4 Sulu crash victims are from Cebu

CEBU, Philippines —  Four of the 52 persons who perished in the military aircraft crash in Patikul, Sulu Sunday were from Cebu.

Two – Staff Sergeant Michael Bulalaque and Staff Sergeant Jan Neil Macapaz – were natives of Lapu-Lapu City. Bulalaque was from Barangay Bankal, while Macapaz was from Barangay Pusok.

The other two – Technical Sergeant Donald Badoy and Airman 1st Class Fortunate Regidor – were also assigned at the Benito Ebuen Airbase in Lapu-Lapu City.

The four boarded the C-130 Hercules transport plane at Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental and were supposedly headed back to Cebu, but the aircraft had to drop off some troops in Sulu, only to meet the unfortunate crash.

 “Atong nasayran nga padulong na unta sila sa pagpauli dinhi sa Cebu ug duna lang silay gi-drop sa Sulu, apan subo pamalandungon nga wa na sila kauli dinhi sa Lapu-Lapu City,” Lapu-Lapu City Rep. Paz Radaza said in a Facebook post.

Radaza and Mayor Junard Chan have expressed their condolences to the bereaved families.

The C-130 was then carrying 96 people, mostly fresh army graduates, when it overshot the runway while trying to land on Jolo island in the southern Sulu province.

As of Tuesday, 52 people were confirmed to have died from the tragedy.

Modern-day hero

Chan described Macapaz as a modern-day hero.

Macapaz, he said, accompanied the fresh military graduates who were bound for their maiden operation against terrorists in Sulu when the tragedy dashed their trip.

“Tungod sa iyang gugma para sa atong nasud, tuyo siyang misulod sa AFP. Usa siya sa miuban sa mga bag-ong graduates sa military training ug padulong na unta sila sa ilang pinakaunang operasyon batok sa mga terorista. Apan wa damha nga tungod sa wa pa masuta nga rason, naaberya ang ilang gisakyan nga C-130 plane nga maoy hinungdan sa pagkutlo sa iyang kinabuhi kuyog ang kaubanan,” Chan’s post read.

“Maong mapasalamaton kita og dako sa pagsakripisyo sa iyang kinabuhi para maproteksyonan ang kadaghanan. Makiangayon lang nga mamahimo siyang kabahin sa atong gihangad nga mga bayani kauban ang atong apohan nga si Lapu-Lapu,” it added.

Generous friend

When families and friends learned of the soldiers’ demise, messages of condolences and support poured out.

Rizalyn Carpentero, a distant cousin, described Macapaz as a “generous”friend to their high school batchmates.

Fondly called “Jan-Jan,” Macapaz was one who was quick to organize reunions for the batch.

“Siya gyud na ang active kaayo to contact each one of us na iya mga ka-batch, especially mga ka-section, for a reunion -- whether grand or tapok-tapok lang just to see each other,” Carpentero told The FREEMAN.

“Mao gyud na ang amo ma-miss ni Jan-Jan... Wala nay mag-kulit sa iyang mga friends to invite us magkita-kita, especially kung kami na nag-work abroad mauli diha sa Pinas... He would always make time para sa iya mga friends,” she added.

Carpentero said Macapaz was not vocal back in high school about wanting to join the Armed Forces. When he did, it did not come as a surprise since his father was also a soldier.

Macapaz has two children.

The FREEMAN respects the wishes of the immediate families to refrain from granting media interviews in this difficult time.

52 Deaths

Meanwhile, Philippine security forces have retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorders of a military aircraft.

Witnesses and survivors told investigators the plane landed “hard” and then bounced twice before taking off again, said Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan, chief of the Western Mindanao Command.

“Then at the right side of the airport it hit a tree -- that's the account of the injured,” Vinluan told AFP.

Most of the dead were soldiers being deployed to the island -- a haven for Islamist militants -- as part of a counter-insurgency effort.

Three civilians who were not on the flight were also killed as the plane ploughed through coconut trees and houses.

Another 51 people, mostly troops, were injured. Many suffered severe burns when the four-engine aircraft exploded into flames.

The cockpit voice and flight data recorders, which are known as black boxes, will be sent to the United States for analysis, Vinluan said.

The CVR records flight crew conversations and the flight data recorder holds information about the speed, altitude and direction of the plane.

They could explain what caused the C-130, which the military said was in “very good condition,” to crash in sunny weather.

“We will be able to hear from that black box what was the last conversation of the pilots and crew in the cockpit so we can ascertain the situation that really happened,” armed forces chief General Cirilito Sobejana told CNN Philippines.

Photos of the scene released by the military showed the damaged tail and smoking wreckage scattered among trees.

Dental records are being used to help in the painstaking effort to identify badly charred bodies.

“So far we have identified six or seven of them,” said Sobejana.

“We are doing our best... we need to bring them to their family at the soonest possible time.”

Among worst military disasters

C-130s have been the workhorses of air forces around the world for decades, used to transport troops, supplies and vehicles.

The second-hand Hercules that crashed Sunday was acquired from the United States and delivered to the Philippines earlier this year.

It was one of four in the country's fleet. Two others are being repaired while the third has been grounded following the crash.

Sunday's crash was one of the country's worst military air disasters and the latest in a series of accidents this year.

Last month, a Black Hawk helicopter went down during a night-time training flight, killing all six on board. The accident prompted the grounding of the country's entire Black Hawk fleet. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, Philstar.com/JMD (FREEMAN)