War not a solution, say Filipino veterans

Sixty years after the war on the Korean Peninsula came to a ceasefire, the Filipino veterans, who joined their colleagues from the United Nations forces to commemorate the event, lamented the fighting and the loss of lives.

“It makes you feel that there should be no war. It’s meaningless and wrong. We can settle conflicts in a better way,” retired Col. Ishmael Rodrigo told the Inquirer.

The death toll from the Korean War was placed at 2.5 million North and South Koreans and UN allied forces.

Aside from Rodrigo, those who returned to Korea over the weekend to join the commemoration of the armistice signing on Saturday were former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, retired Generals Benjamin Santos and Prudencio Regis, Colonels Vicente Alhambra and Jovencio Dominguez and Lieutenants Dionisio Layaoen and Severino Aquino.

Despite facing the Hukbalahap rebellion, then President Elpidio Quirino approved the sending of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea that included his son and a son-in-law. The Philippines sent a total of 7,420 combat troops and lost 112 men, with 16 listed as missing in action.

Rodrigo, 87, fought as a young guerrilla in World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and the campaign against the Huks.

Santos, 85, said fighting the Huks was more difficult than facing foreign enemies.

But by and large, “you don’t like to kill [anyone], being a Christian,” he added.

But if one is face to face with the enemy, one has to make a decision.

Ramos, then a 25-year-old Army lieutenant in the Korean War, remembered having to shoot at a Chinese soldier at close range in the Battle of Hill Eerie.

“He was already going to pull the pin of a grenade and throw it at us. I had no choice but to shoot him,” recalled Ramos, who commanded the reconnaissance team that was deployed to the area.

Ramos said a number of the Filipino troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

Santos said another proud moment for the Filipino soldiers was when the 20th BCT and 19th BCT were able to repulse the “major offensive brigade of the Chinese communists.”

It happened on June 21-22, 1952, Santos said. “We were all told to hold the line. The Chinese already blew the bugle and sent pyrotechnic signals [to rally the soldiers] and they attacked, but the Filipinos were able to hold the line. We were on the front line with our .50-cal. machine guns and M1 rifle carbines. That was the bravery and gallantry in action of the Filipinos,” Santos said.

The war was made more difficult for the Filipinos because of the brutal winter and the mountainous terrain.