Burial set for soldier; brother blames government for blunder

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Private First Class Roberto Ricafranca, 32, the soldier who was considered the “last man standing” among the 19 who were killed in an encounter in Basilan between the government troops and the members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front last week will be buried in Iloilo.

His older brother, Sgt. Michael Ricafranca of the Military Intelligence Battalion, however in a radio interview blamed the government and the head of the team by saying that the incident was a result of lack of preparations.

Michael said, a day before that, the soldiers still had a training in diving and they were not allowed to eat for a day.

Government troops entered the so-called “concentration camp” of the MILF even if they were not familiar with the terrain and they lacked ammunitions, said Michael adding that the move of the military was in violation of existing peace talks between the national government and the MILF.

Roberto, a resident of Brgy. Bantud in Dumangas, Iloilo served as the sniper of the Philippine Army’s 4th Special Forces Battalion, which engaged in a firefight with the lawless MILF elements in Al -Barka, Basilan.

He was a native of Lamitan, Basilan but his wife, Rhea Odis, with whom he has two daughters, hails from Iloilo.

Roberto was a sharpshooter and was the top one in his sniping class in 2007. He was the only sniper in the team when the incident happened.

His cousin, PFC Alex Ricafranca, who was also part of the team and among those wounded, said Roberto spent his own life to save them.

Alex recalled that his cousin Roberto told them to withdraw while he exchanged bullets with the enemies.

Michael said his brother was almost unrecognizable when discovered. Roberto’s body was reportedly full of hack wounds and some of his internal organs were even removed. He was identified only through his tattoo and scar in the leg.

Roberto’s wife, Rhea, said she was shocked when she heard about the death of her husband. She said she was even planning to attend his graduation in his diving class.

Rhea appealed to the government to give justice to the death of her husband and his fallen comrades. - THE FREEMAN