Army hero shot dead in training

An Army war hero who killed Abu Sayyaf tactician Jainal Antel Sali, also known as Abu Solaiman, during an encounter in Sulu early this year was accidentally shot dead by another soldier while supervising military exercises at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

T/Sgt. Raul Suacillo died of a single gunshot wound in the heart while on the way to the Army hospital, Brig. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, commanding general of the Army’s Special Forces Regiment (SF) said.

Ortiz said that Suacillo’s death is now being investigated by the Army’s Inspector General while Cpl. Edgar Caban, who shot the victim, is now detained in a military stockade.

“Cpl. Caban who was the tail scout of the SF team who staged the hasty ambush exercise readily admitted that the live bullet came from his gun,” Ortiz aid.

Caban, whose elder brother was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan in 2002, admitted that he accidentally placed live bullets instead of blank ammunition into his M16 rifle that was issued to them before they jumped off for the exercise, Ortiz said.

The accident happened while Suacillo and two others were acting as umpire and aggressors on Caban’s group who would be staging a counter-ambush at about 9 a.m. last July 3 inside the Fort Magsaysay military reservation.

“Last July 3, during practical exercises on ambush and counter-ambush, Sgt. Suacillo, with two others who were acting as training umpires and aggressors, was fatally hit by a lone M16 bullet that went through his right arm then penetrated his heart before it embedded inside his upper body,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz said initial investigation showed that Suacillo’s death was accidental in nature, with Caban readily admitting firing the gun.

“Aksidente talaga. During our inspections and reactment, talaga mahirap makita from all angles yong position ni Sgt. Suacillo,” Ortiz said.

The military exercise, the last stage of the nine-course ambush and counter-ambush training, was suspended after the incident.

On the way to the hospital, Suacillo even told his students not to use live bullets in their exercises.

Suacillo’s death came four days after he was given a Special Forces award during the unit’s 45th anniversary last June 29 at Fort Bonifacio with no less than former President Fidel Ramos, the father of Special Forces Regiment, handing out the plaque to him.

It can be recalled that it was Suacillo who gunned down Soliaman during an SF operations against Abu Sayyaf bandits in Mt. Daho in Talipao, Sulu last Jan. 16.

Suacillo, who was then an Army corporal, was able to get close without being detected to where Abu Solaiman was answering the call of nature.

Suacillo, who did not initially identify Solaiman, pointed his M14 rifle towards the Abu Sayyaf leader and ordered him to surrender.

Solaiman ran away, shouting “Allah O Akbar” to warn his companions who were then unaware of the SF presence in the area, leaving Suacillo no option but to shoot him.

For his bravery and heroism, Suacillo along with his SF team led by 1Lt. Almirante Mijares, were accorded full honors that included spot promotions to two higher ranks by President Arroyo.

Following his tour of duty in Sulu, Suacillo was reassigned to the 5th Special Forces Co. at the Molave Training Complex at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija and acted as SF’s model training director, a job he did with passion, Ortiz said.

Ortiz himself could not believe that Suacillo would die from the bullet of a colleague, but consoled himself that in military training and exercises, accidents do happen.

Suacillo was accorded a hero’s burial last Saturday in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

“He was given a well deserved hero’s burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani, Ft. Bonifacio which was attended by members of the Special Forces Regiment, SOCOM (Special Operation), Rangers, LRB (Light Reacton Brigade) as well as his wife and relatives from Zamboanga and Pangasinan,” Ortiz said.