Clarita Carlos (Facebook)

Former national security adviser Clarita Carlos took up the cudgels for the country’s soldiers amid an online appeal for airlines to give them special passenger privileges. 

"Our soldiers should have priority boarding and additional luggage allowance," Carlos wrote on Facebook Friday, April 26. 

"Buhay nila kapalit kapayapaan ng lahat! (The peace that we enjoy is exchanged for their lives)," noted the retired political science professor. 

Carlos' post appeared to be a response to a netizen's open letter to an airline earlier this week wherein the writer narrated the plight of "three humble soldiers" who had trouble checking in their luggage because it was over the weight limit. 

The soldiers were headed to Mindanao, with two of them going to Marawi. It was only through the "bayanihan" of other airline passengers who shared the excess weight of the luggage that the soldiers were able to board. 

Among the items that the soldiers checked in were their uniform and shoes. The writer of the open letter noted that the soldiers never made a fuss and instead followed the airline's rules.

Carlos is an adviser of Speaker Martin Romualdez at the House of Representatives.