Tales of courage, heroism retold in Mamasapano report

Pictures of the slain PNP SAF killed in an alleged “misencounter” with MILF and BIFF in Mamasapano,Maguindanao displayed outside the gates of Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

The heart-wrenching tales of courage and heroism of the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who were sent to a daring covert mission in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, on Jan. 25 were retold in the 128-page report of the Philippine National Police board of inquiry.

Supt. Raymond Train, commander of the 84th Special Action Company (SAC), recalled hearing his wounded men shouting “I love you, mommy!” “I love you, baby” and “I love Seaborne” while fighting for their lives under heavy fire from unknown enemies.

In his own narration of encounter, Train said they reached the lair of Jemaah Islamiyah bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,’’ at about 4 a.m. of Jan. 25, or some six hours after negotiating the “unfamiliar terrain” of muddy river and vast cornfields.

The board said the area where Marwan was hiding was a “territory shared” by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its breakaway faction, the Bangsamaro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Mindful of their plan to get Marwan before the break of dawn, Train told members of the 84th SAC “Seaborne” to immediately carry out the mission whoever arrived first in the target site.

As Train’s group approached Marwan’s hut, an improvised explosive device, which the Malaysian bomber had set up in the perimeter, exploded and sparked the 15-minute firefight.

During the exchange of gunfire, Marwan was hit in his chest and died on the spot.

The group then immediately entered the foreign terrorist’s abode to check his identity.

Senior Insp. Gednat Tabdi immediately cut off Marwan’s right index finger (other reports say left index finger to get DNA samples in confirming his identity. The Malaysian bomber’s severed body part was eventually delivered to waiting US federal agents in General Santos City.

Train knew that other armed men in the area were roused from their sleep by the initial firefight as he ordered his men to quickly leave the place.

“True enough, as the team went out of the enemy’s lair, they were eventually met with gunfire from armed men. Initially, Train recalled that he and his men tried not to engage the enemies to avoid compromising their locations, but they were forced to return fire in self-defense,” the report said.

He said their enemies fired mortars and used automatic rifles as they waylaid the outnumbered SAF commandos.

“The sniper fire came from all directions,” the board quoted Train as saying.

Like the members of the 55th SAC, Train’s group was pinned down by Moro rebels at around noon as they started to incur more casualties.

At around 11 a.m., Train was able to contact SAF Director Getulio Napeñas as he asked for reinforcement and artillery fire support. But nothing came.

As the gun battle continued, the Seaborne had started to run out of ammunition, prompting them to “exercise maximum fire discipline.”

Two hours later, 24 of the 84th SAC troopers “were pinned down by enemy fire as most literally hugged the ground in a bid to dig from the bullets.”

Gunfire stopped at 6 p.m.

Said the report: “Under the hail of bullets, Train said he called Napeñas for reinforcements and artillery fire, but received none despite assurances that the reinforcements were on (their) way.”

It said hostile gunfire only stopped at about 6 p.m. when the military dropped white phosphorous in the area in preparation for artillery fire.

By then, more than 30 SAF commandos had already been killed and many had suffered bullet wounds.

“From time to time, Train would hear groans and cries from his wounded men. He recounted screams of ‘I love you, mommy,’ ‘I love you, baby’ and ‘I love Seaborne’ from his comrades in the hours that followed,” the board said.

Moments away from death

“At one point, he even thought Tabdi, who was beside him at the front line of defense, was loading ammunition. It was with great grief that he found him dead from a head shot,” it added.

The battle-scarred commandos accepted that they could be moments away from their death as they bade goodbyes and asked each other to take care of their families if anyone of them would survive.

“They (were) all resigned to their fate that it would probably be their last stand,” the report said.

Train said some of them could have extricated themselves to safety as they maneuvered away from the battle zone.

But they remained true to their pledge not to abandon any of the commandos behind enemy lines.

‘Dont leave us’

“(T)hey did not want to leave the 13 wounded and nine dead (SAF commandos) behind. Train recalled a comrade begging him, ‘Huwag nyo kaming iwan, Sir.’ They never did,” the board said.

Like in many war movies, the SAF commandos gallantly held their ground in the blood-soaked cornfields of Mamasapano, repelling the enemies who were just as determined to obliterate them.

The greatly outnumbered police commandos arrived in Mamasapano virtually unknown.

Now many regard them as real-life heroes.

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