CENTRAL COMMAND, CAMP LAPULAPU, CEBU.

By: BGEN PHILIP S LAPINID O-9934 AFP, who was a Colonel then…

The short eulogy I delivered during the memorial service for my friend, Brigadier General Emilio Somoza Luga, Jr (PMA Class of 1954) on 08 April 2015:

We are gathered here tonight to pay homage to a warrior who was a class of his own – a cavalier who exemplified the ideals of the Philippine Military Academy of courage, integrity and loyalty up to his last breath – Brigadier General Emilio Somoza Luga Jr.

My first personal encounter with Sir Emil was in one afternoon of November 1999. Bedridden in Chong Hua Hospital and with the skin on both of my thighs recently surgically peeled off and grafted onto my lower left leg, I was in a very bad shape and in a very bad mood. Suddenly, the door opened and in came a senior citizen with a barrel chest and spanking military haircut. Because of his fair complexion, I thought at first that he was a senior member of the hospital staff. 

He then went to introduce himself: I am General Emil Luga, PMA Class 1954. I read about you in the Cebu Squad E-Group. What happened to you?

To which I weakly replied: Sir, I am Captain Lapinid of the 4th Infantry Division, PMA Class ’88. Sir, I was very lax.

He then ordered me, or perhaps more appropriately advised me to make an appeal to the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association, Inc for assistance. Seeing that my writing hand was in a splint, he told me to dictate to him what I wanted to say. Since it was very awkward for a captain to have a general for a secretary, I kept my message short and observed the basic principles of conciseness and brevity. Although the appeal written for me by my pro bono secretary would later be lost in the mountain of controversial issues discussed daily in the Plebes and Cavaliers E-Group, I could never forget how a very senior PMAer would go out of his way to help a junior PMAer he did not even personally know, much less serve with in combat.  

Five months later, I shipped for the Combat Arms School in Fort Magsaysay to take the Infantry Officer Advance Course. During one of my visits to the library, I came across an article entitled A Mindanao Story – Troubled Decades in the Eye of the Storm written by retired Major General Delfin Castro. In that article, the name of Brigadier General Emilio S Luga Jr, who was a commander of the First Infantry (Tabak) Division appeared several times, especially in Chapter 4 that delved into the Pata Island Massacre of February 1981 that left 119 Philippine Army officers and men dead.

The same article would later appear online in 2006, appended by someone who merely signed as JLV Junior and who was part of the Pata Island operations that followed that massacre. The appending author described in intensely vivid detail how the soldiers conducted the recovery and pursuit operations. 

In the comments portion below the online article, retired General Luga commented on 01 April 2006: Pata incident as narrated in the Corps Magazine is generally correct but needs explanation of the circumstances before, during and after the incident – too hurting to remember.

That comment struck me. From what I have heard about him, I have always considered Brigadier General Luga as a martinet, an indifferent military commander like many other great commanders and an officer feared by both his enemies and his men. I realized that beneath that barrel chest and behind that tiger-look was a compassionate man who felt strongly for the individual soldier. It was perhaps because of this compassion that the very senior PMAer volunteered to take down the dictation of an underclassman. 

When I became a battalion commander in Zambales years later, discussions in the Cebu Squad E-group, of which we were both members, would sometimes gravitate to my area of responsibility. General Luga would fondly narrate his experience as a young lieutenant in the late 1950s, running after lawless elements in the Zambales Mountains. I remember him as a circumspect, fair and democratic member of the Cebu Squad discussion forum who patiently read or listened to the often emotionally-charged and immature rants and complaints of the younger forum members about almost anything under the sun.  

I never had the opportunity to serve in combat with the late General Luga. I missed the most difficult Mindanao operations by several years and consequently missed serving with an icon of honorable military service and a stalwart of courage, integrity and loyalty. I would have gladly fought alongside him anytime, anywhere. At the very least, I am happy that I met him in this lifetime. 

Brigadier General Emilio Somoza Luga, Jr, sir. I salute you, Go with God’s grace. We will rejoin you later in the Long Gray Line of the Afterlife.