“It is the ability of a commander to employ whatever is available to him to win a war, but ultimately, the best weapon of all is a soldier’s will to fight.“
— Lt Col Sam Yunque
Marawi City now sits in rubble and an eerie quietness lingers on. The city’s muddied streets and bullet-riddled houses and buildings are proof of the existence of the intense and exhausting battles that were fought by our valiant troops against members of the ISIS-Maute Terrorist Group, who refused to surrender or release their hostages.
We, the soldiers of the PA, along with the combined forces coming from the AFP, PNP, and PCG, exerted the best of our innate and acquired capabilities to fulfill our duties to God/Allah and country despite the difficulties that we encountered, and the hardships which we endured, with death oftentimes staring us in the face.
Here are some of the countless narratives of our soldiers who demonstrated their steadfast conviction and willpower during the Battle of Marawi.
Fresh from the Jungle the 63rd Infantry (Innovator) Battalion was Transformed into Urban Warriors
The Marawi City Crisis came as a surprise to us. We made the timely deployment from Jolo to Marawi City and a transition from jungle to urban warfare, which was a major adjustment on our part.
We were deployed to augment the forces of JTG Musang under the leadership of BGen Rene Glenn Paje in the MBA. The Marawi operations were significantly different and far more difficult from our encounters and experiences in Northern Samar and Sulu, which were limited purely to jungle warfare. We had to learn and discover the course of the kind of warfare that we would employ in our operations in Marawi City. Despite this handicap, we instantly adapted to the situation and created our operational plans for urban warfare in the City of Marawi.
Keeping in mind the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) that we knew, we made the necessary adjustments and improvisations based on the changes on the ground. Our unit had managed to counter the attacks of the enemies even during the height of the firefight when everything was in a state of chaos. Moreover, despite our doubts and fears, we marched into battle and penetrated the darkest corners and alleys of Marawi City, holding on to our faith and the belief that we would emerge victorious and our efforts would not have been in vain.
Lifesavers and Survivors: The 51st Mechanized Infantry Company
On the night of the 23rd of May 2017, while firefights were still ongoing in various parts of Marawi City, we were tasked both to reinforce and extricate the casualties of the units fighting the ISIS-Maute Terrorist Group in Marawi City. One section of 20 soldiers with two armored vehicles was dispatched to cover Bgy Bangon, another in the vicinity of the Amai Pakpak Medical Center, and the last, in the Kilala Detachment at Bgy Gadongan Mapantao.
I, 1Lt G.A., along with 19 dismount troops and two wheeled armored vehicles, Commando V150S Cabadbaran and Simba Fighting Vehicle Comas, were tasked to reinforce and extricate the casualties of the 49th Infantry (Good Samaritan) Battalion in the vicinity of the Kilala Detachment at Bgy Gadongan Mapantao, roughly four kilometers away from Kampo Ranao. The lack of information on enemy positions, their strength, and possible threats to armored vehicles proved fatal.
Our first encounter with the enemy was in Mapandi Bridge, where we were met with a volume of fire from the enemies occupying different buildings surrounding the bridge. Upon crossing the bridge, we were again hit, this time with IED, which were detonated, but fortunately did not damage our armored vehicles. We did not stop, moving past the makeshift barricades placed along the road, and continued with our advance, despite the heavy gunfire, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), and rifle grenades fired at us. We were committed to fulfilling our mission to bypass obstacles and to proceed directly to the Kilala Detachment. But the resistance we met at the Mapandi Bridge was only the beginning of a long treacherous journey that lay ahead.
We spotted a black truck a few hundred meters short of our objective, near a gasoline station in Bgy Gadongan. We were totally unaware of the enemies in an ambush position awaiting our approach. We were bombarded by RPG rounds, which signaled the start of the ambush. Two RPGs hit the Cabadbaran. Both penetrated the vehicle with one resulting in the immediate death of one of our soldiers on board while injuring several others. The other round damaged the propeller shaft of our vehicle. The Cabadbaran was then filled with smoke and the groans of injured soldiers on board could be heard. Our dismount team on board the Comas were engaged in an intense firefight with the enemies. The armored vehicles tried to ram the truck but it did not budge. Without any way around the truck, we had to disengage and find another way to reach our objective.
We had to backtrack and navigate around the City of Marawi, via Moncada Colony – Dansalan – Marinaut – Calocan, to reach our objective. Along the way, we were met with sporadic gunfire, but not as intense as those that we had encountered around Mapandi Bridge and at the gasoline station. We passed by Dansalan College, which at that time, was already a raging inferno. Crossing into Perez Street in Marinaut, roughly about two kilometers from the gasoline station where we were ambushed, the damaged propeller shaft of Cabadbaran broke down, immobilizing the vehicle.
Seeing that the damaged vehicle could not be repaired onsite and sporadic fires were directed at us, I ordered the dismount teams of both vehicles to secure the area around the Cabadbaran, and occupy defensive positions with both the Cabadbaran and Comas providing machine gun fire until reinforcements and a recovery vehicle arrived to tow the armored vehicle.
This was the irony of our situation; we were supposed to rescue wounded soldiers, but we ended up as the ones who needed rescuing. Our section occupied four houses around the disabled armored vehicle, which for four days, served as our defensive position where we engaged wave after wave of attacks from the enemies who tried to overrun our position. Fortunately, fires provided by the field artillery units repulsed the enemies who were converging on our position.
