RET. COL. ARIEL OLIVA QUERUBIN PRESSCON IN CEBU
Ret. Col. Ariel Querubin, famously known as the "Push-Up Man," made a notable appearance at the Palaro Pambansa Last July 16, 2024 in Cebu City, lending his support to youth development, sports, and fitness.
Hailing from La Union - he made his way to Baguio to attend the Philippine Military Academy and graduated as part of the Matapat Class of 1979. He has served the Armed Forces for more than 30 plus years and now serves in the private sector.
He took his further studies from the school of Military Intelligence in Queensland, Australia, the Australian Defence College and the University of Canbrerra.
Most famously known for his heroics in Lanao Del Norte in the year 2000, Querubin was conferred the Armed Forces of the Philippines' highest honor, the Medal of Valor, for leading a military operation with 117 Philippine Marines against 300 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters.
His impressive military and professional career can be summed up in the various awards given to him such as the following: the Distinguished Conduct Star, 2 Distinguished Service Stars, 7 Gold Cross Medals, 2 Gawad sa Kaunlaran, 2 Bronze Cross Medals, 12 Military Merit Medals, a Parachutist Badge, the Tawid Award, the Cavalier Award for Naval Operations, and the Saranay Award (the highest award given by the Province of La Union to its outstanding constituents).
Querubin is considered as the most bemedaled soldier in our nation's history.
Then a question was raised reguarding his death and how he’s back and alive again.
The retired colonel is no stranger to brushes with death. In the course of his 30+ years in the Philippine marines, he has sustained 67 battle wounds. In a particularly brutal exchange, he and his battalion fought for 24 hours straight. While they were able to capture the MILF's 3rd Brigade as a result, the casualties were grave.
33 years ago, then Marine Captain Ariel Querubin lay clinically dead in the Quirino Labor Hospital's morgue. He had been hit by a Sikorsky helicopter gunship rocket, and he had no vital signs. By some stroke of luck, as he lay on the table, a doctor saw the PMA bullring on his finger twitch. He was immediately transferred to the AFP Medical Center. 13 hours later, the doctors had removed a part of his liver, 6 feet of his small intestines, and repaired his ruptured pancreas. He was alive.
"I had never felt so exhausted; I had not had a meal for a full day, but did not feel hungry, only relieved, a bit euphoric, at any rate definitely thankful to have emerged victorious and alive from one of the bitterest and most desperate battles I had fought," he recalls.
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