Navy reservist hailed as hero in Cebu Pacific mishap

MANILA, Philippines - The hero passenger who calmed down his fellow panicking passengers of Cebu Pacific flight 5J-971 is Lieutenant Marlon Bo.

Bo, hailed as "hero passenger,"  stood up and ushered the passengers to safety after the distressing errant landing at the Davao International Airport on Sunday night.

Marine Colonel Edgard Arevalo, the Navy's Civil Military Operations Group commander, said that Bo's deeds that night will be "formally documented" as basis for a citation.

He said that Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alan, the flag officer in command, has already ordered that Bo be honored for his actions. Bo is a member of Philippine Merchant Academy Class of 2003.

Passengers who have recounted the event said the it was a certain "Navy captain" who took the courage to explain to them what was happening as they sat trapped in a smoke-filed cabin for a good 30 minutes.

Instead of the cabin crew, it was Bo who directed the ensuing disembarkation of the 164 other passengers from inside the plane amid heavy rains and zero visibility outside.

In a letter announcing a boycott of Cebu Pacific over its crew's mishandling, Ateneo de Davao University president Joel Tabora said in a similar account that it was a "pilot from another airline" who stepped up to lead the troubled passengers.

"No instructions were given; no calming words spoken. Instead a pilot of another airline undertook to calm the passengers," Tabora said.

Related story: Ateneo to Cebu Pacific: 'You do not deserve our patronage'

Nino Ruel Alinsub, who also wrote a first-hand detailed narrative of the incident, said the "captain" from the Philippine Navy gave clear instructions to the passengers to prevent the plane from tipping over while alighting from the emergency slides.

"He knew what he was doing and he was in control when even the cabin crew looked like they were really at a lost on what to do," Alinsub said.