‘He’s more like a father to us,’ says sister of slain soldier

Inquirer Mindanao
May 27th, 2013

ZAMBOANGA CITY—“No one’s going to say ‘good morning.’ No one’s going to ask if we still have food in the house.”

This was how Rosalyn Lorin described life without her younger brother, 2nd Lt. Alfredo Lorin VI.

The 26-year-old Marine officer, “Limboy” to his family and friends, was one of the seven soldiers killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Patikul, Sulu, on Saturday.

“He sent text messages asking if our parents still had food. He always said that if we were running short of food, he could always send us money. Every time he visited us, he left every penny of his allowance and he would always assure us that he could manage,” Rosalyn said in Iriga City in Camarines Sur.

In a telephone interview with the Inquirer, Rosalyn said Limboy’s salary went to their mother and he made sure that the parents were all right while he was away.

Lorin was the sixth among eight siblings. His four elder brothers are married and have since left home. He also supported the education of his two younger brothers.

“He’s more like a father to us, even if I am older than him,” Rosalyn said.

Limboy graduated valedictorian in elementary school and secured a high school scholarship.

“At a young age, he was already a working student. We are very poor. His dream was to have a good job and build a decent home for my parents. Our parents are jobless and are already old,” Rosalyn said.

Breaking the news to their parents was hard, Rosalyn said. “One of the older brothers agreed to break the news gradually. Unfortunately, the one who was tasked to speak to my mother was the first to cry. My father is still in shock right now,” she said.

Rosalyn said even if they were devastated, they have to accept their brother’s fate.

“Maybe that’s the only task given to him by God—the task to touch everyone’s hearts and to remind us that life is precious and we need to strive harder,” Rosalyn said.—Julie S. Alipala

Filipino soldiers’ story of Korean War: Valor redux

 By Art Villasanta
Philippine Daily Inquirer

In an astonishing act of humanity and selflessness, the Philippines sent its soldiers to defend South Korea against a massive communist invasion despite its having to contend with a communist rebellion of its own and the painful challenge of rebuilding an economy crippled by World War II.

The Philippines was the first Asian country to send combat troops to the Korean War that began on June 25, 1950. Its soldiers protected South Korea until 1955.

The first Filipino warrior set foot on Korea at the port city of Busan (formerly Pusan) on Sept. 19, 1950. The 10th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) was the first of five BCTs that would serve in Korea until June 1955 under the flag of the elite Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea or Peftok.

Over 7,400 officers and men of the Philippine Army served in Korea. Five of these warriors—all in their 80s—recently returned to Korea for the first time since the Korean War. The Korean government sponsored their visit as part of the “Revisit Korea Program” for the Filipino war veterans and their families.

These veterans were accompanied by 15 other Filipinos who were either their children or grandchildren. Their host was South Korea’s Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

These veterans were all astounded at the massive progress Korea had made over the past six decades. One veteran noted that our present economic situation is the reverse of what it had been in the 1950s.

The Philippines then was Southeast Asia’s leading economic and military power and Asia’s second largest economy after Japan. From being one of the world’s poorest nations in the 1950s, South Korea is now one of the world’s 30 richest in per capita gross domestic product.


Oldest war veteran

“I can’t believe how fast South Korea has improved since the Korean War,” said Jesus Dizon, who at 86 is the oldest Korean War veteran among the “revisitors.” “It’s a tribute to the Korean people.”

His unit was the 20th BCT, the second Filipino BCT deployed to Korea. Dizon was a forward observer or FO, the most dangerous of allied soldiers, whose job was to identify targets for the six 105mm howitzers of the battalion’s field artillery battery.

FOs got their deadly job done with a field telephone; a pair of powerful binoculars, maps—and a great deal of courage. They normally occupied well-hidden positions on hilltops or other dominating terrain near the enemy and spent days searching for enemy activity. The power of life or death held by an FO was terrifying.
In North Korea one morning, a large number of communist Chinese soldiers suddenly appeared below a ridgeline Dizon had been observing for some time. Dizon located the enemy unit on the grid map spread before him.

He calmly picked up his field telephone and called in the target coordinates to the battery’s fire direction center of the battalion’s artillery battery emplaced a few kilometers behind him.

“Fire!” he ordered.

A single high-explosive 105mm round exploded away from the Chinese unit. Dizon noted the fall of the ranging round through his binoculars. He reported the adjusted range over the phone and commanded the entire battery to open fire.

Six 105mm howitzers manned by Filipinos unleashed shell after shell into the Chinese. Dizon saw the bewildered Chinese engulfed by horrifying explosions as murderous blasts tore apart their unit.

The inferno was over in about a minute. A dirty pall of dust and smoke from the barrage lingering over the tragedy served as the gravestone for dozens of dead Chinese.