On the 27th of May 2017, the combined forces of the army led by the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion (1SRB), came to our rescue. The most forward element of the 1SRB came to as close as 50 meters from one of my troops’ location, but they could not take a step further as the volume of enemy fire hampered again their movement. The only recourse was for us to link up with 1SRB leaving behind the two armored vehicles, and also those killed in action to be recovered later. In the afternoon, the plan was executed. Under cover fire from 1SRB, my troops and I dashed towards the most forward elements of 1SRB. The link-up was successful, but upon accounting of my troops, only 14 of us made it through. Two were missing and were not able to abandon their defensive positions. The next day, the two missing troops were the subject of the conducted rescue operations; fortunately they were able to link-up with the 1SRB.
Of the 19 troops I had, 4 were Killed in Action (KIA), 3 of them as a result of an RPG hit on the Cabadbaran and another was the result of sniper fire. We had our losses, we had our gains. But more importantly, despite incurring varying degrees of injury, we survived.
Agents on a Secret Rescue Mission: Special Forces (SF) Company
We at the SOF community have a common set of skills and a mastery of unconventional warfare that enable us to recruit enemies and persuade them to switch sides. As the commander of a Special Forces Company deployed during the Marawi Crisis, I was tasked to facilitate the rescue of a Catholic priest, Rev. Father Chito Suganob.
With the information given to us by Lt Col L., I was able to communicate secretly with an enemy who was inside the MBA. My troops and I studied his voice, tried to predict his behavior, and gathered as much information as we could about him.
Upon applying techniques of negotiation delivered through a series of Short Message Service (SMS), the enemy with the Codename, C1 snapped. He was not ready yet to surrender, but he was convinced that Rev. Fr. Chito Suganob and the other hostages should be released. It was unclear how many of his comrades cooperated with him, but nonetheless they did so carefully. Through our continuous efforts, some of the enemies had agreed with our scheme on how to rescue Rev. Fr. Suganob. The enemy guards turned a blind eye as the priest, accompanied by our main contact, walked through their perimeter defense positions until arriving at our agreed link-up point.
Although many soldiers had already died doing rescue missions for the hostages, our soldiers were still willing to proceed into the dark unchartered link-up points for the priest. It was dangerous as the enemy might be pretending to be working with us, while at the same time they could have only been trying to entrap us or perhaps, lay us open to an ambush at any given location which would be to their advantage. We put aside our safety and proceeded with the plan. Before reaching the link-up point, we had to overcome a volume of fire unleashed by the enemies. Though we still had to fight our way out of the link-up area, we were optimistic as we had Rev. Fr. Chito Suganob with us. Rev. Fr. Suganob was finally rescued.
Lt Col JC Lontoc, Commander, 4th Scout Ranger Battalion (4SRB) recalled, “My combined troops met the worst battle of their lives, with two of them making the ultimate sacrifice either of them could ever give – their lives.”
On the 10th of September 2017, we were engaged in heavy firefight with the enemies in the pursuit of our objectives – to clear the buildings and to move forward while clearing the vicinity, sector-by-sector in the MBA of Marawi City. We were supported by the armor units, the 105mm howitzers, and the FA-50 Jet Fighters in our operations.
Our troops sustained a number of wounded men and two KIAs. One of them was the late Cpt Sandoval who did an exceptional act of courage by saving one of his men, at the cost of his own life, during the ongoing Battle of Marawi.
In our clearing operation of a five-storey building, we started from the fifth floor going down to the first. Upon reaching the ground floor, three of our men were fired at by terrorists, who were hiding in one corner of the building. The three engaged the enemy while the rest maneuvered to fall back and regroup on the third floor. But unfortunately, Corporal J.M. was hit by a bullet on his right arm and suffered injuries from a grenade blast. Cpt Sandoval saw Cpl J.M., who was hit twice, fall to the ground. Assessing Cpl J.M.’s critical condition, Cpt Sandoval acted on his own and rushed to rescue his wounded trooper alone.
As their Battalion Commander, Cpt Sandoval informed me about the critical situation they were in through radio communication. While he did the SOPs of reporting the current situation, he also intimated his desire to rescue his trooper.
Seeing a blind spot in the terrorists’ offense, he crossed to the adjacent building on the eastern portion and crawled through the holes towards the location of Cpl J.M. His efforts were witnessed by another soldier, and our other team members provided him with cover fires, and threw hand grenades to divert the attention of the enemies crowding the place.
Cpt Sandoval maneuvered his way until he found the wounded Cpl J.M. As with the usual SOP, he tried to drag Cpl J.M. to safety for immediate medical evacuation, but he was spotted by the enemy, and fired at. We never saw Cpt Sandoval burst into anger or yell at the enemy, though he was fatally wounded on his neck. In his dying moments, he was able to summon all his remaining strength to cover Cpl J.M.’s body from the enemy’s volley of fire, sustaining all the bullets himself.
Another of our personnel, Pfc Sherwin Canapi, who covered Cpt Sandoval, was also shot at by the enemies repeatedly, instantly killing him.
On that day, two brave men fought to their death and offered their own lives for their fellow soldiers and the Filipino nation. There is no greater sacrifice that a soldier can give other than the laying down of his own life in the service of his country.
