SAN LUIS, Aurora – When she heard the voice of her husband and the background on the other end of the phone, Roselle Nacino sensed something was going wrong.“Bakit me putukan diyan?” Roselle asked PO2 Nicky Nacino Jr., one of the 44 Special Action Force commandos slaughtered by MILF and BIFF forces in Mamasapano that fateful day of Jan. 25.
But she got no answer, instead Nicky asked him a P100 mobile phone load. That was about 3 p.m, Roselle recalled in an interview with the media here. “Basta load-an mo ko ng P100, bilis,” she recounted. Afterwards, they lost touch. “Do’n kinabahan na’ko,” she said.
The policeman made another call about an hour later and this time he managed to talk to his father, Nicky Sr., according to Roselle. She repeated her question but Nicky apparently opted to ignore it to prevent her from worrying. “Sabi lang niya ay baka matagalan na siya baka makauwi tapos naputol na ang linya,” she said.
Nacino, nicknamed Dondon was one of three fallen SAF troopers from Central Luzon, the others were PO3 John Lloyd Rebamonte Sumbilla of Bataan and PO2 Junrel Narvas Kibeteof Bulacan. His remains lie in estate in a flag-draped casket in Barangay Ditumabo here where he is recognized as a folk hero.
Since his body arrived to a hero’s welcome, hundreds of people have been flocking to their house here to get a glimpse of the rookie policeman, including his fraternity brothers from the Tao Gamma Phi. He went home last December 20 and left for Zamboanga on January 10. He was staring at her and their new born child Nathan Inigo then broke down before leaving, Roselle said.
“Mahirap nang umalis ng bahay pag may baby,” she recalled him saying. Then her husband advised her to take good care of their child, as if trying to say goodbye. “Sisiguraduhin daw niya na hindi magiging miserable ang buhay ng anak namin kung mamamatay siya,” Roselle added.
Some people from this town are now demanding justice for him. Nacino’s father and namesake Nicky Sr. said President Aquino promised to help their family cope with the loss of Dondon who is the sole breadwinner in the family.
The slain lawman, the eldest in a brood of six, has been financing the studies of his siblings Geraldine, a criminology student at the University of Baguio and Ricky Boy, a finance management student at the Saint Louis University. Councilor Tristan Pimentel, a fraternity brother of Nacino, stoked the outpouring of sympathy and grief after filing a resolution for a hero’s burial for Nacino who was laid to rest at the Ditumabo cemetery yesterday.
“Dondon is not only a hero here in San Luis but also of the Filipino nation and to our brothers in the Tao Gamma Phi fraternity,” he said ahead of the funeral procession. In the necrological service, flyers bearing Nacino’s face were distributed with the words “Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary,” quoting Gerard Way.
A tarpaulin posted near the entrance door of their house showed Nacino’s exploits, including his being a veteran of the Zamboanga siege where he led police commandos repel 253 members of the MNLF who tried to take over Zamboanga City on September 9, 2013.