Wounded in action

“All of this was flat,” exclaimed Luminoso Cruz, referring to the thriving and crowded city of Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul. “It was flat and gray. This city was totally destroyed.”

Suwon was where Cruz’s unit, the 10th BCT, spent its first Christmas in Korea. That was in 1950 and the 10th was the first of the five BCTs that served in Korea.

Cruz, a member of Recon Company, was the gunner of an M24 Chaffee light tank armed with a 75mm cannon. He took a shrapnel wound to the head along the banks of the Imjin River and was visibly moved as the bus crossed the river north during his visit to the Demilitarized Zone.

“This was where I was wounded,” he said, pointing to the bank of the Imjin, while holding back his tears.
He fought in a two-man foxhole at the great Battle of Yuldong, which he recalled as a night of incredible terror.

“The Chinese attacked us in waves all night. My buddy and I just kept firing and firing our rifles,” he recalled of this gory battle, which was fought on April 23, 1951.

He doesn’t know how they survived the murderous hell of Yuldong. But his buddy had to be sent home afterwards. His nerves had given way under the terror of too much savage combat.

They called it “shell shock” then. We call it “post-traumatic stress disorder” today.

The Battle of Yuldong was the greatest Filipino victory in the Korean War. A mere 900 Filipino fighting men withstood the night attack of an entire communist Chinese army that numbered 40,000 men at peak strength.
In standing their ground at Yuldong, the Filipinos fatally slowed down the largest Chinese offensive of the war, and probably helped prevent the destruction of the United Nations forces and the communist conquest of South Korea.

One man’s handiwork

Amiable and talkative, Florendo Benedicto served in both the 10th BCT and the 20th BCT. He decided to “re-up” or reenlist in the 20th BCT because he loved combat.

Benedicto stands almost 6-ft tall. In the Army at the time, tall men generally wound up becoming gunners in the belief they could carry heavier loads.

Benedicto’s weapon was the M1919 Browning .30 cal. medium machine gun that could fire up to 600 rounds a minute. The gun itself weighed 14 kilograms and it was Benedicto’s job to lug the gun onto the battlefield and fire it at the communist enemy. He did this on many occasions in two years of fighting.

He believes that South Korea’s enviable economic blessings are due mostly to the strong unity pervading South Koreans.

“Their national unity is worth emulating,” he said. “Filipinos should learn from the South Koreans. We have to establish love in the heart of every Filipino. We must love one another.”

It is a startling transformation for a formerly fierce warrior. It is all the more surprising if one knows what he did in the Korean War.

“I know I killed about 200 Chinese,” he said calmly when we talked about this. “I probably killed 300 more. I counted their dead bodies.”

Benedicto’s feat is all the more astounding since only 112 Filipino soldiers died in three years of combat in the Korean War despite almost constant fighting.


Winter experience

Constancio Sanchez turned 24 on the historic day the 10th BCT arrived by ship at Busan on Sept. 19, 1950, less than three months after the start of the Korean War on June 25.

Knowing this, his officers allowed Sanchez to become one of the first Filipino fighting men to set foot on Korean soil. His mates then treated him to merienda at one of the restaurants in the port city then being besieged by the communist North Korean People’s Army.

Sanchez served in the Headquarters & Headquarters & Service Company, the command group of the 10th BCT. The battalion was founded and first commanded by Col. Mariano Azurin. Col. Dionisio Ojeda replaced Azurin in the spring of 1951.

Of all the dangers he faced in the war, Sanchez remains awed by that phenomenon alien to Filipino experience called winter. It was December 1950 and the battalion was in Pyongyang when the communist Chinese intervened and hurled the United Nations Command (including the 10th BCT) out of North Korea.

The winter of 1950-1951 was Korea’s coldest in two centuries but this did nothing to dispel the savage fighting that actually intensified with the Chinese intervention.

“We were shocked when the Chinese came and advanced so quickly,” he said. “We had to withdraw rapidly to avoid encirclement and it was terribly cold.”

Things would have been far worse for the battalion if the Chinese had attacked earlier, Sanchez believes. The onset of winter a month earlier immobilized most of their motor vehicles.

The intense subzero cold froze the water in engines and shattered engine blocks. This paralyzed most of the battalion’s vehicles, including those in the transport-heavy HQ & HQ & Service Company.

Adding antifreeze to the water solved the problem, however, so that when the Chinese came, the battalion’s trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles kept running despite the intense cold.

“We probably wouldn’t have escaped from Pyongyang if we had to march on foot through the snow.”

