PHNO-HL: LAST CONTACT: CALL TO HIS WIFE / EVENTS BEFORE THE PLANE CRASH

LAST CONTACT: CALL TO HIS WIFE / EVENTS BEFORE
THE PLANE CRASH
[PHOTO - THE
GOOD TIMES. The best of possibilities was at hand when then Naga City Mayor
Jesse Robredo met then presidential candidate Sen. Benigno Aquino III upon his
arrival at the Naga airport in March 2010 for a campaign stump in Daet. In this
photo illustration, Robredo's photo is superimposed on a stretch of shore off
Masbate where his plane reportedly crashed Saturday afternoon. JONAS CABILES SOLTES, INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON/PHILIPPINE RED
CROSS]
MANILA, AUGUST 21, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Jonas Cabiles Soltes, Philip C.
Tubeza, TJ Burgonio Inquirer Southern Luzon - Interior Secretary Jesse
Robredo called his wife Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo at about 4:30 p.m.
Saturday to say that the plane flying him from Cebu to Camarines Sur was having
engine problems.

Leni, a lawyer, made this confirmation, adding that the call was immediately
cut off and there was no contact with Robredo after that.

Malacañang has confirmed that the six-seater Piper Seneca plane that Robredo
was on board with three others had gone missing after it crashed in the waters
off the shoreline of Masbate City at about 5 p.m. Saturday.

The private aircraft was heading for Naga City, Robredo's hometown, from Cebu
when one of the pilots sent a distress call to the Masbate Airport, requesting
permission for an emergency landing. That was the last contact with Robredo's
plane.

The plane crashed some 3 kilometers from the airport on Masbate Bay,
Robredo's head executive assistant Dominina Rances said in a phone interview.


Also reported missing were the pilot, identified as Capt. Jessup Bahinting,
owner of Aviatour Flight School, and Nepalese copilot Kshitiz Chand.


[PHOTO -Where's Jesse? Search and rescue operation (bottom, top left
photos) were immediately organized after DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo went
missing when the plane he and two companions were riding crashed near the
coastline of Bgy. Ibingay in Masbate. Top right photo shows his wife, Maria
Leonora, in anguish. Photos by Red Cross Masbate, TV
grab]
Philippine National Police Chief Nicanor Bartolome said P/Senior Insp. Jun
Abrazado, Robredo's aide, survived after he unbuckled his seat belt and was
thrown off the plane during the crash. He was later rescued by fishermen.

"But after he was given initial medical treatment, he returned to the site to
join the search," Bartolome added.

Abrazado suffered a fracture in the arm and was brought for emergency
treatment at a hospital in Masbate City, according to Lt. Col. Julian Pacatan,
commander of the Army 9th Infantry Battalion in Masbate now involved in the
search-and-rescue operation.

Bartolome has directed the police in the area to join the search, even as he
has deployed divers and volunteers to help the Coast Guard and Masbate local
officials, led by Gov. Rizalina Lanete, who have mounted a search-and-rescue
operation. But as of 7:30 Saturday night, inadequate equipment necessary for
nighttime search underwater prompted frogmen to temporarily withdraw from the
crash site, according to Ernie Delgado of the Philippine Information Agency in
Masbate.

Robredo arrived in Cebu about 11 a.m. and attended the ground breaking of the
Philippine Police Safety College in Consolacion town, northern Cebu.

Consolacion Mayor Nene Alegado said that during her lunch with Robredo, the
Secretary commented about the humid weather in Cebu.

"Mainit dito sa Cebu. Sa Manila palagi umuulan. (It is very hot here in Cebu
unlike in Manila where it is always raining)," Alegado quoted Robredo as saying.


From Consolacion, Robredo proceeded to the Cebu International Convention
Center in Mandaue City to deliver his keynote speech before the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group-Community Investigative Support national
summit.

Robredo was supposed to leave Cebu on a Cebu Pacific flight but made last
minute changes because he was rushing to go home to Naga.

Senior Supt. Erson Digal, who was part of the security escort of the
secretary during his visit in Cebu, said Robredo was supposed to take a 2:40
p.m. flight back to Manila but changed his mind and decided to go home to Naga
City instead.

Robredo took a chartered flight to Naga from Aviatour Flight School based in
Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan Island. Capt. Bahinting agreed to pilot the Piper Seneca
to Naga along with flight student Chand.

Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno said Robredo's plane left Cebu at
around 2:30 p.m.

Based on information gathered from Abrazado, the aide did not see Robredo get
out of the plane when it crashed, according to Lt. Col. Julian Pacatan.

Digal said in an interview over dySS that he received a text message from
Abrazado that their plane was having problems with the propeller while making a
turn.

A few minutes later, Robredo's aide sent another text message to Digal,
saying they were about to make an emergency landing.

Amparo Perez, president of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) in
Masbate, said in a phone interview that rescue operations have stopped between
7:30 and 8 p.m. "It is already dark but rescue will resume at 5:30 a.m.
tomorrow, Sunday," she said.

She said as of 6:30 p.m., rescuers were still scouring the sea and found the
currents along Ticao Pass very strong even as the crash site was just two
kilometers away from the shoreline.

At the Robredo residence at Bulusan Street, Dayangdan, Naga City, over a
hundred people, including family, friends and political allies, have gathered
and kept vigil.

The prayer for his safe return started at 8 p.m. at the living room while his
wife Leni stayed inside her bedroom with some close relatives.

At around 7:30 p.m., the crowd cheered when they heard a radio report saying
Robredo was found alive by fishermen.

The elation turned to gloom when they learned that the news was not true.


