The roar of the Hercules aircraft that made its way to the tarmac of the Benito Ebuen Airbase and the command for the honor guards to get ready broke the silence.
Soldiers in tiger camouflage went up the aircraft to fetch the flag-draped metal box containing the remains of their fallen comrade from the Naval Special Operations Group (Navsog).
Nene Bañares, now a widow, sobbed while her husband’s remains were given planeside honors.
“Wala gyud ko kasabot sa aking gibati. Wala gyud ko katoo sa nahitabo sa iyaha,” she told reporters.
(I don’t understand what I’m feeling now. I can’t believe what happened to him.)
The military honors were led by Major Gen. Roy Deveraturda, commanding general of the AFP Central Command (CentCom), and Commo. Reynaldo Yoma, commander of the Naval Forces Central (Navforcen).
Bañares was among six people killed when Moro National Liberation Front rebels attacked Zamboanga City and overran at least six barangays on Monday.
Bañares, a member of the Philippine Navy’s crack commando unit, was hit by rebel fire when they tried to intercept the Moro rebels who attacked from the sea.
A military source said Bañares and six other Navsog soldiers, were on board one of the two inflatable boats that engaged the rebels at the crack of dawn Monday.
Bañares was manning the machine gun mounted on the boat and was hit in the exchange of gunfire. Six other soldiers were injured in the encounter, the source said.
“While waiting for the verification of the target, they were fired upon by the MNLF,” said Lt. Mark Anthony Colina, executive officer of Navsog 5.
“Because of the heroic act of our comrades, even though they were outnumbered, they were able to prevent the main body (of rebels) from entering Zamboanga.”
Last message
Bañares’ widow said her husband sent her a text message the night before.
“Nananghid siya nako nga naa siya’y mission sa Basilan mga pasado alas-8 sa gabii. Wala na dayon siya nag-text sa buntag… wala siya nagpahibaw kung nakauli ba sya,” she said.
(He told me that they were going to Basilan at past 8 p.m. I didn’t get a text message the morning after.)
Bañares went home last August to attend the baptism of his two-month-old son.
The fallen soldier’s remains were taken to the Navforcen headquarters in Lapu-Lapu City where he was given a hero’s welcome. /with reports from AP and Inquirer