Rediscovering God

Prudencio Medrano served in the HQ & HQ & Service Company of the 19th BCT, the third Peftok unit deployed to Korea, and re-upped for another year with the 14th BCT. And this was because of his friends.
“I re-enlisted because we were ‘buddy-buddy,’” he said. “Five of my buddies in the 19th BCT decided to extend. They asked me if I wanted to extend and I did because they were my buddies.”

In both BCTs, Medrano served as a radio operator of their battalion commanders—Col. Ramon Aguirre of the 19th and Col. Nicanor Jimenez of the 14th.

With the 19th, Medrano recalled he was often in the advanced command post with Colonel Aguirre. His job was to transmit and receive voice messages and telegraph messages via Morse Code. Lives depended on the accuracy of his messages.

Medrano rediscovered God amid the horror of the Korean War. The long spells between action and boredom along the static front line gave him time to reflect on things spiritual.


(Editor’s Note: The author is a historian of the Korean War. Among his stories published in this newspaper is one about the P500 bill being a memorial to the Philippines’ involvement in that war. His Korean War website is www.peftok.blogspot.com.)

Military honors fathers in its ranks, 37 of whom die each year on average

By DJ Yap/ Philippine Daily Inquirer


MANILA, Philippines – Perhaps nobody appreciates better the preciousness of Fathers’ Day than the children of soldiers who know that every moment they stay alive is a blessing.

Some 70,000 fathers comprise over half of the workforce of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and each year, an average of 37 of the “soldier dads” get killed in action, making military service one of the deadliest jobs for Filipino fathers.

“It’s a hard life to be a soldier and to be the child of a soldier. You have to make every moment count,” said Private First Class Ilyser Infante of the Army’s 82nd Infantry Battalion based in Miag-ao, Iloilo.

The 25-year-old soldier could only wish for more time with his dad.

Four years ago, Infante lost his father, Technical/Sergeant Abraham Infante, to communist New People’s Army guerrillas, who shot and killed him near his home in Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental. The older Infante was only two years away from retirement when the ambush took place.

Then 21, Infante, who had been unsure of what he wanted to do in life, made a vow to follow in his father’s footsteps and signed up at the Philippine Military Academy, where he lasted only seven months after failing some academic subjects.

“But I was determined to be a soldier so I still enlisted in the Army,” Infante told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the phone.

His motivation, he said, was not to avenge his father, but to continue what he had started. “At first, there was anger but the longer I am in the service, it just becomes all about wanting to serve my country,” he said.

On the eve of Fathers’ Day on Saturday, the 125,000-strong AFP saluted all the fathers in its ranks.

In a statement given to the Inquirer in lieu of an interview, the military top brass congratulated these fathers “for their continued dedication and commitment to the fulfillment of their mandated duties and responsibilities to the nation while at the same time working very hard to be responsible fathers in their homes.”

“Being a soldier dad is probably the most dangerous and difficult occupation in the world,” AFP spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said.

But “the most challenging thing for a Pinoy soldier dad is striving to be the best father he can be while keeping in mind that his duty and service to the country should always come first,” he added.

The AFP chief of staff,  General Jessie Dellosa, said in the same statement: “I would like to pay tribute to all the Filipino Soldier Dads who guard our skies, patrol our seas and secure our lands so that all the other fathers in the country may be able to celebrate Fathers’ Day with their families peacefully.”

For Infante, Fathers’ Day will be spent quietly at the camp reflecting and remembering the good times with his father, who left behind a wife and five children.

“I will light two candles and remember the kind of father he was to me,” he said, speaking in Filipino.

Infante said the life of a soldier’s son was “completely different” from that of a civilian’s son.

“When your father is a soldier, your time together is so limited. That’s why you just have to make sure that you spend your time together well,” he said.

Recalling his times with his father, Infante said, he would usually have time off only about 10 days in a year.

“Every time he was home, the family would gather together. We would just stay home, talk about a lot of things, laugh together over dinner,” Infante said. “We didn’t go out that often because he would just want to relax and enjoy our company.”

Infante said he has no immediate plans to become a father himself, but when he does, “I will do as my father did.” “I will focus on raising my children and make sure that they finish their studies,” he said.

Stories like Infante’s are not rare in the Philippine military.

Another soldier-son whose father was killed by enemies of the government is the current chief of the Philippine Army, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Bautista.

He was a freshman cadet at the PMA when his father, Brigadier General Teodulfo Bautista, and 33 other unarmed officers and men gathered for a meeting with rebels about a year into a formal ceasefire, were gunned down by Moro National Liberation Front rebels in Patikul, Sulu on Oct. 10, 1977.

Speaking of his desire to achieve lasting peace, Bautista often refers to the experience of his own father.

“We have been fighting for too long. Too many have died. The statistics include my father. How many more will suffer?” Bautista said in an interview with the Inquirer last year. “My own father was killed trying to reach out. If I am able to overcome it, who can contest me?”

