Cops hunt two hijacker's accomplices

DAVAO CITY - Police are looking for the alleged accomplices of Reginald Trance Chua alias Augusto Lakandula, the failed hijacker of Philippine Airlines (PAL) Flight 812 last May 25.

"We are looking for a man and a woman who reportedly frequently visited the hijacker while he was staying for four days at Cecilia Hotel in Digos before he boarded the flight," an investigator, who requested anonymity, told The STAR yesterday.

Chua hijacked the PAL plane after sneaking in a pistol, a grenade, and a parachute on board. He later parachuted over Antipolo City in Rizal after divesting the passengers of their money. His body was found submerged in mud in Real town in Quezon the following day.

The investigator said a check of Flight 812's passenger manifest showed that a man and a woman with residence in Digos were no-shows on the day Chua boarded the plane.

"We believe that the two will surface either to refund the tickets or they will have it re-booked," he said. "So far nothing of that sort has happened yet."

Police said the two did not give their correct addresses and true names to the clerk at the travel agency when they bought their tickets.

Agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force have asked PAL for a copy of the flight manifest so they can go through the names of the passengers.

At the Senate, Frederick San Felix, manager of Davao International Airport, told the committees on public services and finance that he did not know how Chua was able to sneak in a gun and a grenade on board PAL flight 812.

Chua had undergone security checks at the airport before he was allowed to board the plane, he added.

Meanwhile, Chua's 53-year-old mother Lucia reported to police that her son received a remote-controlled toy plane by mail from the US last May 22.

She said the package included several magazines like Model Airplane News and Aviation Equipment Maintenance News.

Mrs. Chua said Reginald expected more items from Pyrotek Enterprises with postal address at P.O. Box 300, Sunset Valley, P.A.

These included a Norvel .049 engine, a radio system, fuel, fuel tank, engine starter, and a rechargeable glow-lighter with charger, all manufactured by Norvel Ltd. with postal address at 2244 Enterprises, Twinsburg, Ohio, she added.

Mrs. Chua said she gave Reginald P5,000 to pay for the items, which he bought by mail-order through a catalogue she had taken from an aviation magazine.

She said her son's obsession with airplanes started when he took a Grand Air flight from here to Manila about two years ago.

The Chuas live in a village about 10 kilometers away from Matan-ao proper.

As this developed, the Senate wants the multimillion-peso terminal fees paid by airline passengers audited to determine how they are being spent.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the committee on public services and finance, also directed the chief of the PNP's Aviation Command and the representative of an anti-terrorism agency to appear before the committee to shed light on the security lapses that enabled Chua to hijack PAL Flight 812.

Officials of the Aviation Command failed to appear in yesterday's hearing but assured the committee through a letter that they would be available for the next hearing provided the invitation is coursed through PNP chief Director General Panfilo Lacson.

Assistant Secretary Jacinto Ortega Jr., chief of the Air Transportation Office (ATO), told Sotto's committee yesterday that a portion of the terminal fees is given to the National Committee on Anti-Hijacking and Terrorism (NACAHT), an agency of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Records at the Senate public services and finance committee showed that NACAHT also receives an annual allocation of P117 million.

Ortega said the DILG was supposed to use the funds to buy modern security facilities for the detection of hijackers and terrorists at airports throughout the country.

Retired Col. Antonio Gana, general manager of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), testified that his office remits at least P20 million to NACAHT every month.

Of the terminal fees, P160 from the P550 of international passengers and P15 from the P100 of domestic passengers go to the NACAHT, he added.

On the other hand, Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta told the committee a hijacking has the worst effect on the country's tourism industry as compared to the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Araneta said that tourist arrivals had not been affected by the threats posed by the Abu Sayyaf and the MILF.

However, she said the hijacking of an airline would definitely scare away tourists.

"I am not going to say it's easy but Abu Sayyaf terrorist activities can be explained, the MILF separatist can be put in its proper political and historical context, but a breach in safety measures will be very difficult to explain even to our domestic tourists," she said.