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Friday, April 29, 2005
Ex-seismologist, 8 others killed in crash
By Jonathan F. Fernandez
MANILA -- Nine people, including former Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Raymundo Punongbayan, died in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area in Nueva Ecija Thursday morning.
The eight others killed with him when the military helicopter they were riding in crashed into a wooded ravine in Mount Namal in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija were the two pilots and two crewmembers and four staffers of Phivolcs.
Government officials lamented their deaths.
Apart from Punongbayan, who was also a governor of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), the eight people killed in the crash were Dr. Norman Tungol, chief of the Phivolcs Geology Department; Dr. Jessie Daligdig, a scientist from the Department of Science and Technology (Dost) assigned to Phivolcs; Dindo Javier and Orlando Abengosa, both from the Phivolcs Documentation Department; Lieutenants Reynaldo Gerodias and Jason Salazar, who were the helicopter's pilots; and crewmembers Staff Sergeant Edgar Ramolete and Master Sergeant Wilbert Tacatac.
The US-made UH-1H air force helicopter was en route for an aerial inspection of the northeastern province of Aurora that was ravaged last year by landslides and flashfloods when it went down, Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Restituto Padilla said.
"No one survived," Padilla said.
He said the helicopter crashed into trees on a steep ravine and burst into flames, burning most of the victims beyond recognition. The chopper had just refueled at a nearby army camp.
Three military helicopters with medical and rescue and retrieval teams were immediately dispatched in the area.
Rescuers said the helicopter was still burning when they arrived. They were able to recover and airlift the remains of the victims to Villamor Air Base, where grieving relatives waited, around 4 p.m. Thursday.
A report said the helicopter took off from Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at around 6:58 a.m. and had a brief stopover at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecijua. It then proceeded to Dingalan, Aurora for an aerial inspection "to assess potential of additional landslides" there but went down in a mountainous area in Barangay Ligaya in Gabaldon before reaching its destination.
Investigators are still determining the cause of the crash as of press time.
Delfin Garcia of Phivolcs said the passengers included four of its staff.
He corrected an earlier police report that said seven bodies have been found, saying only six had been recovered and brought back to Manila. Only one, a crewmember, could be recognized, he said.
He said recovery teams might have to dig under the burnt debris to locate the remains of the three others.
Another Phivolcs staffer said Abengosa was not supposed to board the helicopter but he went with his officemates because there were vacant seats due to the failure of Red Cross officials to join the trip.
Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, said the group had planned to make a hazard map of the area to avoid deaths and damage during natural disasters. He was supposed to have gone with them but other pressing work kept him from the trip.
"It really slices my heart. I know this man. He's a good friend. He works very hard. I wasn't concerned na kasama ako dapat (that I was supposed to be with them), I have a liberal view in my life, kung kukunin na ako (if I am to go), I will leave it to the Lord," he added.
Malacañang expressed condolences to the family of Punongbayan and the eight others who died in the crash.
"With his tragic death, we lost an exemplary public servant. We condole with his family as well as those of the other passengers who perished in the crash," said Ignacio Bunye, spokesman of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
A former governor of Pampanga, now a senator, said Kapampangans grieve for Punongbayan.
Senator Lito M. Lapid said Punongbayan was instrumental in the realization of the multi-million-peso FVR Megadike, which has saved the province from being wiped out by the devastation caused by lahar.
Punongbayan, 67, retired as Phivolcs director in December 2002. While he was Phivolcs director, he predicted the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June 1991.
Prior to his death, Punongbayan had said that when he dies, he wants his body cremated and his ashes scattered around Taal Volcano. (With AP, reports from JMR/JPM)
(April 29, 2005 issue)
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