A young lieutenant is a fresh graduate from academy and got married upon graduation.
A year after his deployment he got his first born daughter, i been seeing them together with his young and beautiful wife and their daughter in the chapel every Sunday while they were having Platoon Leaders Course in the division training unit.
Then after less than a year from his first deployment in his very first unit in Samar, he faced the most awaited event a platoon leader had dreamed of before they still in a training camp, to have its baptismal of fire.
But it was his first and last encounter for the rest of his marveled profession, he was fatally hit by a bullet from an enemy in a more vantage position.
On a wake at the division mortuary, his young daughter is crying out loud wanted to hug his daddy lying in a coffin, keep calling his daddy to wake up. The innocent child never know that her beloved daddy is already paid a supreme sacrifice for his country, he keep reaching his daddy's picture and kissing it, her mom keep telling her young daughter that her daddy is only sleeping, "don't cry baby your daddy is only sleeping".
I have witnessed the most saddest moment a young family could ever have in their entire life, a moment that ended a dream of serving his mother land, protecting the people he oath to serve.
His dream was ended by a bullet coming from a misguided brother, blinded by a personal interest of their leader who live like a king in a paradise like country, enjoying the extorted money paid by the lives of their poor followers.
A dream of seeing his daughter grown up with a happy family is ended by bullet that echoed from the mountain who witnessed the tragic moment of his life.
I sighed and said to my self, how I wish Pressident Duterte become our president long before he graduated in school, he must be seeing his daughter now walking with her mom and insurgency problem is already been addressed long before he died for our country.
"Don't cry baby, your daddy is just sleeping, a soldiers wife lie".
- Transcript from Major Arthur Dumalagan, Philippine Army in memory of Lt. Cobellan