Burgos said the AFP strove to honor the memory of the fallen fathers in the ranks through the conferment of posthumous honors to those who were killed in action and providing for the education of their children.

“The Educational Benefit Systems Office of the AFP continues to provide scholarships to dependents of soldiers including those killed in action,” he said.

Currently, there are 4,206 children who have received grants. Of these, 1,896 were the children of soldiers who were killed in action. Some 385 are in elementary school, 525 in high school and 986 in college, Burgos said.

AFP Chief of Staff Dellosa said: “The AFP lauds all FIlipino soldier dads for their unrelenting service and unswerving loyalty to our country.”

“Let us continue to do our utmost best in performing our duties to our nation and our families, keeping alive the Bayanihan spirit as we altogether strive harder to attain a just and lasting peace for our country,” he added.

2 ex-AFP chiefs, 9 more top brass face plunder raps

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday recommended the filing of plunder charges against retired Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu, former comptrollers Carlos Garcia and Jacinto Ligot, and seven others accused of diverting and pocketing P2.3 billion in funds intended for troop salaries and combat needs.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the decision of the DOJ panel, led by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, to pursue legal action against those behind the illegal practice was a stern warning to military officials.

The case stemmed from the revelations of former military budget officer George Rabusa, who testified in a Senate inquiry last year about the intricate pabaon (sendoff) and pasalubong (welcome gift) for outgoing and incoming AFP chiefs of staff.

“This should really be a fresh start and a clean slate for the current AFP leadership under (the Aquino) administration,” De Lima said at a news briefing.

At least three military officers on the DOJ list are in active service, including Brigadier General Benito de Leon.

Asked if the filing of the criminal charge was a warning to military officials, De Lima replied: “You can call it that. I like to believe that those in the rank-and-file and ordinary soldiers welcome this development.”

Open secret

“It’s an open secret that these anomalies happen within the AFP where millions and millions of pesos were involved in the irregularities,” she added.

In a 105-page resolution, the three-member panel of prosecutors said there was a “semblance of truth” to Rabusa’s allegations that the accused had conspired with one another in pilfering from the AFP coffers.

“We are convinced that the AFP’s budget had been plundered during the period stated by the complainant,” read a portion of the DOJ resolution.

“In the instant case, complainant’s grandiose illustration of the ‘rampant irregularities in the AFP’ relative to the malversation, misuse and misappropriation of its funds, appears to have a semblance of truth,” it added.

Rabusa claimed Villanueva could have earned over P227 million from the conversion of military funds. Cimatu pocketed around P140 in his brief stay as AFP chief, he said. Cimatu, who served as special envoy to the Middle East after retiring from the military, and Villanueva have denied receiving any payoff.

Rabusa said Ligot made about P360 million while Garcia, jailed for another graft case, took some P368 million.

Others recommended to be charged were retired Major General Hilario Atendido, retired Colonels Cirilo Donato and Roy Devesa, retired Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Paranis, J-6 accounting division chief Generoso del Castillo and former State Auditor Divina Cabrera.

“Most, if not all, of the concerned respondents had admitted to the existence of the OPB (Operating Program and Budget) as a measure of implementing lump-sum appropriations made by the Philippine Congress of the AFP budget,” the DOJ panel said.

The panel said it appeared that it was through the realignment of the (military budget), through the OPB, “that respondents were able to malverse and/or convert AFP funds from the purposes that are different from their original allotment.”

11 others absolved

However, the panel of prosecutors absolved 11 others of complicity, saying there was no sufficient evidence to include them as accused. Cleared were former AFP Chief of Staff General Efren Abu, retired Lieutenant General Gaudencio Pangilinan, retired Major Generals Epineto Logico and Ernesto Boac, Navy Captain Kenneth Paglinawan, Colonel Gilbert Gapay and Major Emerson Angulo.

The DOJ panel also dismissed the case against Colonel Robert Arevalo and former State Auditors Arturo Besana, Crisanto Gabriel and Manuel Warren.

A known close associate of Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Boac is currently the budget officer of the Department of National Defense. Pangilinan, on the other hand, was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as director of the Bureau of Corrections.

De Lima, however, clarified that the DOJ resolution was still subject to review by the Office of the Ombudsman, the only government agency mandated to file graft and corruption cases in the Sandiganbayan.

“Since this is a plunder case, the final say would fall on the Ombudsman, This is merely recommendatory,” the justice secretary said, adding that her department would immediately transmit the documents regarding the case to the antigraft body.

“It is up to the Ombudsman (if it wants to) adopt, modify or reverse the resolution. It’s up to the Ombudsman to decide or determine whether there is a need for another preliminary investigation,” De Lima said.

