SENIOR Police Officer 2 (SPO2) Delicio Esconde, when he was still a patrolman, was hit in the leg by a communist rebel’s bullet in Carmen in 1990, but he and his eight comrades held their ground, and the unidentified rebels scuttled away.
Esconde and his fellow troopers received medals for their bravery.
“Duha mi ang nangaigo, pero wala’y nakalas sa among grupo (Two of us got shot, but no one was killed),” he said.
Last Dec. 7, Esconde---now 55 and four months away from retirement---risked his life to save a six-year-old boy from drowning in a Danao City resort’s swimming pool.
“I’d feel guilty if I didn’t do anything to help since I was the first one to spot the boy,” Esconde said in Cebuano during a phone interview. “You know you can’t sleep with a guilty conscience.”
Chief Insp. Gerard Ace Pelare, the city police commander, described Esconde’s action as heroic and named the latter as Police Non-Commissioned Officer of the Week.
Esconde said he did not expect to receive the award last Monday, saying he just did the right thing.
He did what a police officer should do: save a life.
“Kon lain pa to’y kakita, mao pod toy buhaton luwason niya ang bata (I just did what other normal people would do),” he said.
Esconde and his fellow police officers were at the resort for their Christmas party. He went for a stroll after dinner and found the distressed boy.
The police officer immediately jumped into the water, still with his clothes on.
“Nabasa akong selpon ug akong pitaka (My cellphone and wallet got wet). Bisag basa akong sinina, apil gihapon ko sa sayaw sa party (My clothes, too, but I still danced afterwards),” he said.
Esconde’s tours of duty included the police stations of Pinamungajan, Alcoy, Naga City and the provincial police headquarters.
He was assigned to the mobile patrol team of Danao City Police Station in 2014. A year later, fire broke out and destroyed the police station and six others government offices.
The police’s detention facility was transferred to the city jail. Esconde has been tasked as jailer for more than a year now.
Reports of Esconde’s acts of kindness have reached Pelare.
Esconde often used his own money to buy medicines for ill detainees and he volunteered to connect detainees with their families.
“Maguol daw sila kon wala ko (I heard they’ll be saddened if I’m not there),” he said.
