BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A 21-year-old candidate soldier died of heat stroke at the Ilagan Doctors General Hospital in Isabela on Friday within days of the start of his training.
Julius Hernando of Mallig, Isabela joined the traditional opening ceremony and reception rites for Candidate Soldier Course Class of 546-2018 at the 5th Division Training School of the Philippine Army's 5th Infantry Division at Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Upi, Gamu, Isabela Thursday morning.
Reception is the first phase of training, where recruits and candidates go through rigorous physical activity as a rite of passage and to get them ready for further military training.
By noon on Thursday, however, Hernando had passed out and had to be rushed to the camp’s hospital. He was transferred to IDGH when he started having seizures and showed a decline in vital signs around 5 p.m.
He died at 4:30 a.m. on Friday.
Maj. Gen. Perfecto Rimando, commanding general of the 5th Infantry Division, assured Hernando's family that they will receive financial support since the recruit died while a certified member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. — Artemio Dumlao