PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 2, 2013) – A decorated army commander, who was a combat veteran in Mindanao, died on Sunday after his diving dear malfunctioned off the coast of Zamboanga del Sur province, his grieving wife Maria Consuelo said.
Captain Jefferson Somera, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, earlier said the 54-year old Brigadier General Daniel Lucero had a heart attack while diving with his staffs and wife at a beach in Tukuran town.
“It was a sad day us all. We lost a good man, a good officer, a good friend,” Somera told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
But Lucero’s wife said his husband died after a malfunction in the diving gear. “He is gone. There was a malfunction in his diving suit,” she said in a separate interview.
Lucero, who belonged to the Philippine Military Academy Class 1983, was rushed to Mendero Hospital in Pagadian City, but died along the way, according to Somero.
The Armed Forces and the Philippine Army said Lucero collapsed in the beach and was rushed to hospital where he died.
Lucero was the first in his class to assume as army division commander. He was first assigned as a platoon leader in the Muslim provinces of Basilan and Sulu and fought insurgents, until his assignments brought him to Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, also in Mindanao; and eventually to Aurora province in Luzon as infantry brigade officer.
He served as the commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade in Lanao del Sur province and replaced Major General Ricardo Rainier Cruz in April this year.
A holder of Master Degree in International Studies from the University of the Philippines, and Masters Degree on International Relations in Australia, Lucero also served as the first commander of the Philippine contingent to the United Nations mission on the Caribbean island from 2004 to 2005.
Lucero, who started his career in Mindanao, was awarded three Distinguished Service Star Medals, Gold Cross Medal, Outstanding Achievement Medal and the Honor Graduate Medal and a number of Military Merit Medals and one of the Metrobank Foundation 2011 awardees of The Outstanding Soldier of the Philippines.
He is also survived by his only daughter Paula Divina. (Mindanao Examiner)
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