Major Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. officially took command of the Cagayan de Oro City-based 4th Infantry Division (4ID) of the Philippine Army on Monday, July 5, a day after a C-130 transport plane of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) carrying him and his family crashed in Patikul, Sulu.

Brawner was with his wife and three children when they boarded the crashed Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Sunday morning, July 4.

Hours before the crash, the Baguio City-native said he was to fly from Manila to Cagayan de Oro City to prepare for the change of command ceremony where he would replace Maj. Gen. Andres Centino, who was recently installed as the new Army Commanding General.

Brawner said he was fortunate to have cheated death as they disembarked at Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City where he and his family stayed.

However, it was not the same for 49 soldiers and three civilians who died and 51 others who were injured in the plane crash.

From Cagayan de Oro City, the plane then proceeded to Laguindingan airport to pick up over four dozen Army personnel, most of them were from 4ID and fresh graduates from military training. The plane left for Sulu where the soldiers were supposed to serve as augmentation forces of the 11th Infantry Division (11ID) to help in the province's counter-terrorism efforts.

Hours later, Brawner got a call informing him that the plane they rode crashed in Patikul, Sulu.

"Ibinalita sa akin na 'yong C-130 na sinakyan namin a few hours before ay bumagsak. Ako ay nalungkot. Tumayo ang balahibo ko (I was informed that the C-130 that we used a few hours before crashed). We were given a second chance to live," said Brawner during the change of command ceremony.

"I saw and talked to the pilots, I saw the passengers. I remember their faces," he added, recounting his near-death experience.

He even recalled how Maj. Emanuel Makalintal, the pilot in command, gave him a briefing as the most senior official on the plane prior to their takeoff from Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

"He gave me a pilot's briefing which was a standard operating peocedure. There was a briefing about the weather. Then the last thing we did was we prayed. We all prayed including the pilots and the passengers. I met all the pilots," he said.

Makalintal was among the 52 individuals who perished in the incident. Two co-pilots and five crew members also died with him.

Brawner said they organized a mass for the soldiers who perished in the incident.

Although saddened by the plane crash, his first major setback as the 4ID commander, Brawner vowed to give all the necessary assitance to the families of the perished soldiers under his unit.

Brawner is a product of the Philippine Military Academy "Makatao" Class of 1989. He is a native of Baguio City.