In his complaint, Rabusa accused the respondents of converting “commercial vouchers” of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (Isafp) and “J2” (Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence) into cash.

He said the money, supposedly intended for intelligence projects of the AFP, was illegally diverted for cash allocations of the Office of the Chief of Staff, monthly cash incentives of some senior military officials, administrative-related expenses and for personal expenses of some of the respondents.

Exacting accountability

Sought for comment, Rabusa said he was “both happy and sad” about the resolution of the DOJ panel.

“I’m happy because while not all of the respondents will be charged, those officials who I expected to be included (in the complaint) were there,” the whistle-blower told the Philippine Daily Inquirer over the phone.

“I’m somewhat sad because not all of them were charged. But as my lawyer said, we could still appeal the DOJ recommendation in the Ombudsman,” he said.

“But I respect the decision of the DOJ panel. At least, we know that we now have a process (of exacting accountability).” With a report from AP

Sorsogon general new military chief

Lt. Gen. Jessie D. Dellosa, a former aide-de-camp to the late former President Corazon Aquino, has been named chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, replacing General Eduardo Oban Jr., who retires Tuesday at the age of 56, three Cabinet officials and two senior military officers disclosed Sunday.

It was Dellosa who implemented “Oplan Daybreak” that led to the rescue of American missionary Gracia Burnham and the killing of Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya nine years ago in Mindanao.

President Benigno Aquino III is expected to announce Monday the appointment of Dellosa, the head of the Northern Luzon (Nolcom) Command, to the top AFP post when the Commander in Chief addresses the troops during turnover rites at the AFP general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Both Dellosa, who was born in Bacon, Sorsogon, and Oban, who is also from Sorsogon, belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1979.

“It’s Dellosa. He’s been the choice for some time now as far as I know,” a key Cabinet official said, speaking on condition that he not be identified as he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The official said Dellosa was a great choice because of his reputation for “righting the wrongs” in the units he had led.

Another Cabinet official on Sunday night confirmed that Dellosa, described as mild-mannered and quiet, was the next AFP chief of staff.

“That’s what I hear unless there are changes at the last minute,” said the Cabinet official, who also did not want to be named for lack of authority to speak about the matter.

Still another Cabinet official, who is known to be close to the President, said Dellosa’s new appointment was “actually an open secret now within the AFP.”

Two military sources, both officers who serve under Dellosa’s command, said reports about the assumption of their commander to the top AFP post reached them on Sunday. They, however, declined to say how they got the report or who circulated the information.

43rd chief

Dellosa becomes the 43rd chief of staff of the 130,000-strong military in a formal change of command ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo Monday.

Malacañang deferred announcing the incoming AFP chief of staff until the day itself of the turnover ceremony, keeping most of those in the AFP in suspense.

When Mr. Aquino appointed then General Ricardo David in July 2010 and Oban on March 7, Malacañang made the announcement before the formal turnover.

A decorated Army Scout Ranger officer, Dellosa is a recipient of numerous awards topped by a Distinguished Service Star, two Wounded Personnel Medals, two Gold Cross Medals, 39 Military Merit Medals, six Bronze Cross Medal, Long Service Medal, Marksmanship Badge Expert and Outstanding Achievement Medal.

Dellosa was appointed chief of Nolcom, which is based in Camp Servillano Aquino in Tarlac City, on July 22. As Nolcom chief, he commands all the military forces in northern and central areas of Luzon.

Before that, he was the commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division based in Tanay, Rizal, that was responsible for the capture of top New People’s Army commander, Tirso Alcantara, on July 28, 2010.

He also served as deputy commander of the AFP Central Command based in Cebu City, among his many command posts.

Special commander

From 1988 to 1992, Dellosa was group commander of the special reaction unit of the Presidential Security Group that defended Malacañang from a series of deadly coups d’etat.

He later became junior aide-de-camp to then President Corazon Aquino. The democracy icon took him as personal escort on critical occasions, including her peace pact with the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army on Mt. Data in 1987.

Dellosa served as commanding officer of the 16th and 14th Scout Ranger (SR) Company, commandant of the SR Training School and commander of Task Group “Panther” from 1992 to 1997. He was commander of the 1st SR battalion in Basilan from 1997 to 1999.

As deputy task force commander and operations officer of Joint Task Force “Comet,” he implemented “Oplan Daybreak” that led to the rescue of Burnham from Abu Sayyaf bandits and the killing of Sabaya.

According to an officer, Dellosa sees “no victory” when the enemy suffers fatalities because in the aftermath, the killings “do more harm than good.”

The officer said Dellosa believed that using arms should be the last resort of any soldier. “He’s a soldier of peace,” the officer said.

From 2004 to 2007, Dellosa was the chief of staff of the 4th Infantry Division.

