The Sept. 4 pre-dawn clash in Barangay Tugas, Patikul, Sulu left six soldiers and close to 70 other terrorists killed or wounded.
The gun battle began when 27 men of the Marine Force Recon Class 12 led by 2Lt. Romulo Dimayuga stumbled upon a group of Abu Sayyaf bandits camped out in the jungle.
When they found out that Janjalani himself was with the group, the soldiers opened fire, unaware that they were dealing with a vastly superior force. Dimayuga said it turned out that they were battling 150 terrorists.
"I ordered my men to hold the line. I couldn’t withdraw because I could not leave a wounded or fallen Marine behind," he said.
"As Marines, we must not allow a fallen comrade’s body to be desecrated by the enemy. That’s why in that encounter none of my men was mutilated," Dimayuga told a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.
Pfc. Juvelito Manalili, the platoon’s compass man, got hit while trying to drag a wounded comrade out of harm’s way. Dimayuga himself was wounded in the encounter.
"The Marines were bloodied and 16 were wounded but we kept on firing. Our will to fight was strong and our troops displayed unmatched courage," the 24-year-old officer said.
He said he believed the Marines had a better chance of survival by defending their position than by retreating.
"We knew they were fierce fighters because they wouldn’t be able to put up a fight for three hours, but we were better than them," he said, adding that the realization that they had run into the enemy’s main group even fired up their courage. He said a smaller terrorist group would have easily disengaged.
The Marines’ three night vision goggles helped them pinpoint Janjalani himself and the exact positions of his men. But the soldiers actually had to wait for first light to come out before they launched the attack. Grenades and a volley of machinegun fire caught the bandits by surprise.
"Having been together for nine months in training, our camaraderie is strong and the deaths really pained us," Dimayuga said. "But they did not die in vain."
For lead scout Marine Private First Class Dante Advincula, penetrating Janjalani’s lair was like going through the proverbial "eye of the needle."
Advincula, who was interviewed in Zamboanga City, said they suspected the terrorist had night vision goggles themselves and a retreat would have taken a heavy toll on the troops.
"Sure enough they will detect us and tenderize us with volley of assaults because we suspected they were also equipped with night vision goggles," he added. He said some of the bandits even managed to get too close to them - or some three meters away.
Private First Class Nicholas Polmo, a Marine sniper, said that in the din of battle he saw someone who looked like Janjalani mount a horse and bark orders. Polmo was wounded in the thigh and abdomen. He noted the tremendous firepower of the counterattacking Abu Sayyaf who scrambled to drag away their dead and wounded.
After recovering from his wounds, Dimayuga was reassigned as executive officer of the 64th Marine Force Reconnaissance Company based in Cavite, while Manalili was transferred to the Marine Headquarters at Fort Bonifacio where he serves as an administrative clerk.
He said the soldiers who were involved in the operation never expected to get awards for their sacrifices but they would "gladly accept whatever would be given."
"When you do your job, you don’t think about that but we thank our superiors for considering that," he said. But he said even the civilians who provided information that led to the deaths of the Abu Sayyaf leaders should be commended.
"That is because they gave great honor to our country’s fight against terrorism. It was a collaborative effort of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the civilians," he said. He also cited the "technical support" from the Americans for the success of the operation. Janjalani’s remains were recently dug up in Sulu. DNA testing showed the remains were really his.
President Arroyo will personally commend Dimayuga’s men at Malacañang today.
Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, deputy Special Operations Command who is personally overseeing the Special Forces operations in Sulu, said the Marines and members of the Army Special Forces will be presented to Mrs. Arroyo and to AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon.
The Army Special Forces Company headed by Lt. Almirante Mejares killed Jainal Antel Sali Jr. alias Abu Solaiman last Jan. 16 in Bud Dajo, Talipao.
"We very happy that our sacrifices in staying with our troops to do the mission paid off," Pabustan said.
In Legaspi City, Brig. Gen. Joseph V. Medina, commanding general of the Okinawa-based 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, also praised the Filipino soldiers for killing Janjalani.
" First of all I think we all share to congratulate the Armed Forces of the Philippines for what they have been doing in operational ultimatum particularly the last few weeks since they have been able to locate and take out the key leadership of the Abu Sayyaf," Medina told The STAR during an interview at the city airport.
"Once again I think the message is clear what can be accomplished by the Armed Forces of the Philippines recently and we really have applauded those efforts," said Medina, who is in the country on a goodwill mission.
Together with Sen. Richard Gordon and US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Medina supervised the distribution of clothing, food, hygiene kits and other items to victims of typhoon "Reming." – with Celso Amo