Camp Dangwa, La Trinidad, Benguet – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director-General Jesus A. Verzosa lauded the other day groups and individuals who participated in the successful search for the Bell 412 presidential chopper and retrieval of the bodies of the eight victims at remote Sitio Mangingeheh, Tinoc, Ifugao.

In a message to Chief Supt. Orlando Pestano, director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in the Cordillera, Verzosa cited the prompt, immediate action by the Cordillera Regional Disaster and Coordinating Council (CRDCC) in alerting concerned groups and individuals about the missing presidential chopper.

The chopper, which was bound for Banaue, Ifugao in the afternoon of last April 7, had gone missing.

Verzosa said that the swift action of the PNP has made the police organization proud of its capability especially in times of crisis.

This was demonstrated, he said, in the search for the presidential helicopter and the retrival of the bodies of the victims who included Press Undersecretary Jose “JoeCap” Capadocia Jr., Undersecretary Marilou Frowstrum, Brig. Gen. Carlos Clet, Assistant Secretary Perlita Bandayanon, Sgt. Demie Renon, pilot Maj. Ronaldo Sakatani, co-pilot Capt. Alvin Aligata, and Staff Sgt. Roychem Perez.

Upon learning of the disappearance of the chopper, Pestano immediately organized a crisis management committee composed of policemen, soldiers, and Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) personnel.

Elements of the Cordillera regional mobile group, Benguet provincial police office, Presidential Security Group (PSG), and the 503rd bigade of the Army were directed to conduct search-and-rescue operations in the towns of Bokod and Kabayan in Benguet and Tinoc, Ifugao.

Elements of the Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya provincial police offices were also ordered to conduct search-and-rescue operation in Asipulo and Tinoc towns in Ifugao, and Ambaguio, Nueva Vizcaya.

At about 9:25 a.m. of last April 8, SPO1 Samuel Guyoon, a member of the Tinoc municipal police station, informed the advance command post based in Lagawe, Ifugao that the chopper crashed at Sitio Mangingeheh, Eheb, Tinoc. The information was later confirmed by a barangay official.

At about 2:30 p.m. of the same day, Chief Inspector Peter Tagtag, head of the 1604th Benguet provincial police mobile group, informed higher police authorities that his team was able to find the crash site which was near the boundary of Tawangan, Kabayan, Benguet, and Eheb, Tinoc, Ifugao.

The ill-fated chopper was found in a thick forest with the aircraft burned and with three cadavers found inside it.

The search-and-retrieval operation was immediately conducted at the crash site in an effort to look for the other passengers.