Marines who slew Janjalani ‘never thought of retreat’

By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 03:37pm (Mla time) 01/23/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Marines who killed Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani never thought of retreating despite suffering heavy casualties when they encountered the bandit leader and his men before dawn on September 4.

The 27-man platoon fought it out with some 200 Abu Sayyaf fighters for three hours before reinforcements arrived.

The unit lost six men killed and 16 others, including platoon leader 2nd Lieutenant Romulo Dimayuga, were wounded.

“We continued to hold the line. There was no retreating. I will not leave any Marine behind,” Dimayuga told a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo.

“We knew that they [would] fight back hard, but we [were] confident that we are better than them,” he added.

Private First Class Juvelito Manalili said enemy fire hit him after he tried to shield Private First Class Harold Almodovar, who was wounded and later died.

Dimyauga, too, said he was hit in the chest and abdomen while saving one of his wounded men from the crossfire.

Janjalani was fatally wounded in the September 4 encounter. His death was confirmed only last Saturday, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a DNA match on tissue samples taken from his remains and saliva samples from his brother, Hector.

Dimayuga said he was raring to go back to Sulu to finish off the remaining Abu Sayyaf leaders Radullan Sahiron, Isnilon Hapilon, and Abu Pula, and two Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members who allegedly masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings, Umar Patek and Dulmatin.

“Anytime I am ordered to return to Jolo [in Sulu], I will go back there. We will continue the fight,” he said. “As a Marine, as a reconnaissance Marine, we are always ready to fight.”

Dimayuga is currently on retraining at the Marine Base in Ternate town, Cavite province. He said he is expected to return to Sulu on two months.

Dimayuga said his troops traced Janjalani’s encampment in Tugas village with the intelligence assistance from US troops.

He said he or his men did not see Janjalani there, but he was sure that a top extremist leader was in the vicinity since a male voice sang what seemed like a Muslim prayer, uninterrupted, before 5 a.m.

“There was a distinct voice and it was uninterrupted. Ibig sabihin siga siya [It means he is a big shot],” the lieutenant said.
Dimayuga said it was a “great honor” for him and his men to have led the operation that resulted in the neutralization of Janjalani, the main man of the al-Qaeda global terror network in the Philippines.

“The death of six Marines was not in vain because it had a very positive outcome, the death of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani,” he said.

Confirmation of Janjalani’s death came several days after Abu Sayyaf spokesman Jainal Sali alias Abu Solaiman and sub-commanders including Abu Hubaida, Black Killer, and Binang Sali were killed in encounters with government troops in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

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