ONE of the awardees in the inaugural staging of The Manila Times' 'Tribute to Soldiers' was a former rebel who abandoned the communist cause to become decorated enlisted personnel and an esteemed member of his community.

After turning his back on radical ideologies, Sgt. William Tello Jr., who was also once a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu), has since led successful combat and intelligence missions against communist insurgents under the Philippine Army's 4th Infantry Division's (4ID) 36th Infantry Battalion (36IB) in Surigao del Sur.