MANILA – Scores of battle-weary soldiers belonging to the Philippine Marines returned Monday as part of the homecoming process after the siege of the Islamic City of Marawi to rejoin their home units.
Lugging their battle gear and war making equipment, the troops allowed themselves, perhaps for the first time in five tenuous months of fighting the terrorist elements of the ISIS-aligned Maute Group in Marawi, to let their hair down, so to speak, and take in the cheers and appreciative welcome by citizens laid out for them as their convoy motored through scenic Roxas Boulevard leading off from Manila South Harbor to their headquarters inside Fort Bonifacio.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW BY BERNARD TESTA, NEWS5 | INTERAKSYON
