7 soldiers treated by grateful family

CAGAYAN DE ORO. The seven soldiers who sent 2nd Lt McGlenn Abuyador’s body off and the family that treated them for lunch.

A POST by an Army officer who uses an alias in his Facebook account is being shared by netizens as it tells how their lunch bill was picked up by a family as gratitude for what they are doing in Marawi City.

The post was accompanied by a group picture of seven uniformed soldiers with eight civilians, including a small child, whose faces were all blocked out to hide their identities. In the post by “Xad Kire“, he wrote that the incident happened after they sent off their slain comrade, McGlenn Zerna Abuyabor who goes by the name of Iron Sight on Facebook.

“Upon take-off of the PAF Nomad Aircraft who ferried McGlenn to Dumaguete City.

Me and my team went down to the city proper from the airport for late lunch. T’was 2 p.m. when we arrive at the restaurant. I then ordered food for us and settled down as I noticed a family who just arrived at the restaurant,” Xad Kire wrote. He referred to Abuyador as his junior officer.

Abuyador was a second lieutenant.  SunStar Davao later learned that this was at The Barn Restaurant in Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City last Thursday, June 1, although the soldiers still asked not to be identified and would rather just tell their story incognito.

As soon as their orders were served, the soldiers gobbled down their food as they were going to travel again. The officer then asked his corporal to get their bill, but the corporal returned empty-handed saying someone else already paid for their food. “NO! We’re paying the bill, sino pala nagbayad na may pera naman tayong dala dito,” the officer said.

“Cpl P. pointed the family who were eating at the other table,” the Facebook post read. Xad Kire said he stood up to wash his hands and then approached the family to introduce himself and ask why they had to pay for their bill. “My pera po kaming pambayad, baka masyado pong mabigat sa inyo at pito kami lahat magkasama,” the officer told the family.

The old man and woman in the group smiled, and the old man said, “Sir, it is our way of saying thank you sa inyo at andito kayo mga sundalo para protektahan kami mga sibilyan.”

The man told the officer that they were among those evacuated from Mindanao State University Marawi City campus by soldiers at the height of the siege by the Maute Group. Insisting that they pay their food bill, the old man said,

“Wag na po sir okay lang po sa amin yan, malaking bagay ung nakalabas kami ng Marawi safely at may mga sundalo na tumulong.“

“Can’t help myself but shed a tear, dahil sa loss ng junior officer na nkasama mo sa unit and also sa tuwa na meron parin plang mga civilians na naniniwala and rumirespeto sa aming mga nasa armed services despite sa negative issues na ibinabato sa amin dahil sa Martial Law and sa negatibong pagtanggap ng publiko sa military offensives na ginawa sa Marawi City,”

Xad Kire wrote. As his men and the family prepared to go their separate ways, Xad Kire wrote he noticed that the family’s vehicle was full of household items indicating they were moving somewhere else. “Sa pamilyang G.. ng Marawi City maraming salamat po sa tiwala sa amin, asahan po ninyo na ang AFP natin ay parating naglilingkod at handang magbuwis ng buhay para sa kapayapaan ng ating bansa.

Sa pamilyang G.. sana po ay biyayaan kayo ng Diyos ng magandang pamumuhay at magandang pangangatawan and sana po sa susunod pagkakataon na mag krus ang ating landas ay kami naman po ang mag host ng “boodlefight” para sa inyo..

kung saan man dako ng Mindanao kayo lumipat sana ay gabayan kayo parati ng panginoon and ilayo sa anumang panganib,” the army officer wrote. As of 3:30 p.m., Friday, 20 hours since it was posted, it was saved 103 times, shared by 6,014, and had 1,530 comments.