"The C's You Need to Win a Battle"

The battle of Marawi is a fight one cannot ever forget. It is a horror that will haunt the nights of many people- children, parents, doctors, teachers, and even the soldiers. Marawi siege began on May 23, 2017.It was a five-month-long battle against the Maute group or the pro-ISIS militants in Marawi. They controlled the city and held the residents as hostages. Nearly 300 people died in this battle. Millions of properties were destroyed. Simply, the whole Marawi City got devastated and became a total wreck. In November 2022, Police Colonel Rex Arvin Malimban, Chief, General Services Support Division of the Philippine National Polce Academy had a talk with the first-class cadets about the Liberation of Marawi. I never thought that the man in front of us is one of those brave and brute troops who risked their own lives just to fight for their fellowmen and the country.[1]

PCOL M ALIMBAN shared with us his experiences and stories during the Marawi siege. His great leadership among his troops helped him to survive and succeed the five-moth-long battle. From his talk, I learned many things about leadership. I realized that the 11 leadership principles that we always memorize and recite here in the cadet corps are indeed applicable outside. And if you apply these principles, it will help you succeed in every operation that you conduct.

For me, there are three C's that emanated during their battle. These three C’s are Competence, Courage, and Character. PCOL MALIMBAN is indeed a competent police officer. He was tasked to lead the operation in Marawi because his superiors know his competence. His experiences in urban war in other countries such as Syria and Libia honed his knowledge and skills. Hence, as he led his troops, his competence led him to doing such good decision-making.

Another C is Courage. PCOL MALIMBAN is a leader who does not just let his subordinates do everything. According to him, if there is an operation, he is the first one to go to. He makes sure that he leads his troops. Exchanging bullets with the militants every day takes a lot of courage. Courage to continue and survive each day until they finally liberated Marawi City.

The Last C is Character. He would not be succeeding this battle if he did not have the good character that a commander must have during times like this. Because of the qualities he possessed, it helped him build good relationship with other forces which willfully gave them assistance during the battle.

Another thing I learned from the talk with PCOL MALIMBAN is the importance of proper delegation and division of tasks among the organization or group. Under the commander are his staffs who play vital role in the operation. The investigation, intelligence, operations, administrative, liaison, and the PCR all did their functions for the success of the liberation of Marawi. Building good connections to other units and agencies is also important in conducting operations like this. The success of Marawi liberation would not be possible if troopers did not help with each other. Just what he repeatedly emphasized, the troopers, although coming from different forces and units, must not see this as a competition. Everyone must help each other to save the Philippines, to save the people of Marawi.

Being able to listen to such inspiring story of PCOL Malimban is indeed a great opportunity to learn and reflect. Someday, we will become the officers who will be also like them. We will lead people in the field. We will have only one goal and that is to fight what is wrong and stand and fight for what is right.

Reference:

[1]https://www.bing.com/search?q=marawi+siege&cvid=eb839a56fb454aa18a5b980043553829&aqs=edge.0.0j69i57j0l7.2824j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&PC=U531