DILG Sec. Robredo recovered

Manila — After three long days, finally Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas made the official announcement that Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo’s remains and those of his two pilots, Capt. Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese co-pilot Kshitiz Chand have been found some 800 meters from the shore at a depth of 180 feet under the sea. I had to redo this column to send our readers the fresh news.

Hopefully, the wreckage of the six-seater Piper Seneca II would also be brought up to the surface so we could determine why the aircraft fell into the sea when it was on its final approach in Masbate City. At this point, we can only ask our pious readers to please pray for the repose of their souls. For me, Capt. Jessup Bahinting was a personal friend and a great loss to my family especially my son JV who is taking flying lessons with Aviatours.

Meanwhile, Aviatours, through its Director for Flight Operations Capt. Antonio Jureideni, unilaterally suspended flight operations and prepared itself for inspection by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). They should be lauded for this decision.

But as I’ve pointed out so many times, CAAP should not be the agency to investigate air crashes. We need to create a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that I heard is being prepared in the House of Representatives. I’ve watched more than my share of National Geographic’s Air Crash Investigation series, not to mention that I do regularly check air crash reports from the NTSB in the United States.

The last information of the plane’s condition given to us by sole survivor Capt. June Abrazado was that they were on their final approach flying around 150 feet after they declared an emergency perhaps because of propeller trouble. Something terrible must have happened that caused the twin-engine plane to crash into the sea. It didn’t have enough momentum to glide into a controlled crash landing, which Capt. Jessup already did in the past.

Meanwhile, GMA-7 came up with a report that last March, an Aviatours Cessna aircraft figured in an accident killing its two pilots in Camiguin last March. I knew about this crash, which had CAAP suspending the operations of Aviatours because of that tragedy. But I learned that it was pilot error that caused that plane to crash, which is the biggest risk of any flight school, after all, the only way for students to learn to fly is to let them fly the aircraft with an experienced flight instructor on board.

Capt. Jessup Bahinting is known by many high ranking personalities like Sen. Migz Zubiri, Rep. Tomas Osmeña and as we wrote earlier, also former Cebu Gov. Emilio “Lito” Osmeña. Even on this ill-fated flight, I understand that Capt. Jessup wasn’t supposed to fly that plane and left it to his other experienced pilots… but in the end, the DILG Secretary insisted that Capt. Jessup fly the Piper Seneca II to their flight to eternity.

Meanwhile, the critics of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III are already asking questions why was the Philippine government literally put on a standstill while they were searching for the DILG Secretary? Perhaps they must have read the news scrolling over ANC, which blared that PNoy would stay in Masbate until the missing plane was found.

I don’t really blame PNoy for holding on to his hopes. After all, Sec. Robredo was one of the shining stars of his administration. Just look at the TV footages of Sec. Robredo’s residence in Naga City and you will see that he was a simple man. Most of all, to me, he was unassuming and humble and worked quietly without causing any trouble to anyone. He was perhaps one of PNoy’s best men, although I know that he really wasn’t the original choice of the President for the DILG post.

Speaking about Sec. Robredo’s replacement, suddenly the name of Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has once more surfaced to replace him. Frankly speaking, if PNoy would appoint Sen. Lacson, it would dishonor Sec. Robredo because the DILG Secretary wasn’t tainted by any controversy and was in fact a Magsaysay Awardee. He was a highly-admired man.

On the other hand, Sen. Ping Lacson had developed a kind of notoriety because of his involvements in celebrity killing incidents, including the still unresolved Dacer-Corbito double murder, the reason why Sen. Lacson left the country and when he came back, he even stirred a deeper controversy as to why his sudden reappearance using a fake passport was not even investigated by the Department of Justice? For sure, few people respect Sen. Ping Lacson, but most people fear him. Meanwhile, it is time to mourn the deaths of DILG Sec. Robredo, Capt. Jessup Bahinting and the Nepalese co-pilot and remember them for the fond memories I had when they were alive.

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