The rains were starting to fall over Negros island when Lieutenant Colonel Van Donald Almonte bade goodbye to hundreds of soldiers under the 94th Infantry Battalion that he commanded for more than two years since March 2022.
To be exact, since 1500H (3pm in military speak) of 11March 2022.
Today, near noontime of 26 June 2024, Col Van Donald switched seats with his successor, Lieutenant Colonel Ziegfred Tayaban – he to the left, Tayaban to the right of the presiding general, Orlando Edralin, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade after Edralin handed the command banner of the 94th, the Mandirigma (‘warrior’ in Filipino), to Tayaban in a highly ritualized and structured ceremony typical of military ceremonies like this one.
“Lieutenant Colonel Tayaban, I am ready to be reieved,” he said while standing at attention and saluting him, after reading Section 1 or termination of appointment of General Order No. 421 from Third Infantry Division chief, Major General Marion Sison.
The rains in Negros and many parts of the country came after a dry spell of many months in what scientists call the El Niño, a weather event brought by the warming of ocean surfaces.
Many officials heard but did not listen to warnings that the El Niño event, now forecast to cycle every two to three years, would be stronger in this year’s episode.
It was also like that when the whole of nation approach to the insurgency was imposed by President Duterte through Executive Order No. 70.
Many heard, but some did not listen, when military commanders like Almonte brought a renewed fight and approach to the insurgency, that it was and must be seen as the biggest stumbling block to progress and peace.
That was many years ago, a journey that took more than two years for Almonte as he forged the moniker of the 94th into combat, earning it the title of being the “fightingest” battalion among the many ground maneuver units in the entire Philippine Army. (italics)
Over those years, Almonte counted his batcom stay in numbers.
To him, it was made up of 28 months or 20,112 hours or 1,206,720 seconds, to be exact.
“It took a few days for the feeling to sink in after I assumed the position (as 94th IB commander), he said in his terse remarks before a crowd of his men, civil officials, superiors, fellow officers, former rebels, and his daughter, Beatrice, in one of the largest gatherings at the 94th headquarters in Tambo, an upland village in Ayungon town, Negros Oriental, as he recalled his assumption of command.
While he counted his “long journey” with numbers, it was also marked with questions at first.
“What will I do?” How will I start?” “Where do I start?” he said, baring his most intimate thoughts yesterday, 26 June 2024.
He learned how to answer those questions with the help of what he called his “mentors,” chief among them his former 303rd Brigade commander, retired general Innocencio Pasaporte, former Brigade chiefs Benedict Arevalo and Michael Samson, and his current Com303, Gen. Edralin.
Through their counsels, he said, he was able to deal with the “volatile and ambiguous operational situation that made him “finish the job.”
That sense of finishing the job, the sole mission when he was appointed: to destroy the Central Negros Front 2 was apparent in his mind when he started his remarks with two words: “Mission accomplished.”
The Army command counted, too, his batcom days in numbers.
Division data showed over two years of his stay, the 94th launched 6,810 with 2 government-initiated encounters that led to the “neutralization” of 134 Communist terrorist rebels and the seizure of 94 firearms.
Of those encounters, five were “major ones” that included those where rebel leaders were killed in combat.
For the first time in a long time, those who died on the battlefield included Rogelio Posadaa alias Ka Putin, the secretary or top Communist of the unified committee for Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor, top rebel commander Romeo Nanta alias Juanito Magbanua, and Erricson Acosta, reportedly the national cadre deployed to Negros after Posadas’ death and headed the Unified Political Committee for the four islands.
“Mission accomplished,” was how Almonte started his remarks though Edralin reminded Tayaban that the next part, the sustainment of gains, is more difficult as he reminded those in attendance about Sison’s words: “a cleared area is the most dangerous area.”
