Manila, Philippines - The police aide of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo who survived the plane crash off Masbate Bay last Saturday could be suffering from temporary aerophobia or a fear of flying.
Senior Inspector June Paolo Abrazado Jr. refused to take a helicopter even after he was given clearance to go back to his hometown of Naga City.
Instead, he requested his superior to let him travel by boat or land to meet his family.
Superintendent Wally Pornillos, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) office of internal security and Abrazado’s commanding officer, escorted Abrazado to Pilar, Sorsogon, where an ambulance fetched him from the PNP Hospital in Camp Simeon Ola.
Abrazado’s wife, who had given birth to their first child barely two weeks ago, is still in Manila.
A few hours after President Aquino met him at the Masbate Provincial Hospital, Abrazado was allowed by his boss, PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome, to proceed to Naga City to be with his parents.
The Abrazados are natives of Naga City, where Robredo served as mayor for 19 years before he was appointed DILG chief in mid-2010.
“My instruction is that he be given the needed medical attention. The SAR (search and rescue) operations are still ongoing,” Bartolome told The STAR.
Bartolome is also in Masbate with the President supervising the operations.
At about 2 p.m. last Sunday, Abrazado was allowed to leave the hospital for Pilar in Sorsogon. There is no direct boat trip from Masbate to Naga City.