Hattiesburg, Miss., June 7, 2012 - The Philippines Ambassador the the United States, Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., pinned two distinguished Philippines military medals on Kitsap Naval Base Command Chaplain and Filipino-American, Commander Manuel (Don) Biadog, Jr., a 1983 graduate of William Carey University, at a brief ceremony held at the Ambassador's Office in the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines, Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2012. Chaplain Biadog graduated WCU cum laude with a degree in social sciences.
Prior to the award ceremonies, the Vice President of the Philippines, Jejomar ";Jojo"; Cabauatan Binay, Sr., recognized and thanked Chaplain Biadog for his outstanding service.
Chaplain Biadog was awarded both the Gawad Sa Kaunlaran Award for Progress Medal and the Military Civic Action Medal. The Gawad Sa Kaunlaran Medal is the seventh highest in the hierarchy of the Armed Forces of th Philippines (AFP) medals, and the Military Civic Action is the 14th highest.
The Gawad Sa Kaunlaran Medal is awarded to military personnel of the AFP who have contributed significantly in non-combat operations, benefiting the socioeconomic needs of the underprivileged and disadvantaged rural areas of the Philippines. This medal is rarely given to friendly military foreign nations.
The Military Civic Action Medal is awarded to military and civilian personnel of the AFP and friendly military foreign nations to recognize meritorious achievement in the field of humanitarian civic action in direct support of joint U.S. and Philippines military operations.
Chaplain Biadog created the Blue-Green Gift Box Initiative/Operation Goodwill and led over 60 community relations projects, distributing nearly 100 tons of essential good of books, school supplies, clothing, Christmas holiday toys, and 1 million meals to over 100,000 impoverished Filipino children and indigenous people in three major islands of the Philippines.
Also, he provided and led the rapid, efficient, and safe response to over a dozen civil-military operations during joint U.S. and Philippines military operations, and directed humanitarian assistance disaster relief landslide operations in Southern Leyte in February 2006.
The Military Civic Action Medal was given to Chaplain Biadog for his exceptional leadership and conduct during the medical civic action program when he provided essential life-saving medicines and medical supplies to hundreds of indigent Aetas, aborigines of the Philippines province of Zambales. The humanitarian outreach raised the Aetas' quality of life and was considered a major peaceful objectives of the AFP.
Both medals honored Chaplain Biadog's extraordinary accomplishments and leadership, his outstanding contributions to the AFP and U.S. deployed naval forces in Southeast Asia, and his role in maintaining continuing diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the United States of America.