my classmate in high school used to be a sniper of the PA- SR Regiment. his platoon was the first to breach the narciso ramos highway during the war in 2000 waged by erap against the milf as an offshoot of the attack in kauswagan, lanao del norte. the taking over of the highway paved the way for capture of camp abubakar later. at one point, he said, their team leader ordered them to fix bayonet as their last line of defense. they were running out of bullets. when we saw each other during our reunion he advised me to learn to love knives. they do make a difference between living and dying, he said. in whatever form or size, grab it. you don't know when you gonna use it.