Dining with a Colonel in Lanao

Col. Benny De Leon talked with barangay captains
of Poona Piagapo along with development workers from
Ecoweb Inc., a non-government organization
based in Iligan city about the return of bakwits in said
town..

I went out Saturday to see some members of the civil
society who are observing the Mindanao Week of Peace
(MWP) and spent the whole afternoon (again) with
electronic files until the sky darkened.
I exchanged perspectives and possibilities with
with friends until I ended in a restaurant by the
shore dubbed Hoyohoy (sound of the wind).
(I can assure you that the shoreline is free
of garbages and rubbishes.)
There were a number of young genX youths also who
were oddly quiet while watching the television
over a long table garnished with variety of food.
Ah, then suddenly they broke their silence
with a song "Happy Birthday!"
I shifted eyes to the other table where
Merlyn (a friend), Col. Benny De Leon and his men
rounded it while waiting for dinner to be served.
I noted that the Colonel this time doesn't look like
an authoritarian officer clad with armaments.
His civil fresh look could make a civilian radically
conclude that he is just another businessman around,
maybe a Globe employee with that white shirt on
and cultured with an accommodating smile.
(Did everyone saw that?)
NO. This not the first time I saw him.
I heard him in many occasion over radio; saw him on
television; heard him talk about media responsibilities;
and stating policy statement on the return of evacuees.
I also saw him in a forum of women where he reasserted that
rape, as a tool for violence against women during war times,
isn't tolerated within the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
He said that if a soldier is found guilty of this crime,
official complaint coupled with evidences is enough to
civilly, criminally and administratively punish rapist.
He told me that he first saw me at Maigo town of Lanao del
Norte. I really cannot remember. Could be in 2003 war in Lanao?
Again, NO. This is not also my first time to see an officer
in civilian suit.
But that night, I wasn't seeing him as government's soldier
constitutionally mandated to secure this homeland from
external aggression.
I saw him as a person and I did not also care what's
mind-boggling him.
He shared some insights about how to strategically defend
the coastal areas of Lanao del Norte, though he admitted that
its more difficult for them to provide psychological
security to every victim of violence.I heard from him that soldiers had policy confusion too
over peace process and of ensuring national security.
He admitted that his men, from war zones, similarly need
to undergo emotional recovery to ensure that they'd
go home with normal psyches.
What differentiated this soldier from the rest of the officers
I met in Lanao is that he isn't the macho rambo
man portraying himself as an actor of 007 but grieving inside.
He value the human side of every soldier around.
He was not the type of soldier who'd hide a wedding ring,
evidence of his marital vow "for better and for worst."
He talked about his wife, his children, and his grandson.
He also talked about a dentist and about his
newly extracted tooth.
That night, he was not a colonel providing marching order
to his men to accomplish a mission. Nor a commanding officer
watching a map where MILF could be hidding...
He was a proud grandpapa of his apo; a husband to his wife
(though abroad); a father to his children (whom he talked
about); and any other civilian interested of a cozy dinner.
NO (for the third time), what I said will not merit his
ascension to higher post.
What I am talking is that at least for that night,
I saw a soldier who is more of a gentleman.