Battle- scarred Rangers recall Basilan fight
Amilitary spokesman said that among the troops who engaged Abu Sayyaf bandits in a fierce battle Friday afternoon in Sulu were “distinguished warriors” whose bravery in previous combat experiences had earned them medals.
One of them was Sgt. Castro “Caster” Kitong, who was among the 28 wounded in action (WIA) during the five-hour firefight with some 300 ASG bandits in the jungles of Mt. Tunggul and Bud Bunga located at the boundary of Talipao and Patikul towns.
Kitong, a proud son of Ifugao, was hit in the abdomen while attempting to extricate a critically-wounded soldier. He was brought to a hospital in Zamboanga City for surgery.
Lt. Col. Harold M. Cabunoc, the AFP public affairs office (PAO) chief, recalled that Kitong was previously awarded the Wounded Personnel Medal (WPM) when he was first wounded as a Private of the 10th Scout Ranger Company (10th SRC) back in early 2000. Cabunoc was then the commander of the 10th SRC.
“He fought heroically when my unit figured in a six-hour firefight against more or less 200 Abu Sayyaf bandits in Balatanay, Basilan on October 7, 2001,” Cabunoc said
“I can vividly remember Kitong as the one whom I ordered to crawl into an Abu Sayyaf position to grab an M60 machine gun. He bravely advanced forward with militiaman Leonardo Orozco while I engaged the bandits in a shootout to provide them covering fires. He successfully took away the prized machine gun but he sustained a minor wound in his back,” said Cabunoc.
Having witnessed Kitong’s exceptional bravery in combat, Cabunoc said he did not hesitate to recommend the soldier for the Gold Cross Medal, the third highest combat medal.
“I was not surprised that Kitong would emerge as one of the trustworthy non commissioned officer (NCO)-leaders of the First Scout Ranger Company (1st SRC) in one of the bloodiest firefights that the unit got involved in its unit history,” said Cabunoc.
It was also the 1st SRC that figured in the first major encounter of the military against the ASG after the release of the two German kidnap victims three weeks ago.
The AFP PAO chief said when he talked to Kitong after last Friday’s encounter that left five soldiers and 10 ASG bandits dead, “he (Kitong) was in high spirits despite having difficulty sharing his experience.”
Cabunoc said Kitong told him that he lost three of his team members in the fiercest battle that he experienced in his life.
“I am saddened by the deaths of my dear teammates. I did my best to save them all but God has plans for them,” Cabunoc, quoting Kitong, said.
Aside from Kitong, 30-year- old First Lt. Michael Asistores, 1st SRC officerin-charge, also bears scars, including a wound on his face, which he sustained from previous combat engagements.
It was the third time that the Philippine Military Academy graduate (Class of 2007) was wounded in battle in his young career as an Army officer.
Asistores said he was very lucky to manage to have escape death in the past years.
“By God’s grace, he always protected me. Also, our tactical training in the Scout Ranger Training School has equipped us with mission-essential skills and can-do attitude which are needed in the field,” he said.
Asistores was first wounded in an encounter with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Lingig, Surigao Del Sur in 2008.
He got his second combat wound in a three-hour encounter with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Al-Barka, Basilan in 2011.
He sustained his third battle wound last November 14, two hours into a desperate fight with some 300 heavily armed Islamist militants.
“Bullets rained on us. There were too many of them,” Asistores said, noting that there were plenty of M203 grenade launcher rounds that exploded around them. He also said that the bandits met them frontally despite being met with gunfire.
Finding himself in the middle of overwhelming enemy fires, Asistores called for more support from his battalion commander, Lt. Col. Eugene Boquio. One by one, he saw his men bloodied after being hit by the enemy.
Asistores said he yelled at his team leaders amid the intense exchange of fires and instructed them to direct some of their personnel to extricate the wounded.
Seeing the dead and wounded soldiers around him, Asistores pressed the fight by rallying the remaining soldiers to hold their line to provide support as the casualties are being evacuated.
But after about two hours of dodging bullets, Asistores was hit near his arm pit. He said he felt that something pierced through his flesh but he maintained his composure to inspire his men. The young officer kept shooting at the bandits who tried to come near him.
At this point, one of his team leaders, Kitong, came to his side and helped him control their remaining troops. Kitong was later wounded while trying to carry another injured soldier.