PAF men seize Clark tower in aborted coup

Five heavily armed Air Force soldiers took over the control tower of Clark International Airport from 12:30 to 5 a.m. last Tuesday while supporters of ousted President Joseph Estrada were laying siege on Malacañang.

The five soldiers were simply identified as 2Lt. Sindak, Sgt. Dueñas, A2C Tipan, A2C Olarte, and A2C Sibayan.

They are reportedly under the command of Maj. Gen. Nilo Jatico, who is next in command to Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Defensor, younger brother of opposition Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

The control tower supervises incoming and outgoing flights at Clark.

Communications and Transportation Undersecretary Adelberto Yap, who is also Air Transportation Office (ATO) director, said Clark security men allowed the five soldiers into the Flight Operations Briefing Station on instruction of Edmund Lexter Eclarinai, air traffic controller on duty at the time.

Yap was quoting a report from Elmer Gil Tadle, ATO officer-in-charge at Clark.

Flight plans are submitted to the Flight Operations Briefing Station before an aircraft is allowed to take off.

Tadle’s report quoted Carlito Laxamana, airways communicator on duty, as saying the five soldiers told him that they wanted access to the control tower because they were monitoring incoming military flights.

"The military controller on duty talked to the officer on the phone," read the report. "Afterwards, the officer of the armed group told Laxamana to accompany them to the lower entrance to open the cipher using the security code."

A unit of the Air Force’s 5th Fighter Wing is based at Clark Air Base.

Laxamana called up Eclarinai to ask for the correct combination, and after the soldiers reached the tower cab door at the 10th floor, the military controller, who was not identified, opened the door by overriding the cipher lock, added Tadle’s report.

Tadle told Yap he was only informed about the five soldiers, who were said to be in full battle gear, after they had left the control tower at 5 a.m.

Tadle recommended to Yap the suspension of an agreement between the ATO and the Air Force allowing military men inside the control tower until the incident has been investigated.

Tadle also asked that Laxamana and Eclarinai be reprimanded for security lapses.

Yap said the Clark Air Base Command had informed him that they have no knowledge of the incident at the control tower last May 1. – Rey Arquiza