Killed Special Forces officer also a beloved community worker, fiancé

First Lieutenant Junrich Legada. Photo from 15th Special Forces Company

It was a few days before  June when First Lieutenant Junrich Legada of the Army’s Special Forces made sure his Facebook friends knew his birthday was coming up by posting some sort of a countdown.

But the war against Islamic State-affiliated Maute Group that has been going on for almost a month now robbed him of his chance to celebrate.

Legada, a native of Midsayap, North Cotabato, was the latest addition to the fatalities from the ongoing battle for Marawi. He suffered multiple shrapnel injuries from an improvised explosive device while on clearing operations last June 14, exactly two weeks before his birthday. He tried to fight for his life but died two days later. He was 27 years old.

“Bon” or “Legz” as he was known to his friends, was a registered nurse before joining the military in 2013. For around two years, he was assigned with the Army’s 4th Special Forces Battalion in Basilan, where he joined operations against the Abu Sayyaf terror group. During his deployment, he also won the hearts and minds of the residents through his involvement in community development projects.

He was training to become a full-fledged member of the Special Forces before his death. While training, he showed promising potential. He was named as an outstanding student of the Jumpmaster Course only a few months ago.

Legada already embodied the elite unit’s motto, “courage and determination” even without a Special Forces badge. But he was posthumously pinned with his coveted badge on his chest upon the orders of Special Forces Regiment Airborne Commander Brig. Gen. Ramiro Rey.

On Saturday, his remains were brought to his hometown in North Cotabato.

Col. Eliglen Villaflor, his former battalion commander, described Legada as “very kind to his friends but fierce against the enemy.”

“In one of the heavy fightings in Basilan in December 2015, I monitored him through the radio that he wants to advance closer to the Abu Sayyaf position. I had to caution him because of his aggressiveness. So he earned the monicker ‘Dauntless,'” he said.

Special Forces troops are capable fighters, but they are also trained with dealing with the community. Legada was driven about that, too.

“When we had a medical mission in Sangbay Island, one of the remotest islands of Basilan, the medical team ran short of anesthesia. He volunteered to go back to the mainland, despite the rough sea and pitch black condition. He returned early in the morning the following day just to be able to serve the people of Basilan,” Villaflor recalled.

Legada’s warrior qualities contradicted his cheerful disposition. He had a default smile on his face and his eyes disappear whenever he smiled.

He had been planning on marrying his girlfriend of 10 years prior to his untimely death.

“You told me before that you were going to tell me something when I get home. I really wanted to know what was that but you weren’t able to tell me anymore. I just knew from your family that you were planning for our future together,” Fre Tenizo revealed in a Facebook post.

She worked abroad but was in the country for vacation when the unfortunate incident happened.

“I was excited to see you upon going home although I knew it was impossible because you were busy but I still hoped that it would happen. But I didn’t really expect that I was going to see you lying in bed with all the apparatus attached to your body, hurting from all the wounds that you incurred,” she posted.

She expressed how she would always remember how he smiled as he held her hands tightly during his final moments.

“Although you weren’t able to say it, I knew you wanted to tell us that you are happy because you saw us before your last breath,” she said.

Legada is just one of the dozens of government troops who offered their lives for peace in Marawi. They are hailed as heroes by many, but they are also brothers, friends, fathers, husbands, and sons to the loved ones that they left behind./rga