Slain soldiers’ replacements sent to Zamboanga City, ready to fight

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines— Their faces showed the wide-eyed innocence of first-timers and they appeared to be oblivious of what was going on inside the Edwin Andrews Airbase here on Friday — where the coffins of soldiers slain in Basilan were awaiting transport — as they stepped out of the C-130 military cargo plane.

Carrying their stuff in duffel bags on their backs, some of them immediately surveyed the surroundings, some took shots of things that caught their attention through their mobile phones while others simply exchanged funny stories.

They were visibly excited at their arrival here – for the first time.

Meet the 91 members of the Army’s Special Forces, who would soon be deployed in Basilan to replace their slain colleagues, or to Zamboanga Sibugay, where seven government security troops had already died during  military battles with Moro rebels for days now.

Nineteen-year old Private Bernabe Abesamis of Nueva Ecija said he knew what happened in Basilan on Tuesday.

“May bakbakan doon (There was a battle there),” he said.

When asked if he had an idea of what Basilan actually was, he replied: “Hindi po. First time naming lahat (No.  We would be first timers there).”

Abesamis said soon after their graduation from the special forces course in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija this week, they were told they would be sent to Mindanao.

Private Arsenio Alapitan, 20, of Isabela Province said he knew for certain that he would be sent to Basilan.

But when asked if he knew who the enemies were, he replied: “Wala pa pong instruction sa amin (We have not been given any instructions).”

“Pero Basilan daw po kami madedestino (But we heard we would be sent to Basilan),” Alapitan said.

He then picked up his phone and dialed a kin’s number, telling his sibling they would be off any moment to their first assignment.

Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad said his heart ached upon learning that more young soldiers — who were unfamiliar with Basilan — would be deployed to the island-province.

“I pity them a lot. They did not know they are entering a different world, different from what they were accustomed to,” he said.

Jumoad said he wished that the military would properly briefed first timers before sending them to Basilan.

Many of those who died in Tuesday’s clash in Al-Barka were also first timers, he added.

“I cannot tell them to send back these young soldiers to where they came from, but I wanted to tell them to infuse more information to these young soldiers, teach them the culture of Basilan, the people, the dialect, the terrain and everything,” he said.

Jumoad said he was not discouraging the military from sending fresh soldiers to Basilan but officials should “teach and provide more information to the fresh graduates.”

Jamju Rivera, Western Mindanao governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCI), said the new soldiers would be like “cannon fodder.”

“We pity these new soldiers. They will be fed to the sharks on a silver platter,” Rivera said.

But military officials were unfazed.

Lieutenant Colonel Orlando Edralin, Special Forces Training Corps commandant, said the fresh graduates might be young but they had been properly trained.

“Aside from their Basic Military Training (BMT), they actually underwent Special Forces Orientation Course and some will be programmed for in-serving and cross trainings for their capability enhancement,” he said.

Edralin said if he had his way, he would have deployed the fresh soldiers immediately.

But then, he said, their actual trip to Basilan and to Zamboanga Sibugay would be decided on by the regiment commander.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said the military was not trying to avenge the deaths of the 19 soldiers.

He said the fresh soldiers were being sent to Basilan and Zamboanga Sibugay under a “regular deployment” process.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino ordered the relief of another ranking military officer in Basilan in the wake of the Al-Barka incident.

The Task Force Basilan commander, Colonel Alexander Macario, was sacked on Friday.

“I was expecting this because of command responsibility,” Macario told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Macario said he was not formally briefed when the Al-Barka operation was launched but he accepted responsibility for what happened to the 19 soldiers.

“Since I am the island commander of Basilan, responsibility will definitely fall on me,” he said.

On October 19, Colonel Leonardo Peña, battalion commander of 4th Special Forces Battalion, was also sacked on orders of Philippine Army Commanding General Arturo Ortiz.