Ex-AFP chief Sobejana: West PH Sea issue a global threat

Battle-scarred after serving for almost 40 years in the military, the retired general Cirilito Sobejana is the focus of the latest installment of the documentary film series “Unsurrendered.”

The documentary film shows how the former scout ranger commander led a 16-man team in a five-hour close-quarter battle against the Abu Sayyaf in Matarling, Basilan in January 1995.

Sobejana stopped using his right after the gun battle in that year where he almost lost it. 

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For his bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Valor by the late president Fidel Ramos. 

In 2021, he was named Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and retired in the same year. 

“I am getting emotional because I can still feel what happened 30 years ago,” Sobejana said in Filipino.

The "Unsurrendered” documentary film series about Sobejana, from filmmaker Lucky Guillermo, had its world premiere in New Westminster, B.C.

Guillermo hopes his films will inspire Filipinos, especially in the face of threats in the West Philippine Sea.

“We would like people to be aware of what’s happening,” he said. “We are being water cannoned and we can’t do anything. That is exactly why we would like to inspire people.”

Sobejana said the country is on the right track in its defense of its territory in the West Philippine Sea.

Now retired, the former AFP chief said he is willing to help in shaping the country’s territorial defense strategy.

“There is a change in the tactics, techniques and procedures,” he said. “This time, because of the external aggressors, it would no longer be an ordinary warfare like fighting our local insurgents.”

He warned that the situation in the West Philippine Sea is a global security threat that can also affect the world’s economy.

This is why he said other countries should help in providing much-needed technical support to the Philippines.

During the event, Guillermo also screened his “Unsurrendered 2” documentary that tells the story of the guerrillas who fought in World War 2.

Among the guerrillas was Col. Honorio “Naning” Guerrero, the ground assault commander, during the liberation of the Prisoner of War camp in Los Baños, Laguna.

Guerrero’s children shared some of their father’s stories during the event.

He was posthumously awarded the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor.

The Filipino-Canadian Society for International Arts and Events or “Inarte” Society partnered with Spyron AV Manila to bring the “Unsurrendered” film series to British Columbia.