Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Memorial service for PAF C-130 crew By Carlo P. Mallo
THE Task Force C-130 led by the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) will be holding a memorial service Tuesday for the nine crewmen of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the two Scout Rangers who disappeared with them when their C-130 Hercules plane crashed last August 25 in Davao Gulf.
A simple wreath laying and mass will be celebrated on board one of the sea vessels of the NFEM at the crash site of the aircraft, which has been located at latitude 07 degrees 4.01 minutes north, longitude 125 degrees 38 minutes east, approximately 1.3 nautical miles east of Barangay Bucana, Davao City.
Considered to be two of the best pilots of the PAF, Major Manuel Zambrano and Captain Adrian de Dios, together with Air Force personnel Sergeants Lobregas Constantino, John Ariola, Gery Denioso, Felix Patriaca, Pedronelo Fernandez, Patricio Romero Gaor, and Aldrin Illustrisimo, Corporal Sabangan of the Army's First Scout Ranger Regiment and Master Sergeant Nebres from Army's 3rd Infantry Division (ID), will be honored during the memorial service.
The search for the exact location of the aircraft was only concluded last Thursday evening when the US Navy ship John MacDonnell finally mapped the exact coordinates of the aircraft after nearly five days of scanning the seafloor of the Davao Gulf.
Those who took part in the initial search for the wreck believe that the bodies of the air force personnel and scout rangers, excluding the pilot and co-pilot, remain within the fuselage because of the debris and personal belongings recovered so far.
Even the army boots recovered by fishermen were unlikely to belong to enlisted men because these were US-made, a Task Force C-130 insider said. A patch of the Royal Thai Air Force Hercules could have been a memento from one of the Hercules pilots, as well.
Thus, a memorial service at the crash site was deemed to be more appropriate.
