MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday promised that he will give a medal of valor, the highest award that can be given to a policeman, to all the 44 elite policemen--not just 2--killed in the Mamasapano massacre.

During his meeting with the relatives of the slain Special Action Force (SAF) troopers, Duterte said he had been receiving petitions for him to give all slain elite cops the highest award of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“Ang importante, the highest honor that I can give really is to award them the Medal of Valor,” Duterte said.

Duterte said, he will order PNP chief Director-General Ronald dela Rosa to study giving the medal to the rest of the SAF 44 troopers.

He added, he also plans to declare a “day of remembrance” for the slain cops.

Among the SAF 44 troopers, the medal of valor was only given to Senior Insp. Gednat Tabdi and Police Officer 2 Romeo Cempron.

• READ: PNoy confers highest PNP award on 2 SAF commandos

Tabdi, the leader of Team 1 of SAF's 84th Special Action Company (SAC) - also called the "main effort" - was cited for "ably leading his team to their target despite extreme odds, including unfamiliar terrain, explosion of IED [improvised explosive device] that compromised their mission, and sustained fire from enemy who detected their presence."

Cemrpon, who belonged to 55th SAC which served as the blocking force that supported the assault team, on the other hand, was cited for his bravery that saved the life of PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor in the clash.