Ilocos Norte honors fallen SAF son

military honor for slain Ilocano PNP-SAF Omar A. Nacionales in front of the Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol with Fr. Walde Batoon and Muslim group head Hadji Acmad Adoma speaking. (Lei Adriano)

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—In line with the National Day of Mourning on Jan. 30, the Ilocos Norte provincial government honored a fallen son, along with the 43 other Special Action Forces commandos killed in Mamasapano in Maguindanao on Jan. 25.

A memorial mass and wreath-laying ceremony for PO2 Omar A. Nacionales was held on Jan. 30 at the Provincial Capitol.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos calls for “all out justice”. (PGIN photo)

Hundreds of police officers in the province led by acting provincial police director P/Sr. Supt. Sterling Raymund Blanco as well as local Muslim leaders, local officials led by Ilocos Norte Gov. Ma. Imelda R. Marcos and other government officials.

Ms. Marcos extended her condolences and prayers to the bereaved family of Mr. Nacionales who hails from Brgy. Escoda, Marcos, Ilocos Norte.

“As a mother of three young men, the same age of our dearly departed Omar, I cannot imagine the tragedy and sadness that you can now undergo. It is beyond us the grief that you feel and yet we lend you our very best prayers and share with you the sadness that you undergo,” she said.

The remains of the 44 SAF arrive at Villamor Airbase (Marcelino G. Pascua)

Father Romualdo “Walde” Batoon, parish priest of the St. William Cathedral, Laoag City officiated the commemorative mass.

Ms. Marcos added that the provincial government through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan is now drafting a resolution to recognize Nacionales’ bravery and heroism along with a provision of cash assistance to his family members.

Hope of the family

Born on October 17, 1987, Mr. Nacionales was described by her wife as good and responsible man, strict yet a very sweet husband who managed to buy her a chocolate cake during her birthday last December. Nacionales served the PNP for six years.

The bereaved family of Nacionales with his mother Florencia (far right). Photos by Lei Adriano and Marcelino G. Pascua

“Our family depends on him. We could have not afforded his education but his aunt help him to finish his studies,” Omar’s emotional mother said.

As the second eldest child of the family, Nanay Florencia said he has helped his siblings to enter college.

“So long my brother. You have sacrificed your life. I hope that on your second life, you are with God. Rest in peace,” said Nacionales younger brother, Ezar, who is destined to follow his elder brother’s footstep as he is now undergoing police training after graduating from Criminology course.

True to its mission, a police will lay down his life, so that others may live.

The provincial government of Ilocos Norte together with the PNP has given the family financial assistance.

A year of mourning for Ilocano SAF’s widow

Just six months ago, Gae Ann Guiniling Nacionales gave birth to twin babies. She underwent caesarean operation. Ten days after her premature delivery, she lost her twins. On Jan, 25, she lost her husband, PO2 Omar Agacer Nacionales of Brgy. Escoda, Marcos, Ilocos Norte.

Noynoy Aquino condoles with families of the fallen SAF commandos; 

Mr. Nacionales was one of the 44 elite police commandos who died in a clash with Moro fighters in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25. He was 27 years old and married for 10 months to a fellow newly promoted Police Officer 2 Gaen Ann Guiniling, a native of Ifugao province with residence in Luna, La Union.

While on assignment with PNP-SAF, the couple first met in Luna, La Union in 2012 prior to their transfer in Zamboanga Police Regional Office 9. They got married on March 8, 2014.

As a non-commissioned officer of SAF, Gae Ann told this reporter in a telephone interview on Thursday that she was one of those who prepared her husband’s and other SAF commando’s administrative needs. Unfortunately, at least 44 of the PNP-SAF members who were sent on a mission to arrest a Malaysian terrorist Zulkifil bin Hir, alias Marwan and Basit Usman  died in a bloody encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

While trying to compose herself over the phone, she said, “I am taking it one by one. I am still coping from the loss of our twin babies and now, with him.”

As Mr. Nacionales body was still at Saint Peter funeral in Manila then, she said it is very difficult to accept the situation and she could hardly bear what happened to her husband whom she could hardly recognized from the bodies recovered at the massacre site.

“I still have no plans, I don’t know how to start but I need to...I need to go on with my duty,” she added.

She recalled that just the other week, they were both happy together. She even posted their photo cuddling each other in her Facebook account, “I remember this pic dad. Ito na pala. Ang saya natin the other week. Ngayon, you left me grieving and mourning.”

Muslims join wreath-laying

At the wreath-laying ceremony and commemorative mass, the 34-year old Ilocos Norte United Muslim Community (INUMC) in Laoag also expressed their sympathy to the bereaved family.

“Ang gusto naming ay maimbestigahan ng maigi ang pangyayari. Kung tutuosin sa magkabilang panig, hindi naman nila siguro mangyari ‘yon. Nagkataon na nangyari at tayo namang mga Filipino, iisa ang ating lahi. Hindi dapat pasiklabin ang ganyang pangyayari. Halimbawa, kung may apoy, ang ibuhos natin ay tubig,” said Hadji Acmad Adoma, president of the INUMC with over 2,000 members here.

“Kami ay nakikiramay sa lahat lalo na sa pamilya ng nasawi dito sa Ilocos Norte. Isipin na lang natin na hindi natin kagustohan yan at hindi rin kagustohan ng gobyerno natin. Ang hanap natin ay kapayapaan sa lahat,” Mr. Adoma added.

Photos: 

The Ilocos Norte police in mourning (Lei Adriano)

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