Denis Santos
The brave Filipina, Joana Chris Arpon, officially became one of the few non-Israeli and non-Jewish volunteers of the Israel’s Military units. This unusual journey began in an earthquake in the country her parents migrated from.
In 2013, the disaster struck a region where Arpon, an Israeli-born Filipino, had close relatives. Despite the chaos, a search and rescue unit of the Israeli Defense Forces was ordered to provide relief to those who are affected–ending up rescuing Arpon’s grandmother.
Choosing to serve
In a report Reuters released, Arpon said, “Then I chose to serve in the same unit that saved her.”
The service of this Filipina is very unusual given the fact that, as the daughter of the economic migrants from the Philippines, she is not a citizen of Israel. But according to her, she hopes to change that.
Since then, she has been honored by the president of Israel as one of the country’s most outstanding soldiers, and was recognized at a festive ceremony just recently.
Inspiring everyone else, she has this to say,
“I hope for myself to be an Israeli (citizen), to have it, and also to help other people in other countries as I do here in the army.”
