Senior Insp. Ryan Pabalinas: he put duty over family, wife says, and understands that. But she wants justice. Acting SAF chief breaks as he recalls last radio message from Pabalinas, and realized with a chill, "that voice will never be heard again."
The acting chief of the PNP Special Action Force, Chief Superintendent Noli Talino, broke down Friday as he delivered a eulogy for the 44 police commandos killed Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, recalling the last radio transmission he received from the ground.
After a furious exchange of messages from the field units seeking reinforcement, there was a prolonged radio silence, he recalled, and then he realized the voice from the other end, Senior Insp. Ryan Pabalinas, "will never be heard again."
Talino was the last among the senior officers who delivered eulogies for the 44 members of the elite unit, deployed on Jan. 25 to serve arrest warrants on Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and his Filipino cohort, Abdul Basit Usman.
The two men were pinpointed by intelligence as having taken sancturary in a marshy village in Mamasapano town, supposedly controlled territory of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front but where its breakaway wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also has a presence.
Most of the eulogies from the officers praised the bravery and patriotism of the SAF men, most of whom had distinguished themselves in previous high-risk missions, including putting an end to the Zamboanga siege of 2013.
In delivering his eulogy, Talino stopped momentarily several times as he choked, recalling that fateful day the mission was launched.
Early in the day, he had received a text message saying "mike one (Marwan) bingo." And he concluded that the mission had been accomplished, not realizing the danger that lay ahead as the men on the ground were about to take Marwan's body. According to initial reports, Marwan's security, alerted after the commandos had shot the Malaysian inside his nipa hut in the cornfield, started firing.
Soon, the outnumbered police commandos were pinned down by relentless gunfire from both the BIFF and the bigger force of the MILF.
Talino said the men on the ground asked for reinforcement as early as 7 a.m.
There was a frenzied to and fro of radio messages, with authorities trying to ascertain how exactly and where the SAF men were positioned in a vast riverside cornfield that would become their killing field.
Suddenly, the radio crackle stopped, and there was a long silence. With a chill, Talino said he realized that voice will never be heard again.
That voice, he said, choking with tears, belonged to Police Senior Insp. Ryan Pabalinas. It was Pabalinas's wife, Erica, who was tapped to deliver the response on behalf of the slain commandos' families, who gathered for the two-day wake for the 42 of the 44 fallen heroes at Camp Bagong Diwa's multipurpose hall Friday morning.
She appealed to the public to stop entertaining the notion that the 44 men went on that mission for the huge bounty ($5 million for Marwan and $2 million for Usman). They went because they wanted to stop a very dangerous man from killing more people. She said her husband had been on similar missions (presumably, also with rewards) but did his duty simply. Otherwise, she added, "we would have been richer" by now.
She said, "my husband gave his life to claim peace," and this is what she remembers most to console herself.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/104082/losing-senior-insp--ryan--acting-saf-chief-weeps-as-he-recalls-last-radio-message-from-doomed-men
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