FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City—Five retired military and police officials joined the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming on Saturday wearing black armbands to honor the 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) commandos who were killed in an encounter with Moro rebels in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao, last month.
The officials, including retired Deputy Director General Anselmo Avenido Jr., belong to the Class of 1967, who count among its members former New People’s Army commander, Victor Corpus.
The families of the class members were also seen wearing armbands featuring the number “44.”
Silent on Mamasapano
Except for police streamers thanking the people for sympathizing with the “Fallen 44” that were put up on Loakan Road leading to the PMA, the Mamasapano incident was not discussed publicly at the homecoming.
Eduardo Oban Jr., executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFAComm) and a retired Armed Forces chief of staff who was one of the principal speakers, did not even refer to the SAF 44 in his speech.
Instead, he said the PMA took inspiration from its own Medal of Valor awardees like the late Paulino Santos (Class of 1914) and Ariel Querubin (Class of 1979).
In his speech, Oban urged the PMA alumni to become “champions of peace-building” and lead their countrymen in “the more intricate role for peace.”
We are peacemakers
“While war fighting is our competency, we cavaliers are above all peacemakers,” he said.
Officials investigating, or subjects of, the Mamasapano investigation also turned up at the homecoming, including Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, an adopted member of Class 1984, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Armed Forces Chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. and PNP officer in charge, Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina.
Absent was resigned PNP chief Alan Purisima, a classmate of Catapang and Espina in “Dimalupig” Class of 1981.
PMA officials said they were surprised by the armbands.
“This is to put [the slain policemen] in our collective memory for their sacrifice and the important role they played in the peace process,” said retired Air Force Col. Edsel Salvaña (Class 1967).
“We sympathize with the SAF 44 because they died for the country,” said a retired Navy officer.
They did not answer when asked if they were also seeking justice and the truth about the Mamasapano incident.
Uncovering those answers will take time, said Oban. He said even the VFAComm would need to wait for the results of various inquiries before it could determine if the United States played an active role in Mamasapano as claimed by some members of the Congress.
“We have none of the operational details which is why we have to await the results of these investigations. If there was US involvement, it will surface in the tactical details of the police operation,” he said.
About a thousand PMA alumni and their families motored to Baguio over the weekend for the homecoming. Like in previous homecomings, the class members came in uniform colors along with their spouses.
Donned black
Class 1955, the diamond jubilarian host this year, came in black suits. Their wives also wore black.
Class 1965, the golden jubilarian host, wore suits, with blue baseball caps. Their spouses wore yellow blouses and light brown jackets.
The spectators’ eyes were drawn to the Class of 1967 whose members wore white, the color of peace. Some of its members marched on Borromeo Field wearing black armbands featuring the number “44.”
The academy honored nine alumni this year, led by Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane, a member of PMA “Magiting” Class of 1970, who received the Cavalier Award for Public Administration from the PMA Alumni Association Inc.