MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) want to pay tribute to the sacrifices and gallantry of government troops killed at the front lines of the battle in Marawi City.

The organizing committee, led by UNTV, has met with representatives from AFP and PNP to finalize the date and venue of the concert.

Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations Maj. Gen. Melquiades Feliciano said they will hold auditions to search for policemen and soldiers who will perform in the concert.

Feliciano noted they will have no difficulty in selecting performers as they have good singers in every unit of the AFP.

He said they will just look for voices appropriate for each song included in the lineup.

“As far as AFP is concern, we have many talents. Many of the units within the major service level have bands. They have sj gers they use during activities, like the army may combo of the army … and they also have a lot of singing soldiers… the navy, marines and the Phil. Airforce has their own singers as well,” said the officer.

The general has expressed gratitude to UNTV for helping wounded soldiers and the families of those killed in the clashes against terrorists in Marawi City.

“We are very thankful to UNTV for the continuous partnership for the AFP. UNTV has helped and contributed a lot. First is that it promotes the AFP and PNP especially the heroism of our soldiers who sacrifices their lives, by covering and highlighting it, and also their other activities like the UNTV Cup,” said Feliciano.

This is the third concert organized by UNTV which is dedicated to soldiers and policemen.

“Songs for Heroes 1” held on March 19, 2015, was dedicated to the members of the Special Action Force (SAF) who died in an operation to capture international terrorist Zulkifli Binhir, alias Marwan.

“Songs for Heroes 2” held on June 30, 2015, was dedicated for the legacies left by former PNP OIC PDDG. Leonardo Espina in the PNP and former AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. in the AFP.

Aside from singing soldiers and policemen, also performing in “Songs for Heroes 3” are famous singers.

The concert will be held at the Araneta Coliseum on October 17. — Lea Ylagan | UNTV News & Rescue