Then he served as deputy commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment and concurrently group commander of special Task Group Sulu that was instrumental in the neutralization of Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman in January 2007.

Dellosa was named the PMA commandant of cadets in August 2007.

He underwent extensive military training as an infantry officer, intelligence officer, scuba diver, hostage rescuer, Scout Ranger and in airborne and antiterrorism courses.

First assignment

After graduation from the PMA, Dellosa was assigned in Jolo, Sulu, where he fought Moro rebels for three years and earned the coveted Outstanding Achievement Award for Military Operations awarded by the PMA Alumni Association in 1988.

Dellosa was born in Sorsogon on Jan. 20, 1957, but grew up in Lucena City.

Oban will step down a day ahead of his mandatory retirement on Dec. 13.

Only the fifth Air Force general to be the AFP chief of staff, Oban assumed office on March 7 at the height of the pabaon scandal that exposed multimillion peso slush fund enjoyed by former top military officials.

He vowed to stamp out corruption in the military and made fiscal and logistics reforms the cornerstone of his term. He also promised to hold himself and all officials accountable for the proper use of funds in light of allegation that funds were diverted for cash gifts or pabaon of retiring top officials.

His focus was on reforms, peace, modernization and morale and welfare.

Conversion

In a recent interview, Oban said he stopped the practice of “conversion” in which funds meant for certain supplies had been allowed to be converted to cash for exigency.

Asked if Oban would be appointed to a government post, Mr. Aquino’s spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, said he had not asked the President about it but acknowledged that Oban had “served very well” and he was “still young.”

“One of the biggest contributions of General Oban was being able to push through reforms in the AFP, especially in the use of their budget,” Lacierda said in an interview over state radio dzRB.

He also cited Oban’s “emphasis” on accountability and transparency in his nine-month stint as chief of staff which was “consistent with the President’s line.”

“But certainly his contributions to the AFP are very important, especially at a time when there was a scandal that preceded him. It was his leadership that allowed the AFP to recover its standing among the public,”’ Lacierda said.

By Christine O. Avendaño, Dona Z. Pazzibugan. Philippine Daily Inquirer. With reports from DJ Yap and Cathy Yamsuan in Manila; Ana Roa, Inquirer Research, and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon

Scout Rangers: The legend continues

CAMP TECSON, San Miguel, Bulacan, Philippines – Since its activation over six decades ago, the Army’s First Scout Ranger Regiment has continuously produced a long list of heroes.

Trained and organized by the late Gen. Rafael Ileto, the Rangers are the first elite military force in the country.

In 1955, Ileto rose to become the first commander of the striking force, which specializes in anti-guerrilla warfare.

Since the Hukbalahap campaigns in the 1950s, the “Musangs” (local term for Scout Rangers) had left an indelible mark in the Army’s operations.

Technical Sgt. Francisco Camacho and Corporal Weena Martillana were among those who emerged as legendary warriors during that time.

They were both awarded the Medal of Valor after a successful combat mission behind enemy lines, which killed a notorious Huk leader in December 1955.

In the 1970s, the Scout Rangers were deployed to participate in the government’s campaigns against the secessionist groups in Sulu where they found themselves in the thick of the fight.

During the Battle of Sibalu Hill on Nov. 26, 1972, the Scout Rangers proved their tenacity in combat as they seized the heavily fortified enemy camp together with a contingent of Marines.

In Central Mindanao, another group of Scout Rangers established themselves as a force to reckon with during a firefight with numerically superior enemy forces in 1974.

Led by 2nd Lt. Evelio Pugna, a seven-man team of Scout Rangers engaged a hundred rebels in the marshes of Libungan town, Cotabato.

Through their exemplary skills in small-unit tactics, the “Black Panthers” killed more than 40 rebels in heavy fighting which raged for hours.

Legend

The most popular Scout Ranger is the legendary Gen. Julius Javier, a native of Negros Occidental.

His daring exploits and unsurpassed combat accomplishments earned for him the moniker “Living Legend.”

Javier had survived at least three ambushes unscathed. People around him believed that he had an amulet that protected him from harm.

In December 1972, Javier and two others repulsed an overwhelming enemy force that ambushed the vehicle they were riding in as they reinforced a unit of the Marines who suffered numerous casualties in a firefight.

He was the only one who was untouched by the bullets whizzing around them.

His two buddies were wounded but were able to provide covering fire as he retrieved the others who were trapped in the middle of the engagement area.

Amid the hail of bullets, Javier carried six of his severely wounded comrades one after the other out of the kill zone. He also retrieved all the firearms despite the continuous hail of enemy fire.

“We leave no one behind. It is a sacred SOP (standing operating procedure) among the Scout Rangers,” said Javier, whose reputation as an invincible warrior was cemented by that heroic feat.

