3 PPC senatorial bets cheat death

Three senatorial candidates of the administration People Power Coalition (PPC) cheated death the other day when their light plane narrowly missed some heavy equipment parked on the runway it was approaching.

The plane bearing former Speaker Manuel Villar Jr., re-electionist Sen. Juan Flavier and former Economic Planning Secretary Solita Monsod was about to land at the Bongao airport in Tawi-Tawi when the pilot aborted landing at the last minute after seeing the obstructions on the runway.

"It was really a close call," said Villar, who recounted their hair-raising experience to reporters yesterday.

The three and an unnamed news photographer had come from Bacolod City where they attended a campaign rally. The ruling coalition had chartered a small turbo-prop jet from singer-composer-sugar planter Jose Mari Chan to take them to Tawi-Tawi.

Villar said their plane was already on its final landing approach when the pilot suddenly pulled up.

"I was already seeing treetops. But we were all stunned when the pilot aborted landing. He told us later that he noticed some obstructions toward the end of the runway," he said.

He said the pilot inquired from the control tower what the obstructions were.

"We were informed that they were heavy equipment, including a bulldozer, and that the runway was being extended," he recalled.

He said they had to circle above for 20 minutes and wait for the runway to be cleared before finally landing.

Villar, who does not ride in propeller-driven planes unless he is forced to, admitted that the Bongao incident was a scary experience for him.

"Had we flown in at night, it might have been a different story. God was on our side," he said.

Villar said he was reminded of a recent plane accident in Taiwan, where a Singapore Airlines jumbo jet took off amid a raging storm in the dark on a runway under repair and then exploded in flames after hitting some heavy equipment. – Jess Diaz