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

Major General Emmanuel Bautista

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.