Catanduanes mourns cop’s death

HIS FAMILY says this is the last photograph of the SAF troops sent by Senior Insp. Max Jim Tria (fifth from left) while they were in Maguindanao. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

At 27, Max Jim “Mac-Mac” Ramirez Tria had the same rank as his policeman-father’s, Senior Insp. Guillermo Tria Jr., who heads the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) unit at Camp Francisco Camacho, the Catanduanes police headquarters, in Virac town.

The elder Tria recalled that he had asked Mac-Mac, the third of five sons he raised with wife Efigenia, to request for relief from his assignment to Basilan with the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) but the young officer asked for one more year.

Holding back his emotions, Guillermo, now 53, and less than two years to retirement, said that when he told his son that he planned to go on early retirement, Mac-Mac suggested that he finish his tenure.

On the night of Jan. 19, he sent a text message to his son: “Anong balita diyan (What’s happening there)?” There was no reply. After the father’s missed call, Mac-Mac called to say he was being pulled out for a mission to Maguindanao.

As a matter of courtesy, being fellow police officers, Guillermo did not inquire as to the nature of the mission.

Premonition

On Jan. 25, a Sunday, he was to learn about his son’s fate while watching TV past 10 p.m. The flash report: 27 SAF men killed in Maguindanao.

“This is a problem …,” Guillermo said to himself. He started texting and calling Mac-Mac’s cell phone. The following day, the number could no longer be reached, and the agonizing reality began to sink in. “This is a big problem,” he said.

When it was finally confirmed that his son had been killed, Guillermo wanted to know if the body was mutilated. He heaved a sigh of relief when told it was not, but another officer, a batchmate at the PNP Academy (PNPA) in 2009, was rumored to have been beheaded.

“Maybe it was just his time. We can’t do anything about that anymore,” Guillermo said.

He blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the deaths of 44 SAF officers and criticized the government for entering into a peace deal with the rebel group.

He did not believe that there was no prior coordination before the police operation was carried out, as the MILF has insisted. He said it is standard operating procedure for the PNP to contact friendly forces in an area, much more during a ceasefire.

“President Aquino would be callous to the fate of the slain cops if the government proceeds with the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Guillermo said in the vernacular. “Many more lives of policemen and soldiers would be lost.”

Guillermo regretted that the close relationship he has with his sons would be marred by the loss of one.

The eldest, Ace John, 30, works in Spain, while the second, Guillermo, 28, is a seaman awaiting redeployment abroad. The fourth, Julius, 25, an information management graduate, stays at the family’s residential compound in Cabihian, Virac, while the youngest, Guio, 20, is taking up business administration at Catanduanes State University (CSU).

The last time the brood gathered in full in Cabihian was in 2012 when they came for the baptism of Julius’ eldest child.

Julius says his brother had been wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps as a policeman since high school.

After graduating from CSU Laboratory Schools, Mac-Mac entered the PNPA and came out one of the youngest graduates in 2009. He was assigned to the PNP-SAF headquarters in Bicutan, Taguig City, for about a year before he was fielded to Basilan.

Mac-Mac topped sniper school and earned honors in Scout Ranger and commando training, as well as those for explosives and ordnance.

He never had a chance to finish airborne training, as his request was denied by his battalion commander.

Julius said his brother was physically and mentally prepared to die fighting. Mac-Mac liked wagwagan, the SAF term for the deadly exchange of gunfire, his father said.

During their last conversation, Guillermo said his son seemingly joked about having a son with a woman he did not name. They were to talk about it during vacation this summer after she gives birth.

A grieving but proud Catanduanes will say goodbye to its fallen hero, on Feb. 7 when he is buried with full police honors—a 21-gun salute and the taps.

The funeral march will start from the family home in Cabihian at 8 a.m. and end at Our Lady of Salvation Church at Palta Big for a concelebrated Mass.

The body will be laid to rest at Palta cemetery about a kilometer away.