Rommel Sandoval

 ( Philippine Army Personnel ) 

Sandoval's men began clearing the building from top to bottom. After clearing the fifth to the second , they were about to enter the ground level when a burst of gunfire wounded Corporal Jayson Mante. His two other companions managed to quickly withdraw to the safety of the building's second storey, but Mante's injury prevented his own escape. Several failed attempts to rescue Mante transpired, during which time he was wounded several more times. At this point, Sandoval himself found an alternate route by which to approach and rescue Mante. He ordered his men to provide suppressive fire while he and another soldier, Private First Class Sherwin Canapi, attempted the rescue. As he reached the wounded soldier, Sandoval checked the latter's pulse and tried to pull him to safety. Sandoval was first wounded in his side. He returned fire but was then shot in the cheek, which proved fatal. He managed to crawl on top of Mante, shielding him from enemy fire. His body was later found to have bullets lodged in the chest, proving that he had protected Mante from getting further hit. Canapi was also killed in the rescue attempt.

Captain Sandoval was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on September 15, 2017. He was conferred the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medal of Valor, the highest award conferred to members of the AFP, on December 20, 2017.