Hijacker's mom: He was a loner

DAVAO CITY -- He was a loner, the hijacker's mother said.

But the police believe that Reginald Trance Chua may have a number of friends who helped him sneak in a pistol, a hand grenade and a parachute inside a Philippine Airlines (PAL) Airbus 330 jet last Thursday.

Before she boarded a plane for Manila to claim the remains of her son, 53-year-old widow Lucia Trance Chua, of Barangay Bangkal in Matan-ao, Davao del Sur, said that her 26-year-old son was a loner.

She also said that her son did not have a wife nor children as claimed by the pilot of the hijacked PAL Flight PR 812.

According to pilot Capt. Emmanuel Generoso, the hijacker told him that he was doing this because his family had left him and that his wife had an affair with a policeman.

"He was very tense," Generoso said. "He was very angry, very temperamental. The man said 'if you do not do what I say, we will die together'."

Chua told The STAR yesterday her son spent most of his time inside the house and that Reginald would only go out to watch a movie on Sundays.

He was also described by his relatives as somebody who did not have many friends in town.

Probers who went to Matan-ao yesterday told The STAR that Reginald's neighbors were surprised at what he did.

"It was not something they expected of him because he never exhibited a behavior that was suspicious," said an investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Chua said her late husband enrolled their son at the Mindanao Aeronautical and Technical School here, but Reginald appeared to have lost interest in pursuing a college degree.

She said her son, the third in a brood of six, even cleaned his room before leaving on Monday supposedly for an aunt's house in San Jose, Surigao City.

Reginald said that he would be back soon and in fact looked forward to moving the entire Chua family to Surigao.

He was reported to have wanted to relocate the family after his father was murdered in 1993 apparently over a land dispute.

But Chua said she was against her son's wishes, citing the lack of money for the transfer.

After leaving Matan-ao, Reginald went to Digos town and stayed at the Cecilia Hotel until Thursday.

That afternoon, Reginald boarded a PAL jet bound for Manila.

About an hour into the 90-minute flight, the distraught man, armed with a grenade and a pistol, ordered the pilot to return to Davao City rather than proceed to Manila.

But the pilot told him that he did not have enough fuel for the trip. The pilot then asked if he needed money. Reginald nodded, and the pilot gave him some. The plane's passengers also pitched in, fearing that if they didn't agree to his wishes, he would explode the grenade.

After putting the money in a bag, Reginald told the pilot that he wanted to jump out.

The plane was then depressurized to permit the hijacker to jump using a homemade parachute while it circled 45 kilometers from Manila at 6,000 feet.

With a little help from a flight attendant, a "hesitant" Chua made his fatal leap.

On Friday, village watchmen in Real, Quezon found Reginald's remains near a watershed.