A cadet from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) is still in coma after he was shot in the head when he attempted to stop a robbery on board a passenger jeepney in Fairview, Quezon City last Saturday.
Around noon, Alfonso Aviles, a first class cadet of the PMA, was riding a jeepney in Barangay Lagro in Quezon City when a man took out a caliber .45 pistol and declared a holdup.
While the robber was busy taking the belongings of a fellow passenger, Aviles wrestled and tried to disarm the robber. But Aviles failed to take the gun from the robber. Instead, he was shot in the neck with the bullet exiting his face. The robber then took Aviles’ academy bull ring and ran away.
The jeepney driver, Rockefeller Bala, initially rushed Aviles to East Avenue Medical Center. He was immediately transferred to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center (AFPMC).
Aviles had undergone operation in AFPMC where the bullet was successfully removed from his head. He is unconscious and is placed under intensive care unit. He remains under observation as of posting time.
Aviles and other senior cadets were to serve as proctors for the PMA entrance examination last Sunday, August 26. The day before, they were granted free time. So Aviles visited his family in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. He was on his way back to his quarters in AFPMC when the incident happened.
Aviles is due to graduate from the academy next year as part of PMA Class 2013.
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. praised the cadet in a press briefing, saying he is “just one of the many dedicated and committed soldiers of the AFP who risk their lives every day so that others may live in a peaceful and secure environment.”
The AFP is appealing to those who have information on the identity of the man who shot Aviles to come forward and cooperate with the authorities so that justice may be served.
