The Saga of Leopoldo Bataoil Continues
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
From chasing hardened Moro commanders in Mindanao
and Basilan, this battle experienced military and police officer went back to
his alma mater the Philippine Military Academy to mentor the cadets of what he
learned in the skirmishes and warfare at the battle fronts.
“Ang first
assignment ko was Mindanao 54th PC Ranger Batallion kaso po ang
inihanda talaga ng PMA upang maging effective front line leaders, platoon leaders po kami noong second lieutenant sa isang PC Ranger battalion kaagad-agad
dinala doon sa Mindanao kaagad - agad dinala kami sa Basilan. At doon namin hinahabol
si Chairman Nur Misuari at Chairman Gerry Salapudin. Ito ang mga leaders ng mga
MNLF noong araw wala pa iyong MILF noong araw so MNLF ang kalaban ng gobyerno,”
cited in Filipino by former three- star
police general and congressman Leopoldo Bataoil, PMA Class of 1976, to this writer.
He said as a Constabulary Ranger he idolized his
commanders at the First and Second Ranger Battalions who even joined him and
his men in the battle fields against the fiery Moro insurgents in the two
islands in the Southern Philippines.
Bataoil was a trained member of the British inspired
commando’s the elite Special Action Force.
Retired Three - Star Police General Leopoldo Bataoil is a former commander of the elite British inspired commando's Special Action Force. (Photo grab from the internet) |
“There
were really true leaders and they were really very inspiring leaders na ang
feeling namin they are the best example of.
I remember General Dictador Alquiza my First Battalion's commander . I
remember Agerico Cagaoan my Second Battalion's commander in another
battalion. They were really leaders na very inspiring na they talk to you the
very critical area iyong mga battle area. They will die for you. Ang iyong
feeling namin he will die for our
country and people all together we will die for our country and people”.
He cited one officer’s conspicuous bravery and extraordinary
courage awed him. Glyxe Sua, Bataoil recounted, even asked his men to locate the
sniper concealed behind the coconuts and the tree’s leaves above sniping them.
“Isang
combat officer iyong nakasama namin sa Mindanao. Iyon ang parang walang
kamatayan. Pinapahanap niya iyong Muslim rebel (sniper) at hindi mahanap ng sundalo
niya iyong sniper “O, hintayin ninyong tatakbo ako sa niyog na ito. Titingnan
ninyo kung saan mangagaling iyong putok. “Pakpakpakpakpak!” Tatanungin niya
iyong mga tao “O, nakita ninyo kung saan iyong nag ee-snipe sa akin?
Pakpakpakpakpak!” Hindi sir, sabi ng mga tao. Tatakbo na naman siya. “Oo sir
nakita na namin po. “PAK!” Bagsak iyong sniper”.
Just like Douglas MacArthur (USMA 1903), General John J.
Pershing (USMA 1886), President Donald Trump resigned National
Security Adviser H.R or Herbert Raymond McMaster (USMA 1984) who returned from the battlegrounds and became
Superintendents and History professor at the United States Military Academy,
Bataoil went to the Tactics Group at the PMA teaching cadets about war
strategies where this writer could attest as he worked too in that office as a
young civilian employee.
“For
example after ng field assignments ko mga combat field duties ko sa critical na mga areas, ni assigned din ako sa training institution. At ang pinakaunang
training institution na pinagdalhan sa akin, major po ako noon e ay sa PMA sa
aking alma mater. So I started as a
senior tactical officer then I became as assistant commandant of the cadets. So
I have the opportunity to share my combat experiences iyong aking leadership of
management of troops sa field sa mga graduating cadets sa PMA”.
He said cadets at PMA look for role models among
officers.
When he was a plebe at the PMA,
his other idols were first class cadets or fourth year cadets Amado T. Espino,
Jr. and Sua.
“Tulad po
noong cadet ako ay ni ru-role model ko noon then cadet Amado T. Espino, Jr.
kasi nagpanggabot kami. He was a very kind upperclassman. He was an inspiring
leader. Mayroon din siyang classmate cadet Glyxe Sua ay talagang isang combat
officer iyong nakasama namin sa Mindanao,” Bataoil described the sturdy retired colonel and former Pangasinan governor whom
the general met at the Long Gray Line in Fort del Pilar, Baguio City.
Espino is presently the Fifth District Congressman
of Pangasinan.
He explained that his combat experiences like with
that senior officer Sua, he and other combat officers could not forget in their
lifetime.
“So ako
rin ngayon sa mga field experiences na kung saan pinamamahagi ko sa aking mga
nagiging cadets ko . To these days mga service officers na sila, mga retired na
ang iba. So, I am very happy,” he told Bombo Radyo’s Beyond Politics last February”.
From PMA he was appointed by the PNP Chief then Director General
Cesar Nazareno to be the Commandant of Cadets of the Philippines
National Police Academy at Camp Castaneda, Silang, Cavite.
Congressman Bataoil, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, rendered his snappiest salute to an old war veteran during a war anniversary. |
“Noong
dinala ako sa PNPA as Commandant of Cadets lalo akong na inspire na leadership
and management experiences ko sa field pagmamahal ko sa mga future na police
officer. So these are the glorious moment mga fulfilling moments in the life of
a career officer sa uniform service.
He said these experiences he brought to the Academy,
a police version of the military oriented PMA, influenced future officers that
will carry the good customs and tradition of the service.
The down- to- earth retired general cited that his
other assignments before his retirement in 2009 was in Cotabato City as Metro
District Command or what a Cotabateño like this writer called then as Metrodiscom, Commander, provincial directors of
Negros Occidental and Pangasinan – two biggest provinces in the country, commander of the Special Action Force, a one
star ranked director of the Police Regional Office in Region 1, a two-star
ranked National
Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and later as the chief of the
Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO) in Northern Luzon, a super body” that check
on terrorism, insurgency, illegal drugs, gambling and other concerns, before
he lay down his uniform in 2009 and picked up a politician clothe and won the
congressional post of the countless villages
of the eight towns’ Second District in Pangasinan.
General Pol Bataoil (6th from left) as Commander of the Special Action Force. |
He is a resident of Capital Town Lingayen where he and six siblings were brought up in a modest but loving way by a head teacher father of Magsaysay Elementary School
and a doting mother who forgo teaching to become a full time mother taking care of her children's daily needs.
The general said Mrs. Marcella Bataoil became her children's tutor.
After serving for almost nine years, Bataoil will be
leaving in June 30 this year the August Chamber in Quezon City but he is ubiquitously seen shaking hands and fervently consulting with his constituents in Lingayen for another win as a mayoral
candidate of the Capital Town in the gargantuan province of Pangasinan.
READ MY OTHER ARTICLE
U.S Military Rescue Operation: Things Filipinos Could Learn
“I remember may isang nasa PMA pala ako, there was this civilian employee by the name of Mortz Ortigoza (author of this article). Ito ay isang tao na ito ay napakabata na civilian employee iyon. Nagkikita kami sa Mindanao, nagkikita kami sa Manila, nagkikita kami dito sa Pangasinan. Kasama natin sa media. Those were the days. Na mu monitor niya iyong mga buhay namin as officers and hanggang sa mag retire kami as civilian in public service”
– Retired General and Congressman Pol Bataoil told the anchor of Beyond Politics
– Retired General and Congressman Pol Bataoil told the anchor of Beyond Politics
(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)
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