Respected warriors

Javier was widely known not only for his notable battle successes but also his ability to win the fight without using violence.

He led a seven-man team of Rangers who infiltrated the communist-infested areas in Real town, Quezon in 1974. Approaching unnoticed, Javier managed to capture eight rebels with their firearms without firing a single shot.

“We let them live out of respect for human life. Due to that incident, we left a lasting imprint in the minds of the enemies that the Rangers can reach them wherever they were,” said Javier, who once served as a commanding general of the expanded First Scout Ranger Regiment.

Operating in Basilan as a Battalion Commander in 1981, Javier received the most number of high-powered firearms when he convinced a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to surrender with several of his followers.

Since then, the Scout Rangers earned the respect of different rebel groups. The enemies knew that the Rangers do not hesitate to pull the trigger when necessary.

Modern heroes

Through the years, the Scout Rangers continue to live up to the expectations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the country.

A number of Scout Rangers received the Medal for Valor Award, the highest award given to military personnel for conspicuous acts of courage and gallantry in combat.

Corporal Romualdo Rubi is among the distinguished living heroes. He single-handedly fought at least 100 heavily armed communist rebels that attacked a military detachment in Claver, Surigao del Norte on March 18, 1991.

Undaunted by the overwhelming enemy force, Rubi engaged the communist rebels in a firefight, killing several of them, including the notorious rebel named Commander Lima.

Four years later, then Captain Cirilito Sobejana of the 1st Scout Ranger Company was awarded the Medal of Valor after displaying exemplary leadership and courage under intense enemy fire during an encounter with the Abu Sayyaf rebels in Basilan in 1995.

Though wounded severely in the arm, Sobejana continued to inspire his men to outmaneuver the enemy, thereby inflicting heavy casualties, including 30 dead rebels.

In 1996, Captain Robert Edward Lucero, the commanding officer of the 6th Scout Ranger Company, received the same award while fighting Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Carmen town in Cotabato.

Known as “Bakal” (steel) to his subordinates, Lucero was a fearless warrior who dared to confront numerically superior enemy forces on many occasions.

While defending the government’s infrastructure project in the area, Lucero paid the ultimate sacrifice but showed the finest traditions of Filipino soldiery.

Several other Scout Rangers earned the highest military award in the year 2000 onwards. During the attack on Camp Abubakar and the combat-rescue missions in Basilan, more “Black Panthers” gained prominence when they joined the elite list of living heroes.

While there remain hardheaded lawless elements that victimize hapless civilians, the Scout Rangers are there to protect them.

As the cutting edge unit of the AFP, they are regularly sent to every trouble spot around the archipelago.



Rangers lead the way

Aside from Javier, several Scout Ranger officers became prominent leaders in the AFP.

Gen. Efren Abu, one of the heroes in southern Mindanao, became the Army chief and later, AFP chief of staff.

Lt. Gen. Jesse Dellosa, a veteran of Sulu and Basilan, currently heads the Northern Luzon Command.

Lt. Gen. Roland Detabali, who led the 1st Scout Ranger Company in several decisive battles against communist rebels in Northern Luzon, is the incumbent commander of the Southern Luzon Command.

Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, a distinguished combat officer since his younger years, is the commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Zamboanga del Sur.

The newly installed commanding general of the Philippine Army, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, is also known as the hero of Nava.

As a young captain, he led 14 Scout Rangers belonging to the 7th Scout Ranger Company, which battled a hundred communist rebels in Nava village, Hinulangan town in Leyte.

Despite being outnumbered, Bautista effectively dictated the situation due to his outstanding combat leadership.

The enemies suffered several casualties including 50 rebels killed, forcing them to withdraw in disarray.

The rebels were flushed out of the communities, freeing the people from the heavy burdens of paying extortion money to the oppressive bandits.

On Nov. 25, 2011, the First Scout Ranger Regiment embarks on another major milestone as it celebrates its 61st founding anniversary in its new home in Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan.

Several of the living heroes and warrior-leaders, including the new Army chief, are expected at the event.
#

*Maj. Harold Cabunoc/ The Philippine Star/ 11.26.2011
*Photo Credit: Vikingone's Blog

The Philippines’ outstanding soldiers

MANILA, Philippines—These soldiers are being recognized for fighting the communist insurgency, for returning a lost bag containing a big amount of cash, and for saving lives during calamities.

Besides T/Sgt. Salvador Buenaobra Jr., who invented a portable runway lighting system, and Data Processor 2nd Class Renyor Calzado, who developed a program called the “Philippine Navy Ships and Yards Management and Information System,” here are the rest of the Metrobank Foundation and Makati Rotary Club’s The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers for 2009:

• Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy continued to help the government crush the communist insurgency despite having been ambushed twice by guerrillas in Leyte and Samar. But he believed that giving rebel returnees a home was one way to solve the conflict. He has tapped the Gawad Kalinga for a housing project for the returnees in the two provinces.

