekend while they were having training in their ROTC with fellow cadets and officers.
 
“We were on a break after our morning formation, when I saw, along with other students who were at the school, the student who was about to jump off from the ledge of the five-storey building while his father was negotiating with her,” he said in an interview Friday.
 
Navarro said he immediately called the attention of their platoon leader who promptly commanded the other ROTC cadets and officers to respond.
 
“The officers made a formation in order to catch the student. The events were so sudden and she jumped off on the other side away from the rescuers, but near my location so I hurried to catch her as I was the nearest to where she might fall. I caught her but the impact left me with (an) injured right leg knee cap. We were both rushed to the nearby hospital,” he said.
 
Navarro said he was happy to know that the student is now safe.
 
Navarro stayed at the hospital for two days. His knee cap is still recovering from the injury and will most likely take three months to fully heal.
 
He attributed the quick response to God, and the discipline he learned from ROTC.
 
“I advise young people like me to entrust everything to the Lord, whatever your problems are,” he said.
 
Navarro was awarded with four-year scholarship by his school as well as the city government of Dagupan and his hometown Calasiao, Pangasinan. He was also made an adopted son of Dagupan City through a resolution of the Sangguniang Panlungsod for his heroic act.
 
He was also promoted to ROTC Cadet 2nd Lt. Officer.
 
Meanwhile, ROTC coordinator Arnold Subang said the students enrolled in ROTC program undergo different trainings that teach them survival or first-aid or rescue; preparedness; discipline, patriotism and love for countrymen, among others.
 
“It is important for young people to be always prepared of possible incidents, such as what might happen in the school or even outside their schools. They need to be aware on what they should do in times of emergencies and even disasters,” he said.
 
Subang expressed his support to making ROTC mandatory.
 
Navarro and Subang’s school has about 300 students taking up ROTC.
 
On December 5, around 2,500 ROTC cadets from selected colleges and universities and uniformed personnel in the country will attend a summit in Quirino Grandstand, Manila to celebrate and drum up support for the reinstatement of mandatory ROTC.
 
The event is being organized by the Office of the President through the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) and Presidential Security Group, in coordination with the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) through the Office of the Reservist and Retiree Affairs (OJ9).
 
The activity will feature the silent drill competition from among the best in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP), Philippine Army Officer Candidate School (PAOCS), Philippine Navy Officer Candidate School (PNOCS), and Philippine Air Force Officer Candidate School (PAFOCS).
 
The units are vying for the top prize of PHP300,000; the second placer will receive PHP200,000, and the third will get PHP100,000.
 
A PHP50,000 consolation prize will be given for each of the four other units. (PNA)
 

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