CEBU CITY – The pain is unbearable. This was how Rochie Tocmo Poblacion described what she and her family are going through after her younger sister Rhea Mae Tocmo was brutally killed by still unknown perpetrators.
RHEA Mae Tocmo (FB) Rochie broke down several times when she arrived at a funeral parlor here to claim her sister’s remains on Wednesday morning, July 19. She was accompanied by her father Romeo. Rhea Mae’s body was found stuffed in a box and dumped by the road in Barangay Tisa here on Monday, July 17. Police investigation is ongoing to identify the perpetrators and determine the motive of the gruesome killing. Rochie appealed to the killers of her sister to surrender. “Unsa kasakit imo gihatag, unsa kasakit imo gihatag sa pamilya. Ako pinakasakitan sa tanan. Igsoon ko pero mura ako ang mama niya (You just don’t know the pain that you have caused us. I am in pain the most. I was her sister but I was like her mother),” said Rochie. Rochie said Rhea Mae grew up with her in Panabo City, Davao del Norte and also shouldered her studies. She said she and Rhea Mae shared a strong bond. Rochie added that she knew her sister so well that she was able to identify her even through the fingernails that protruded from a box where the victim’s body was stuffed. “Her body was still in the box but when I saw the nails, I knew it was her. We were very close. I knew my sister very much. I am her sister but I was like her mother because she grew up with me,” Rochie told reporters while breaking down. Rochie said that she was told by police that based on the autopsy report, her 19-year-old sister died of strangulation. Rhea Mae was found wrapped in a blanket and her hands tied with a rubber tied around her neck. Rochie confirmed what their uncle had previously disclosed that her sister left for Cebu last June without informing the family. Rhea Mae stayed in a boarding house in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City while supposedly working in a restaurant. All along, Rochie thought her sister was working in Davao City. Rochie said she only knew that her sister was in Cebu when Rhe Mae called her asking her to book her a flight for Panabo as she will attend a christening on July 21. She said Rhea Mae was a good sister. “She was kind, very dependable. I have no problem with her character. He never talked back during the times that I scolded her. She was quick to say sorry, she was very respectful,” Rochie said. Rochie surmised that her sister may have opted not to inform them that she was going to Cebu for fear that she will not be allowed. She said her sister may have wanted to spend for her needs. “She’s the type who was shy to ask if she needed something. She was not comfortable asking something from me and that’s maybe the reason that she decided to work in Cebu,” Rochie said. Rochie said her family is hoping that they could secure a security camera footage that could help the police solve the murder. She said her sister’s wallet and cellphone were missing. Rhea Mae’s body will be brought to Misamis Oriental where the family and relatives had planned for some sort of a reunion. “We have not seen our relatives in Misamis because of the pandemic. Finally, we will be able to get together because Rhea’s wake will be held there. Maybe it was also my sister’s way for us to finally gather,” said Rochie. Rochie actually celebrated her birth anniversary on Tuesday, July 18, but for her, it didn’t feel like one. “There was no reason to celebrate. We cannot accept what happened to my sister. She was a kind person. We cannot imagine that someone will do that to her,” Rochie said.