Robredo, 54, has been the Local Government Secretary since his appointment in
July 2010. He served as mayor of Naga City in Camarines Sur for nearly two
decades.

He won his first mayoral bid in 1988 at the age of 29, making him one of the
youngest Philippine city mayors. He served as mayor of Naga City for six
three-year terms—from 1988 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2010.

He became the president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, the
national association of city mayors, in 1995. He was also elected chairman of
the Regional Development Council, the regional planning and coordinative body of
Bicol, from 1992 to 1998.

In recognition of his work, Robredo was cited in 1999 by Asiaweek magazine
"for transforming Naga City from a lethargic Philippine city into one of Asia's
most improved."

He also received individual awards for local governance including the 1996
Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) Award, the Outstanding Young Men
of the Philippines (TOYM), 1998 Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence as Most
Outstanding City Mayor of the Philippines and the first ever "Dangal ng Bayan "
Award of the Civil Service Commission.

In 2000, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service for
"giving credence to the promise of democracy by demonstrating that effective
city management is compatible with yielding power to the people."

An Edward Mason Fellow and a graduate of Masters in Public Administration at
the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, he completed his
Masters in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines.

He obtained his undergraduate degrees in Industrial Management Engineering
and Mechanical Engineering from the De La Salle University.

After his graduation from De La Salle University in 1980, Robredo joined San
Miguel Corporation's Magnolia division. He returned to Naga City in 1986 where
he was named director of the Bicol River Basin Development Program, an agency
tasked to undertake integrated area development planning in the region's three
provinces.

He finished high school at the Ateneo de Naga.

Born in Naga City on May 27, 1958, he is the third of five children of Jose
Chan Robredo Sr. and Marcelina Manalastas. He and wife Leni, who is also from
Naga, have three daughters.

Aquino's emergency landing

On August 10, heavy rains and poor visibility also forced the President's
convoy of helicopters to make an emergency landing at the Luisita exit of the
Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.

At the time, Mr. Aquino was on his way to an evacuation center in Paniqui.


Brig. Gen. Ramon Dizon, commander of the Presidential Security Group, said
they decided to land before it started to rain "to be on the safe side."

With the President on the helicopter were Joel Villanueva of the Technical
Education Skills and Development Authority and Aurora Representative Juan
Edgardo Angara. With reports from Doris C. Bongcac and
Cris Evert Lato, Inquirer Visayas; Juan Escandor Jr., Joanna Los Baños, Inquirer
Southern Luzon Sources: naga.gov.ph, rmaf.org.ph, Inquirer Archives, Inquirer
Research
FROM PHILIPPINE STAR
What happened before the plane crash By Rainier
Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star) Updated August 20, 2012 12:00 AMComments (11)


MANILA, Philippines - Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel
Roxas II said the immediate search and rescue operations launched Saturday
failed to find the plane with Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and the two
pilots.
Roxas secured the chronology of events detailing Robredo's activities before
the crash:
Secretary Jesse Robredo and his aide Chief Inspector June Paolo Abrazado and
another policeman entered the commercially important person (CIP) room at the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 3 at around 9:30 a.m.
Saturday before his 10 a.m. flight on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J 553.
An official of the Public Affairs Office (PAO) of the Manila International
Airport Authority (MIAA) manning the CIP room said he saw Robredo talking to two
nuns who were also passengers on a separate flight to Cebu.
Robredo left the CIP room around 9:52 a.m. to board his plane for Cebu.
Robredo arrived at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) at 11:45 a.m.
on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J553 and immediately proceeded to Consolacion town
to grace the groundbreaking ceremony of the Regional Training Center of the
Philippine National Police.
At around 2:30 p.m., Robredo left the event and went back to the airport.

MCIA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete said he waited for Robredo and his
party at around 3:00 p.m. and accommodated them at the VIP room of the airport.

Based on the information acquired from the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) and MCIA Public Affairs Division, Robredo was booked on
Cebu Pacific 5J-572, scheduled to depart Cebu for Manila at 3:50 p.m.
But for still unknown reason, Robredo decided to take a private plane instead
of taking the commercial flight.
Robredo chose one of the planes of Aviatour Air, an aviation company based in
Mactan. Aviatour Air provides professional pilot training, charter, aircraft
sales, and maintenance services.
Robredo proceeded directly to MCIA's General Aviation area without passing
through the MCIA main terminal building.
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: Robredo, his aide
Abrazado; Capt. Jessup Bahinting, the pilot who is also the owner-operator
Aviatour Air and his co-pilot Kshitiz Chand, a Nepalese national.
At around 3:30 p.m. Abrazado sent a text message to Col. Ritchie Posadas,
chief of the Police Center for Aviation Safety (PCAS), telling him that the
plane was experiencing problem with one of the propellers and was returning back
to Cebu.
Abrazado later told Posadas to rebook Robredo and himself for the earliest
flight possible out of Mactan.
Robredo and Abrazado were rebooked on Cebu Pacific 5J-570, Cebu-Manila that
was supposed to leave at 5:05 p.m.
At around 4:20 p.m. Abrazado informed PCAS-7 and the DILG that they were
making an emergency landing at Masbate Airport.
When asked if they were okay, Abrazado replied: "okay naman (we're okay)."
That was the last communication received by PCAS-7 from him.
The last communication received by the MCIA control tower from the plane was
that they were at 150 feet descending on the final approach using instrument
flight rules (IFR) to Masbate Airport on the possibility that they might
undershoot the runway.
The plane was not able to make it to the runway and crashed into the sea.

Officials said the plane was 300 meters short of the runway when it crashed.

Abrazado survived the accident while Robredo, the pilot and co-pilot of the
plane remained missing. – With Rudy Santos


Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved




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