AQUINO REMAINS 'HOPEFUL' ROBREDO, 2 PILOTS STILL
ALIVE
[PHOTO -In this
photo released by the Malacanang Photo Bureau, Philippine President Benigno
Aquino III (center) looks at a map during a search and rescue operation for
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo off the waters of Masbate city, Masbate
province, central Philippines, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. About 300 rescuers were
searching for Robredo and his two pilots after their small plane crashed into
the sea while attempting an emergency landing on Saturday. AP /Malacanang Photo
Bureau ]
MANILA, AUGUST 21, 2012 (INQUIRER) President Benigno Aquino III is
still "hopeful" that Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and the two pilots missing
in a plane crash Saturday afternoon are still alive as search and rescue
operations (SaR) resume this Monday morning.
"(Aquino) is very, very serious, very somber. When we had dinner late last
night , he was very quiet," Transportation Secretary Manuel "Mar' Roxas said in
Filipino in a television interview on Monday.
That night, Roxas said, the President only talked about the good times and
memories with Robredo.
"He was just very quiet , very somber, very determined. The President is
still hopeful. Sabi nya Mar, search and rescue ito," Roxas added.
[PHOTO -President Aquino talks to Interior Sec. Jesse Robredo's
wife, Atty. Maria Leonor 'Leni' Gerona-Robredo, together with her three
daughters, Patricia, Jessica and Jillian, and other relatives, inside a lounge
at the Pili Airport, August 20, 2012. Photo courtesy of
President Aquino's official page on Facebook.]
Aquino and Roxas and other government officials immediately flew to Masbate
early Sunday or a day after a Piper Seneca plane carrying Robredo and three
others crashed off Masbate waters at around 5:00 pm. Saturday.
Robredo's aide, June Paul Abrazado, survived but the Secretary and the two
pilots remained missing.
Two days after the crash, the Aquino government has no plans on giving up on
Robredo and the two pilots as it launched an intensified and massive efforts to
find them.
Roxas said the search and rescue operations will resume at around 10:00 am or
11:00 am with technical divers, who would probe the depths of up to 250 feet.
A special equipment from the United States called "forward looking infrared"
will also be used to detect signs of life amid the debris, he added.
Robredo's ill-fated plane: Chronology of events
INQUIRER.net
[PHOTO - ROBREDO'S WIFE IN A MASS FOR THE DILG CHIEF
RESCUE]
MANILA, Philippines – He was originally booked to take a commercial flight,
but "for reasons known only to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo," he decided to
take a private plane that crashed off Masbate waters Saturday afternoon.
Hours before the plane crash, Robredo was at Consolacion, Cebu to attend the
ground breaking ceremony of the new PNP Regional Training Center.
At around 2:30 p.m., he left the site and proceeded to Mactan-Cebu
International Airport (MCIA) to book his flight to n Naga City .
Based on the information acquired from Police Center for Aviation Security 7
(PCAS-7)/DILG and MCIA Public Affairs Division, Robredo was booked on Cebu
Pacific 5J572, Cebu-Manila ETD 3:50 p.m.
"For reasons known only to Secretary Robredo, he decided to take a private
plane instead of taking the commercial flight," said a statement from the office
of Transportation Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas posted in government's official
website.
"The Secretary opted to fly using one of the planes of Aviatour Air, an
aviation company based in MCIA," it said.
Aviatour Air provides professional pilot training, charter, aircraft sales,
and maintenance services.
Robredo then proceeded directly to MCIA's General Aviations area without
passing through the MCIA main terminal building, the statement said.
At 3:06 p.m., the Aviatour aircraft, a twin engine Piper Seneca, with
Registry No. RPC 4431, took off at MCIA with four persons on board: Capt. Jessup
Bahinting, the pilot who is also the owner, chairman, and CEO of Aviatour Air,
co-pilot Kshitiz Chand, a Nepalese national, Secretary Robredo, and his aide
Police Chief Inspector June Paolo Abrazado.
But at around 3:30 p.m., Abrazado sent a text message to Col. Ritchie
Posadas, PCAS-7 chief to tell him that they were returning back to Cebu because
the six-seater plane was experiencing problem with one of the propellers.
[PHOTO - THE RESCUE/SEARCH FOR ROBREDO]
Abrazo requested to rebook for the earliest flight possible out of Mactan and
so they were booked for the 5:05 p.m Cebu-Manila flight of Cebu Pacific 5J570.
At around 4:20 p.m., however, Abrazado informed PCAS-7 and DILG personnel
that they were making an emergency landing at Masbate Airport.
When asked if they were okay, Abrazado replied, "Okey naman."
That was the last communication received by PCAS-7 from Robredo's aide, the
statement said.
The last communication received by the MCIA control tower from the plane, on
the other hand, was that they were 150 feet, descending, on the final approach
using instrument flight rules (IFR) to Masbate Airport and that they might
undershoot the runway.
As of 10 a.m. Roxas said Robredo is still missing and search and rescue
operations are still ongoing.
Abrazado survived the incident while the pilot and co-pilot of the plane
remained missing.
PUNTO POR PUNTO VIDE0O: PRAYERS FOR ROBREDO POURING IN
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/insights/08/20/12/punto-por-punto-prayers-pour-robredo#ooid=Y3djdvNTpsBd1daDc6kuu-9IVMV1EetI
HERE IS THE SHORTENED URL: http://alturl.com/tfhuf
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
PH Headline News Online. Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved