7:00 AM June 2,  2001—I was barely 22 days as Brigade Commander in Basilan when the Dos Palmas Hostages were brought to Basilan after being kidnapped in Puerto Prinsesa. As I was about to approach the compound where the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members were holed-up together with their hostages, I was fired upon by their snipers who were prepositioned on higher grounds and bullets would be hitting infront of me and on my sides. My soldiers had to grab and push me to the ground and take cover in a small canal along the road. A brief firefight ensued between my soldiers and the ASG. The compound was surrounded by AFP armed elements which was then a combination of our Scout Rangers, 18IB soldiers and members of the CAFGU. There were civilian armed elements who were waving to us to approach the compound but every time we got nearer, the ASG’s snipers would fire at us. I got nearly killed in the Lamitan Hostage Crisis but in the end I became the “scapegoat” for the bungled rescue operations which was dictated/closely directed by people who were in their “air-con” offices in Camp Aguinaldo and who “countermanded” my direct orders to my men in the battlefield.  And the rest is history. The details of this incident will be in a book (hopefully) to be written by myself soon.

7:00 AM June 2, 2002—I was barely 52 days as the Brigade Commander in the areas covering the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Eastern Pangasinan, Bulacan, and Aurora when my convoy going to Aurora was ambushed by the NPA on the dirt road from Pantabangan to the boundary of Aurora Province. The V-150 “Commando” Vehicle at our tail end was “landmined” by a powerful “improvised explosive device” which made it to be thrown/overturned on its side. Two of my men, who rode inside the vehicle, died later in the hospital due to internal injuries brought about by the “shock & impact” of the explosion. Riding ahead of the convoy, I had to return to the site immediately and reinforced our troops who were trying to defend their lives from the sporadic fires of the insurgents positioned on the side of the mountain. The insurgents scampered to different directions and left the area after a brief firefight with my security/troops. No firearms were taken from the soldiers who were pinned down from the armored vehicle. The armored vehicle was later repaired and became operational after three months. After this incident, it became my “priority” to track down these insurgents through “guerrilla tactics” and “commando” operations which resulted to more raids and encounters (and casualties from the insurgents) in Nueva Ecija and in the mountains between Nueva Ecija and Aurora. My men were able to encounter the remnants of these insurgents as far as Casiguran and Dilasag, Aurora in the north and as far as Umiray, Aurora (between Aurora and Quezon Province) in the south. I hope I was able to give “justice” to my men who died in this incident, as these were the only casualties that I had within the two years & three months that I was the Brigade Commander in this area.

Since then, I reserved such date (June 2) to be with myself (alone!), go to the church, and stay in my quarters or in my camp not to be disturbed, thinking of the incidents that happened on these successive years. It was a coincidence, of course, and I am glad I passed these trials in my life…to become later as the “Bald Runner”!