Dingdong Dantes is now a lieutenant commander of the Philippine Navy

A donning of rank ceremony was held earlier today, January 27, for the newly promoted Philippine Navy reservist Lieutenant Commander Jose Sixto "Dingdong" Dantes III and other members of the regular force and reserve officers, including Rocco Nacino, at the Philippine Navy Headquarters in Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

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Lieutenant Commander Jose Sixto G. Dantes III PN (Res) . . Super proud of you my husband... Salute! ♥️

A post shared by Marian Rivera Gracia Dantes 🇵🇭 (@marianrivera) on Jan 26, 2020 at 9:07pm PST

Present in the ceremony is Philippine Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad who donned Dingdong and Rocco's rank insignia.

During his interview with GMA reporters, Dingdong, who is a Marine reservist since 2009, shared that being a part of the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is his way to be of service to his countrymen.

The Descendants of the Sun actor said, "Bukod sa achievement ay I think it's really an honor kasi marami naman tayong paraan para magsilbi sa bayan and para sa 'kin, bukod sa pagiging artista, ito 'yung pinili ko.

"Mula noong 2006 no'ng nagpa-enlist ako sa Philippine Marines, marami na talaga 'kong natutunan sa public service and serving the youth. Maraming organizations ang natulungan.

"In fact, kaya nabuo ang Yes Pinoy noong ako'y naging reservist."

He also added, "It may require some time away from the family, away from other things, pero kapag committed ka sa ginagawa mo, magagawa mo talaga s'ya."

One of Dingdong's duties as a lieutenant commander is to assist the uniformed personnel during the time of disaster relief operations.

He said, "Fundamentally, part ng duty namin ay i-assist ang ating uniformed personnel, especially in times of disaster, lalo na ngayong nagkakaroon tayo ng new normal dahil sa climate change, sa mga delubyong nararanasan natin. Lahat ng 'yan ay parte ng pag-a-assist natin sa Armed Forces of the Philippines."

As the founding chairman of Yes Pinoy Foundation, Dingdong believes that this promotion is timely and beneficial for the organization to reinforce their ties with the Philippine Navy for the easy implementation of disaster relief efforts.

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Isang pasasalamat sa lahat ng tumulong sa ating mga kababayang apektado ng Taal Volcano Eruption! Because of your generosity and with the help of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Marines-- led by BGen Ariel Caculitan PNRC-- we were able to donate 1000 relief packs to evacuation centers in Balayan, Batangas namely, Pastoral Center, Canda, Tanggoy and Patugo. Each relief pack has 1 kilo of rice, 2 Megasardines, 2 instant noodles, 4 sachets of Hana Shampoo, 1 soap, 1 blanket, 2 face masks, 1 thermal blanket, 2 bottled water, and 2 packs of Doña Maria Rice Puffs. This includes around 2000 pieces of clothes. This is in addition to the 708 kgs of rice that we have distributed last Monday through the Philippine Red Cross and the Military. Kaya muli, sa lahat ng donors at volunteers, maraming maraming salamat sa inyong kabayanihan! #BangonBatangas #DamayangPinoy #TaalVolcanoEruption @yespinoy @marianrivera Our partners: MARCSSBn thru Col. Sonny Wang Philippine Marines Philippine Navy Department of Social Welfare and Development @hanaphilippines @nycpilipinas Employees Association NYC Multi-Purpose Cooperative @king_inn_a @donamariarice @michellegankee @megasardines @thereseleopando @tinaayson @thedongyanatics @officialdongyanwarriors_ph Solid DD @scrubbed.global @stuntassoc.ph @philredcross @smilecaresfoundation @shaina_magdayao Pulilan Management Co. Inc. Carewin Water Station @fatimaogang Corbridge Philippines @adfinitymmc @belleisemma Solfe Soldevilla MC Barretto Enterprises Baby Boomers Doctors of Medical City @gcremulla @cecilleperez @lalunaloca @nacinorocco Individual donors Individual volunteers

A post shared by Dingdong Dantes (@dongdantes) on Jan 17, 2020 at 4:07pm PST

"'Yung team ko is in charge of disaster preparedness. It's the same thing na ginagawa ko with Yes Pinoy ngayon na mas pinaigiting 'yung partnership with Philippine Navy, officialized by Taal. Nagiging madali 'yung coordination.

"Kung kailangan namin ng tulong sa uniform personnel natin, kung kailangan natin ng volunteers, sa resources, so mas madali tayong makakapag-execute ng activities."

Moreover, Rocco Nacino was officially recognized as Petty Officer Third Class of the Philippine Navy reserve command during the ceremony.

Lauding Dingdong's new achievement, Rocco shared, "Ito ang pinaka-ceremony ng pagbigay ng aking ranggo so it's nice to see all the officers. Nakaka-inspire din si Dong na na-promote to lieutenant commander and, siyempre, ako, bilang baguhan pa lang sa Navy, gusto ko ring makamit 'yung mga nakamit ni Dong.

"Nagbibiruan nga kami. Buddies kami sa Descendants of the Sun, buddies din kami in real life."

Aside from the donning of ranks, both Dingdong and Rocco were given awards as recognition for their participation in the relief operations held in Southern Luzon for the victims of the Taal Volcano eruption.

IN PHOTOS: Dingdong Dantes and Rocco Nacino lead relief operations for Taal victims

"We were really surprised that we were given awards for the relief operation na ginawa namin with the Navy and with the Marines. Akala lang namin na it's part of our duty as a reservist, 'di namin akalain na may ganitong recognition. So nakaka-engganyo lalo to be thanked for our services," said Rocco.

YesPinoy Foundation, nilinaw ang pagsusuot ni Dingdong Dantes ng Philippine Marines uniform