Love in the time of counterinsurgency

SULTAN KUDARAT – It was love forged in the battlefield.

After a day-long frustrating hunt for communist insurgents, two soldiers on patrol decided to get something positive out of their mission.

Cpl. Denemar Albani took the initiative of popping the question to Pvt. Christine Porcadilla, an Army medic.

In the middle of the steaming jungle somewhere in Sultan Kudarat, four of their colleagues unslung their rifles and gamely took part in the drama by holding up placards that read, “Will You Marry Me” while Albani kneeled to propose to Porcadilla.

The answer, of course, was yes.

“All were so tired and drenched in sweat, resting on a grassy spot when out of the blue Albani approached Porcadilla and proposed to her on bended knees,” according to Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion.

Cabunoc said he was surprised by the turn of events when two of his subordinates returned as a couple after a mission to hunt down insurgents.

“No one from among us ever thought such a scenario would ever happen right in an upland barangay in Bagumbayan,” Cabunoc said.

They were returning to their camp after searching for a certain Felimon Villegas, an NPA leader in Barangay Titulok.

The 27-year-old Albani proposed to the 26-year-old Porcadilla at a spot where NPA rebels are known to move around to collect “protection money” from local farmers.

The troops cheered loudly but immediately stopped, realizing they might attract NPA snipers.

“It was an unexpected, heartrending event. Something you can never think will happen in an NPA-infested area,” Cabunoc said.

Cabunoc said he immediately approved the application of Albani and Porcadilla for a mandatory military permit to marry after returning from a mission.

Cabunoc said he advised the couple to religiously comply with all the documentary requisites for their planned wedding soon.

Albani, an Army radioman, hails from Zamboanga City while Porcadilla is from Esperanza, an agricultural town in Sultan Kudarat province.

“That was one strange, apparently bizarre marriage proposal worth writing as part of the history of 33rd IB,” Cabunoc said.