An enemy sniper’s bullet remains lodged in his back, but 2nd Lt. Rex Busilan deems he is fit enough to return to battle, and keep on fighting until the liberation of the entire Islamic City of Marawi from the occupation of the terrorist Maute Group.
Lt. Busilan got hit during one of the exchanges of fire on the 4th of July.
Nothing and no one, he says, will restraint him from returning to action at Ground Zero of the war zone.
“This is our assignment. We accept and will do this for the country,” he tells News5 curtly.
He was on the upper floor of a house when the firefight broke out with the terrorists planted at a nearby house.
Busilan and his group moved downstairs, only to find more enemy fighters on the prowl and eager to pounce of them. Aside from himself, he saw three of his companions had also been wounded. One other had already died.
“This was the most heart-rending sight – to see my comrades writhing in pain, more than my own wound. They were fighting for their lives now, not firing against the enemy.”
Busilan was the platoon leader under the Philippine Army 15th Scout Ranger Company spearheading the assault in one section of the city. “That was a most painful sight to see. To lose your men or watch them suffer. That is the primary motivation for wanting to return to the fight.”
In another action, Corporal Jovith Clamotcha was in a position hit by a round from an M203 grenade launcher during the heat of battle to retake Dansalan College where Abdullah Maute was believed to have dug in.
The government lost 10 men in this action.
Despite his wounds that have yet to heal completely, Clamotcha vows to get back to the front to be with his fellow fighters in spirit and in action: “Tatapusin namin itong laban. Hanggat nandito kami, hindi kami susuko (We will finish this fight. As long as we’re here, we will not yield).”
Click and watch these two video reports below:
