President Benigno Aquino on Sunday took the lead in the search for
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, a day after a light plane carrying the
local government chief and three others crashed in waters off Masbate.
Mr. Aquino flew to Masbate early Sunday morning to oversee the search
for the wreckage of the four-seat Piper Seneca that crashed into the
sea while attempting an emergency landing about 5 p.m. on Saturday.
More than 300 rescuers were scouring the area about 500 meters from
the shore of Masbate City for Robredo, who was missing along with the
plane’s two pilots.
Robredo’s bodyguard, Chief Insp. Jun Abrasado, made a dramatic escape
from the doomed plane and was rescued by fishermen. Abrasado was
helping in the search, officials said.
Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas, who accompanied Mr. Aquino and
was designated as official spokesperson for the search, said special
sonar equipment had been flown to Masbate to help in the search
operation after some debris, including one wing of the missing plane,
was recovered.
“We just want to do everything we can to save him [Robredo],” Roxas said in a message on Twitter.
“We remain hopeful that Secretary Robredo was just carried by the
current … and that he will be found,” Roxas said, adding that Mr. Aquino
was “very emotionally attached” to Robredo and was doing everything he
could to help find him.
Four people were on the private plane that was
heading for Naga City in Camarines Sur province from Cebu City when it
malfunctioned and crashed in waters between Masbate and Ticao Islands.
Missing, aside from Robredo, were Capt. Jessup
Bahinting, the pilot and CEO of Aviatour Air that owned the aircraft,
and Kshitiz Chand, the Nepalese copilot.
At about 3 p.m. Sunday, Masbate Bantay Dagat
reported to City Mayor Socrates Tuason that a large object had been
detected on the seafloor.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council (NDRRMC) also reported that a Navy vessel’s sonar had
detected “something metallic” on the sea floor.
“The sonar showed it was something metallic.
But it’s not definite yet if that was really part of the airplane,”
NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos said by phone.
Hoping for best
“We are hoping for the best that there are still survivors,” Ramos said.
When the Philippine Daily Inquirer sought
confirmation from Roxas by phone, he replied: “Nothing yet. Some
underwater, seabed disturbances of indeterminate origin indicated by
sonar.”
At 4:30 p.m., however, reports came that the
flight manifest of the plane with the names of Robredo, Abrasado and the
pilots were found in waters 750 meters off the shore.
Roxas confirmed the recovery of the document.
He said the diver who recovered it reported finding it at a depth of 45
meters “alongside tracks” on the sea floor.
Earlier, Roxas said Coast Guard, Navy and
police divers were searching for the wreckage in depths of 40 meters to
80 meters in an area about 200 meters from the tip of the runway of
Masbate Airport.
Coast Guard divers reported seeing what looked like skid marks on the sea floor.
Wreckage dragged
Roxas said the marks could be a sign that strong undercurrents were dragging the wreckage of the plane.
With that possibility, Roxas ordered the Coast Guard to delineate an area where the wreckage could be.
Malacañang could not say whether the President
was staying in the area the whole day overseeing the air and surface
operations to find Robredo and the others missing.
Tweets by InquirerSLB and ABS-CBN television
said, however, the President was staying overnight in Masbate to
continue supervising the search operation.
Accompanying Mr. Aquino were Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin, Philippine National Police Chief Nicanor Bartolome,
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Rep. Jun Abaya, president of the
ruling Liberal Party.
Contrary to reports late on Saturday, the search went on overnight, according to presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
More equipment were deployed Sunday morning to intensify the search for the wreckage, he said.
US help
A flyby on Saturday night by a US aircraft failed to pinpoint the location of the wreckage, Roxas said.
Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, Coast Guard
spokesperson, said “big fishing boats with powerful lights helped in the
search, trying to locate the plane’s wreckage,” but they had “no
success so far.”
Balilio confirmed that the Coast Guard had sought help from the US Coast Guard.
“We gave the grid coordinates of the crash site
to our American counterpart,” Balilo said. “We hope they can dispatch
today one of their Lockheed P3 Orion aircraft to help in the search for
the missing plane.”
Witnesses
Mayor Tuason said witnesses saw the plane
trying to land at Masbate Airport at about 4:20 p.m. Saturday. But the
plane suddenly plunged into the sea about 200 meters from the shore, he
said.
Robredo attended groundbreaking rites for the
new PNP Regional Training Center in Cebu City on Saturday. He was
supposed to return to Manila on a Cebu Pacific flight that was to depart
at 5:30 p.m.
But “for reasons known only to Secretary
Robredo, he decided to take a private plane instead of taking the
commercial flight,” Roxas said in a statement posted on the government’s
official website.
“The secretary opted to fly using one of the
planes of Aviatour Air, an aviation company based in [Mactan-Cebu
International Airport],” he said. Aviatour Air provides professional
pilot training, charter services, aircraft sales and maintenance
services.
Last hours
According to records at the Police Center for
Aviation Security 7 (PCAS-7) and the public affairs division of
Mactan-Cebu airport, the Piper Seneca took off at 3:06 p.m. It was
headed for Naga City.
But at around 3:30 p.m., Abrasado sent a text
message to Col. Ritchie Posadas, PCAS-7 chief, to say the plane was
returning to Cebu because it was experiencing problems with one of its
propellers.
Abrasado requested that Robredo’s flight to Manila be rebooked.
At around 4:20 p.m., the aide called again with
the information that the plane was attempting an emergency landing at
Masbate Airport.
When asked if he and his companions were all right, Abrasado replied in Filipino, “We’re fine.”
That was the last thing PCAS-7 heard from Abrasado.
The last communication received by the control
tower at Mactan-Cebu airport reported the plane to be at 45 meters,
descending, on the final approach to Masbate Airport’s runway, using
instrument flight rules. The communication said the plane might
undershoot the runway.
Then nothing more.
Abrasado survived the crash with minor injuries.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said
Robredo’s security should not have allowed him to travel on a light
plane going to a destination where he would arrive after dark. He said
that was “inadvisable.”
Prayers poured in from public officials Sunday for Robredo’s safety.
Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was among those praying for Robredo to be found safe, according to her spokesperson, Elena Bautista-Horn.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said people should hang on to the hope that Robredo would be found alive.
