Family brings slain SAF trooper home, skips rites at Camp Bagong Diwa

Relatives of the 44 elite police commandos killed last Sunday, during the Philippines’ biggest single-day combat loss in recent years, mourn at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig city, south of Manila, Philippines, on Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. On Friday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III promised grieving relatives of the slain commandos that government forces will capture suspected bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

VIRAC, Catanduanes—Carried on the shoulders of eight policemen, the casket bearing the remains of Senior Insp. Max Jim Ramirez Tria was marched slowly past two squads of riflemen and flagbearers before being laid down in front of the airport terminal for a brief ceremony.

Rev. Fr. Joseph de la Providencia said prayers for the 27-year-old Special Action Force (SAF) trooper, one of the 44 fallen policemen in the Mamasapano carnage, and then showered holy water on the casket as the officer’s family, local officials, airport personnel and passengers watched in silence.

Gov. Araceli Wong, Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, Vice Gov. Jose Teves Jr. and other provincial officials joined the Tria family in the arrival honors at Virac airport for the slain PNP-SAF officer, whose casket was unloaded from the lone commercial flight that arrived from Manila at 6:45 a.m. on Friday.

From the airport, the convoy proceeded slowly along the national road to Tria’s home in Barangay Cabihian here, at one time passing by pupils of the Palta Elementary School who gathered at both sides of the road.

The same slow cadence marked Tria’s return to the family home, where relatives and friends had waited since early morning.

Tria’s mother Efigenia, 52, who did not join the airport ceremony, was inconsolable and fainted at one point as her husband, also a police officer, Senior Insp. Guillermo Tria Jr., and three of his sons helped the police arrange the coffin for viewing.

The elder Tria, who heads the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) unit of the Catanduanes provincial police office, refused to comment on the family’s decision to bring his son’s body back home as early as possible, in spite of the scheduled ceremony at Camp Bagong Diwa that was attended by President Benigno Aquino III.

“I have nothing more to say on the issue, to avoid any misunderstanding,” he said Friday afternoon at the wake.

The interment of the 27-year old police officer has yet to be scheduled as the family awaited the arrival of Guillermo’s sister who lives in Germany.

“If it were up to me, I would prefer Mac-Mac (Max Jim) be buried as early as possible and with minimum fuss,” Tria’s father told Philippine Daily Inquirer.

According to the family, the casket will be brought to the Palta Church and buried at the Catholic cemetery in the area.

Elsewhere in the province, except for the flags being flown at half-mast at government offices, courts and schools in Catanduanes, there was no other activity of enough significance to mark the fact that the province lost one of its sons in the Mamasapano massacre.

Wong released a memorandum to all local government units, government offices and schools reiterating Proclamation No. 953 of President Aquino that declared Jan. 30, 2015, National Day of Mourning but no capitol-initiated activities were undertaken, said a provincial board member who asked not to be named.

An official of the capital town of Virac also disclosed that no specific directive had been issued by Mayor Flerida Alberto regarding the day of mourning, with most employees told to join a cleanup activity at the boulevard on Friday afternoon.

However, Teves told the Inquirer that as soon as Tria’s death was confirmed, he and the rest of the provincial board agreed to pass a resolution this coming Monday (Feb. 2) expressing the Catandunganons’ collective grief and solidarity with the family of the young policeman.

The measure also granted P50,000 to the bereaved family as a gesture of sympathy, he said.