• S/Sgt. Fidel Delara played a major role in clipping the recruitment of the communist New People’s Army in the countryside. Undaunted by the death threats he had been receiving since 2005 for serving as a gunner in major combat operations against the NPA, he went on to conduct a massive information drive against insurgency.

• M/Sgt. Romeo Jandungan initially joined the military to avenge his family who had fallen victim to NPA atrocities. But in the battlefield, he realized that educating the people on the problems of communism was more important than taking revenge.

• Col. Romeo Tanalgo has led his men in long and difficult battles with communist guerrillas in the jungles of Abra and Bicol. His biggest crusade now is his wife’s cancer, but he continues to be of service to the country.

• T/Sgt. Ramon Cabeguin saved many lives, including that of a man who lost his wife and children to the floodwaters spawned in the Bicol region by Typhoon “Reming” in 2006. The incident was a true test for him as a soldier because it was not easy to save someone who no longer wanted to live.

• Col. Restituto Padilla Jr. directed 324.8 hours of air combat missions without accident. The pilot also saved members of a family trapped on their roof as rampaging lahar wiped out barangays (villages) in Pampanga province following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991.

• S/Sgt. Blas Austria was not blinded by the glitter of money that he found stashed in a stolen bag years ago. As a noncommissioned officer in charge of the Office of the Director for Intelligence at the Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas, Austria recovered a small bag containing roughly P90,000, which was earlier stolen from a fellow soldier in the barracks area of the H740th Combat Group. Despite his need, he immediately returned the money that was intended for the combat group’s salary. He was also instrumental in the arrest of an impostor who was able to get a P300,000 loan from a bank at the Basa Air Base.

• Col. Pedro Herrera-Davila chose to serve in the military than to pursue a career in a top law firm. Working at the Judge Advocate General’s Office, the lawyer played a vital role in the prosecution of former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, and 284 junior officers who mounted the Oakwood mutiny in July 2003.
#
March 26, 2009 06:41:00
Jocelyn Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer

We Strike

THE night is very cold and damp. We are in position on the hilly portion of the road leading to San Leonardo waiting in ambush for the enemy to come out from the bushes. A tip from one of our informants tells us that a group of New Peoples Army communist rebels would be passing our area tonight en route to a plenum of the provincial party committee in the hinterlands of Nueva Vizcaya.

It is now close to 10 in the evening and our unit has been in position since 5 in the afternoon. But nary a sign of life except for the usual movements and chirpings of night birds and the sound of leaves of the trees brushing against each other as the monsoon winds sweep through their branches.
The sky is dark and it looks like the Philippine rainy season will start tonight. A perfect camouflage for our unit tasked to neutralize the enemy.

Then the night birds stop chirping. From a distance we could hear the dogs barking. There is a deafening silence among the members of the 7-man Army Scout Rangers team with their fingers ready on the trigger of their M-16s and M-14s as their eyes focus on the trail leading to the road from the jungle.

Another minute passes, then another long minute of anxiety for the rangers in the darkness. The tension is so strong that all you could hear is the sound of your own heart beating but the enemies are nowhere in sight.

Patiently, we wait . . . All of a sudden their presence is announced by the smell of burning tobaccos from their cigarettes. In fact, the air is heavy and filled by its aroma that only an untrained soldier and a fool would miss them.

From the bushes come the lead scout followed by their kumander and the rest of the kadres. Since our eyes are already adjusted to the darkness we are able to identify their leader as Ka Greg, the head of the provincial party committee. The rebels come out in groups of four and we estimate their strength to be about 30-strong, majority of which are only in their teens with three amazons.

As soon as the last kadre emerge from the bushes, I fire my baby armalite hitting Ka Greg in the forehead signaling my men to fire at the rebels at will.

The skirmish lasts about 15 minutes.

After the smoke of the gun battle clears, Ka Greg and 10 of his men including an amazon lay dead on the unpaved dirt road.

The rebels retreat while firing their guns at us to the nearby forest undercover of darkness carrying with them their wounded comrades.

We stay put and wait for our reinforcements to arrive and at sunrise return to our command post for a hot breakfast of fried tuyo, kamatis and sinangag.

The encounter is no big deal for us, for in the next few days, we will again embark in a search and destroy operations for the remnants of Ka Greg's unit. This is our life. Our story.

"Walang personalan. Trabaho lang, ika nga."
#

**Published in The Literary Section of The Sunday Times Magazine/ October 19, 2003- "We Strike and other soldier tales" by Bill Mitsuru T. Shimizu