'Horror vacui'

AFTER 38 years and three months of military service, I am finally retired. I am forever grateful to the government and the Filipino people for allowing me to serve my country the best way I can. I have been to almost every part of the archipelago, to almost all corners of the globe, except Africa; I have shaken hands with powerful leaders of the world, heads of state, including a pope; I have lived offshore in at least two countries, in America and Down Under; I have earned postgraduate degrees from top universities abroad - all courtesy of our people's taxes and my host countries. Not many of us are given that rare privilege.

In between, I fought all kinds of battles in the marshes of central Mindanao to the peaks of the Zamboanga Peninsula, the mountain ranges of Caraballo and the Sierra Madres as well as the islands of Mindoro. As a tactical commander of infantry and special units, I am proud to say I never lost a single man in any combat mission I personally led. The Army trained me well, not only in conventional war fighting but more importantly in unconventional warfare similar to the Green Beret.