Kabankalan Marine Cpl. Emilio Lachica Jr. was buried at high noon yesterday with full military honors, as the Armed Forces of the Philippines prepares a full-scale offensive against their ambushers.

Lachica and his 13 other colleagues were slain in an ambush allegedly perpetrated by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Tipo-Tipo Basilan on July 10. He was among the 10 Marines who were beheaded by their ambushers, the military said.

"He died as a hero", Marine MSgt. Edmund Vertucio said.

Vertucio and other Marine troopers who attended the burial of Lachica, of Brgy. Pinaguinpinan, Kabankalan City, as well as members of the Philippine Army who rendered the 21-gun salute to the slain Marine trooper, however, refused to comment on the all-out offensive against their ambushers.

The MILF refused to turn over the perpetrators as the government deadline for them to do so ended yesterday.

Malacañang has given the AFP the go signal to launch "punitive action" against the ambushers for what it calls their uncivilized, inhuman and barbaric attack" on soldiers.

Lachica and the other Marine troopers were on their way back to their headquarters after their unproductive search for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when they were ambushed by Abu Sayyaf and MILF members, killing 14 on the spot.

Joemarie Lachica said his younger brother and the other Marines had sacrificed their lives for Bossi who was only released later by his captors.

Bossi said he feels responsible for the deaths of the 14 Marines. "I feel sorry because if I was not kidnapped, they would still be alive. They were there because of me," he said.

Other members of the Lachica family expressed their outrage over the barbaric way of the perpetrators treated the slain Marine troopers.

The 14 Marine troopers were awarded posthumous promotions by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in recognition of the gallantry they displayed during the attack.

MLIF chief negotiator Mahaqer Ibal has rejected the military's ultimatum, saying the fighting was a "legitimate encounter".*GPB

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