A soldier’s heroic act

Twenty days since the siege of Marawi by terrorist extremists, soldiers continue to conduct air strikes and scour the city to flush out members of the Maute group and cohorts of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. While government troops have taken control of most of the city and are set to hoist the Philippine flag as the country celebrates Independence Day tomorrow, 45 of our troops have also sacrificed their lives to fight the terrorist scourge.

One of the fallen is Army Private First Class Dhan Ryan Bayot, whose astonishing story of courage is starting to go viral. The 24-year-old soldier was part of a 51st Infantry Battalion team stationed at a detachment in barangay Lilod in Marawi that also served as additional security for a local government official, whose house was located above the detachment.

Bayot’s team was attacked on the second day of the siege, with accounts alleging that the private security men of the local executive “sympathetic” with Maute terrorists helped in the assault. The team radioed for reinforcements but none could get through because the only passage was heavily entrenched with the enemy.

Finding himself alone several hours later with his comrades dead, the young man radioed his commanding officer, gave his grid coordinates and made this startling request: “Bombahin na lang niyo ang location ko, Sir! (Just bomb my location, Sir!)”

Bayot knew what was coming – but he would also take down as many of the enemies as he could. If he was taken alive, he would probably be tortured and even decapitated. President Rodrigo Duterte understood this very well when he told the soldiers, “Do not surrender to the enemy… do not give them the opportunity to mistreat you… use you as target practice and treat you like a pig only to be executed later.”

On May 28, the remains of Bayot and his comrades were finally retrieved by government troops that included his father, Sgt. Larry Bayot of the 1st Infantry Battalion. Sgt. Bayot said the terrain made it difficult to mount a rescue, and it took four units to finally retrieve the body of his son, whose face was already unrecognizable as it must have been repeatedly bashed in, with slashes on his neck indicating that the terrorists must have attempted to behead him.

The story of PFC Dhan Ryan Bayot is just one example of the kind of courage and heroism displayed by our soldiers as they fight to defend our beloved country from murdering, vicious barbarians who think nothing about burning churches and schools and killing innocent civilians to establish a reign of terror. Many of these young soldiers joined the service out of great need, some even becoming  “gofers” like what Manny Pacquiao did for officials when he was hoping to become a soldier long before he became “the champ.”

There are admittedly a few bad eggs but a large majority of our soldiers are imbued with remarkable fervor and loyalty for our country, enduring hardships especially during operations to search for rebels and terrorists. They would forge streams or rivers and walk for miles with their socks already adhering to their skin, subsisting on sardines or dried fish and other food that could be packed lightly. Rest would be in mosquito-infested jungles, protected only by their poncho if it rains.

Many of us often forget the kind of sacrifices they make and take their service for granted – and sometimes, I find myself getting angry at those who mock and ridicule our armed forces and look down on our soldiers. They get very little pay, and the hazard and combat pay they receive for risking life and limb is laughable. Just recently, images of a Philippine Army Cadillac Gage V-150 with a “D-I-Y” wooden armor has elicited jeers from several online sites, underscoring the pitiful condition of a lot of our military equipment.

But in fairness to both former president Noynoy Aquino and President Duterte, they have budgeted more funds for our armed forces and gradually equipped our soldiers with necessary materiel and hardware to achieve minimum credible defense posture. There is no doubt that our number one ally – the United States – has been very instrumental in training our soldiers in many aspects of warfare and even on humanitarian assistance and disaster response. (Just recently, the Joint US Military Assistance Group delivered grenade launchers, sniper rifles and an unmanned aerial vehicle system consisting of three drones to help the AFP in its anti-terrorist efforts.)

It is the sacrifice and bravery of soldiers like Bayot and others that should be acknowledged and appreciated, putting their lives on the line for all of us. The same goes for members of the Philippine National Police – like the SAF 44 who lost their lives in Mamasapano trying to capture Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli Abd Hir alias Marwan.

The men and women in uniform who serve our country deserve our respect. Very often, I am brought to tears when I remember the words of Douglas McArthur: “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” Those words should remind us that we should never let the memory of our brave soldiers who died for our country fade away.

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Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre who accused Senator Bam Aquino of involvement in the terrorist siege of Marawi City should be careful with his words.

If he in fact received highly classified information, then he should have kept it for himself instead of blurting it out to media. No one can really blame Senator Bam Aquino for demanding a public apology. Aguirre’s unsubstantiated accusation is an assault on the senator’s integrity.

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