CEBU, Philippines - In full battle gear, at least 130 members of police Regional Public Safety Battalion-7 were sent to Zamboanga City yesterday to augment government forces against the Muslim rebels.
RPSB chief Clifford Gairanod led the team, which departed the Mactan Air Base at 4 p.m. via C-130 military transport of the AFP Central Command.
Supt. Renato Dugan, Police Regional Office-7 spokesperson, said the 130 police officers will be under the supervision of the PRO-9, which had requested for backup.
Dugan said the personnel are part of the 900 RPSB members who underwent a 45-day Special Counter Insurgency Operations Unit Training.
They will be deployed in Zamboanga City for at least a month and the PRO-7 may send a second batch should tension further escalates, he said.
Apart from being physically ready, the police officers are well-trained to be emotionally ready.
"That's part of the job…… that we always expect for the worse," Dugan said.
Among those deployed was Police Officer 1 Rey Bongcawel.
He said he feels both excited and a bit afraid.
"I'm excited and at the same time afraid since it is my first time to respond to this kind of situation," said Bongcawel, 27.
The native of Siquijor said he informed his mother about his deployment the night before the sendoff.
For PO1 Enrico Jumawan, this is not the first time he was deployed for battle.
He was first sent to Cotabato in 2008 to go after Muslim rebel leader Umbra Kato.
"But we were not afraid since this is expected man in our work in our work," said Jumawan.
Air Force choppers
The Philippine Air Force sent two Sokol fighter choppers to Zamboanga City early morning yesterday, said Capt. Eric Pua of PAF-2nd Division.
Pua told The FREEMAN that the choppers will be used for the search and rescue operations.
The Central Command is on a heightened alert status since yesterday due to the crisi, said Lt. Jim Alagao, CentCom spokesman.
"We are busy with the incident in Zamboanga City and we cannot allow that Central Visayas would be left for possible attacks by insurgency areas so we should always stay vigilant," he said.
Slain Navy man home
Meanwhile, body of Petty Officer 3 Audrey Banares, who was killed in a gunfight with Muslim rebels, arrived at the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base at around 3:20 p.m. yesterday on board C-130 from Zamboanga City.
His wife Saturnina and relatives met his body, which was greeted by a five-minute hero's welcome by the members of the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Navy personnel.
Saturnina told reporters that her husband, one of the six people killed in the crisis, had informed her about their mission in the evening of Sunday.
The family of Banares, 37, a member of the Navy Special Operations Group (Navsog), described him as a good brother and a good father to a three-month-old boy.
Retired police Chief Inspector Arsillano Banares told The FREEMAN that they were shocked when informed that their youngest brother was killed in an encounter. - /LPM (FREEMAN)