CABANATUAN CITY – Col. Melquiades L. Francisco, commander of the 71^st Infantry Battalion of the Army’s 7^th Infantry Division, has been selected one of the top 10 army soldiers in the recently concluded search for The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS) of 2010. 

TOPS is an annual search conducted by the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. and Rotary Club of Makati Metro, which pays tribute to outstanding examples of gallantry, competence, professionalism, and integrity among members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Final Board of Judges chaired by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio conducted the selection of the 10 TOPS honorees.

“Chosen for achieving the highest standards of service, competence, integrity and professionalism, these soldiers are modern-day heroes who serve as models for emulation not only by their peers, but by the rest of us who strive for excellence,” The TOPS organizers stated.

Aside from Colonel Feliciano, the other nine awardees are Colonel Nathaniel Y. Casem, Colonel Arnold A. Mencita, Major Vicente G. Magaro, Master Sergeant Rogelio T. Alarcon Jr., Master Sergetn Hercules L. Regis, Sergeant Vicente S. Sustiverio Jr., Master Sergeant Leonilo L. Pedrosa.

Feliciano’s command, the 71st Infantry Brigade is based in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija and covers the Northern portion of Nueva Ecija, Western Portion of Pangasinan, and parts of the Cagayan Valley.

Feliciano leaves a heavy impact on the solution of the insurgency problems in every command he had held, which earned for him outstanding merit awards. In early 2009, he was able to neutralize the Nueva Ecija Provincial Committee of the CPP-NPA, with eight members surrendering and another eight killed in action.  They recovered 16 high-powered firearms and 17 anti-tank landmine explosives.

He helped sustain the livelihood project of Barangay Parista, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija in 2007, which was considered a hotbed of communist activities. He also supervised theestablishment of the Parista Barangay Defense System Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which provided internal security against insurgents aside from being a system of livelihood supported by the LGUs and business community.  

Feliciano, 24 years in the military service  and PMA Class 1985,  has distinguished himself with quite a number of “Extraordinary Acts,” among which were the neutralization of 103 communist insurgents of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee as well as their rehabilitation as commander of the 34th Military Intelligence Company (MICO), 1st Infantry Division from 1992 to 1995; the clearing of insurgents in Zamboanga del Sur in 1989; the capture during operations in Tungawan, Zamboanga del Sur of nine members of the MNLF “Lost Command” which included Kumander “Falca Santos” and “Kumander Bungi,” and recovery of an M16 rifle, two .38 revolvers, documents, and personal belongings; transformation of the 3rd Civil Relations Group, Civil Relations Service Unit into a Special Operations Team–White Area which conducted counter organizing operations among the different grassroots organizations;  neutralization of a transport organization used as a communist front, leading to the formation of a Drivers’ Cooperative of its former members.

A believer of dialoguing with the enemy, Feliciano once said in a radio interview that the Mindanao conflict may be solved through the conduct of dialogue with the main subjects of the controversy. 

He said the issue in the community is very much different with that being talked about in the boardroom think-tanks elsewhere. 

He believes that a heart-to-heart talk with the parties involved in the Mindanao conflict, and a genuine and honest-to-goodness solution to the problems besetting the natives would help a lot in bringing about peace.

For him, arms is the only last-minute, last-ditch solution to any conflict, adding that the conflicts in the countryside is an issue for the local government people to directly undertake.      

The military solution is only the alternative option to any failed agreement or pact with the parties involved in the Mindanao conflict.

Drawing parallels with his past accomplishments, he pointed to his approach in the neutralization of a fisherfolk organization used as a front of the CPP-NPA in Region VII (Central Visayas).  He dialogued with the fisherfolk and managed to convince them to trust the government again.  He then organized the members into a cooperative registered under the Cooperative Development Authority and a grant of P100,000 was provided by the Department of Labor and Employment for the implementation of a livelihood project.

He also conceptualized the Farmer Sector Counter Organizing Concept, which involved the LGUs and other stakeholders in addressing insurgency.  By addressing and explaining to the barangays the issues exploited by the CPP-NPA on land reform, the rural folk were convinced that the insurgents had been selling to them distorted and exploited ideas, thus clearing the area of NPAs.

Col. Feliciano has written six counter-organizing concepts on the process of village recruitment  by the CPP-NPA, counter-terrorism and  the conduct of Special Operations Team,  and others, which have become part of the military establishment’s lectures and seminars.