Crash

The tragic chopper crash accident last Tuesday in the Ifugao mountain range that killed eight presidential aides brought pall and gloom to Malacañang Palace. The tragedy happened while President Arroyo and the members of the First Family were in Baguio City where they traditionally spend their Holy Week respite.

The eight formed the core of the advance party for the scheduled presidential inspection visit of the unfinished Halsema Highway in Ifugao. Three women and five men from various offices at the Palace were en route from Loakan airport in Baguio City to Ifugao when the presidential Bell 412 chopper plunged reportedly due to bad weather. They were apparently killed instantly by the crash and burned by the explosion when the chopper fell down the slopes of Mt. Pulag.

The composite team of Palace officials was composed of Press Undersecretary Joe “Joecap” Capadocia; Presidential Appointments and Engagements Undersecretary Malou Fostrom; Presidential Management Staff (PMS) director Perlita Bandayanon; Senior Military Aide Brig.Gen.Carlos “Caloy” Clet of the Presidential Security Group (PSG); Navy Petty Officer Demy Reno; and Air Force Staff Sgt. Roe Gem Perez. Air Force Maj. Rolando Sacatani and Capt. Alvin Aligata were the pilot and co-pilot, respectively, from the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing (PAW).

The presidential chopper took off around 4:30 p.m. based on a text message sent by Capadocia to his staff at the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS). His last text message was to inform them they have “zero visibility” that might force them to abort their mission.

The flight would have taken them only about half an hour to their destination. So when the presidential advance team did not arrive as scheduled, it was enough reason to raise the emergency alert. The route is a treacherous one. At the center of that is Mt.Pulag, known as the highest peak in Luzon. It has an elevation of 9,900 feet from the sea level. The Bell chopper, a 1996 model, was subsequently found crashed at the 4,000 ft. lower elevation of the mountain called “Mt. Pulag Junior.”

Sabotage was ruled out, as well as pilot error. Thus, bad weather was blamed for the chopper crash. In her eulogy for the fallen Palace aides, President Arroyo pointed to God’s will.

The President related how she fervently prayed for a miracle of survival. Mrs. Arroyo even recalled how a veteran newsman Nestor Mata survived the plane crash that killed former President Ramon Magsaysay.

This unfortunate incident reminded me of several near brushes we ourselves encountered while we were still covering the presidential activities that took us to many out of town sorties from Aparri to Jolo. Former President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR), who is media-savvy, had always made sure the Malacañang Press Corps were always among the priority passengers, next to PSG troopers and minor Palace functionaries who were accommodated by the Philippine Air Force (PAF) for transport wherever he went around the country.

We had our share of scary rides from these US hand-me-down C-130 cargo aircraft and the Fokker planes we took for distant provincial travels. And for the short trips, we took the Vietnam-vintage Huey choppers. These PAF aircraft were maybe secondhand but certainly they were still in good flying condition.

Thanks to Filipino ingenuity and aviation mechanics and the best pilots and well trained crew of the PAF. No less than FVR, the Commander-in-chief himself took some of these plane rides with us on the C-130 when the presidential Fokker plane was once sidelined for preventive maintenance.

But there was one particular provincial travel we did with FVR that came to mind. It was my turn as “pool” reporter to ride with FVR in one of the presidential Bell choppers. It was sometime early in 1998 when FVR took time out to campaign for his “anointed” presidential candidate, then Speaker Jose De Venecia in their home province in Pangasinan. It was getting dark at the end of the day-long motorcade we had in several towns of the province. There was a sudden developing thunderstorm when we finally took off from Asingan, FVR’s hometown, to go back to Manila.

I was at the back seat exactly behind FVR who was with his police-aide-de-camp. Retired Generals Jose Magno and Honesto Isleta, who were GSIS chief and Press Undersecretary, respectively, during FVR’s term, were seated beside me with another PSG trooper. While airborne, the thunderstorm was getting worse while we watched the lightning crisscrossing our path. The roar of the thunder seemed louder than the noise of the chopper’s engine motor. The next thing I knew, we descended in the middle of grasslands one after the other along with the rest of the other presidential choppers and the Huey security escort choppers.

We landed, I learned later, in a military camp in Capas,Tarlac. The dark clouds poured rain and more lightning flashed before us. Obviously alerted about our non-scheduled pit stop at the camp, we were quickly motored to the safety of the camp. But as abrupt as the thunderstorm set in, the weather improved an hour later while we were cooling our heels and took our early dinner at the camp.

Over the dinner table, the workaholic FVR was discussing their next round of activities for the rest of the night. I could not make head or tails of what they were talking about. Perhaps because, one, I was already tired and wanted to get back home and rest. And second, they were talking in English and Tagalog but interspersed in Pangasinense that I do not comprehend.

It dawned on me they were arguing whether or not we should resume the chopper ride to go back to Manila. The six presidential choppers, both the Bell and Black Hawk, were equipped with night-vision flying gear. When they could not agree among themselves, FVR turned to me and asked: “What do you think hija? Are we going to take the chopper ride or go again on a long motorcade back to Manila? We had enough of that motorcade today, don’t you think so?”

I might be too tired but I never throw caution to the wind. I would not mind going back to Manila by another two to three hours more by land. I gave a pointed retort to FVR: “Sir, my twins are still too young.” Needless to say, FVR blurted: “Then, let’s have a motorcade again!” FVR finally gave in to his pilots’ advice and we hit the North Luzon Expressway back to Manila.