Helicopter with 5 Palace execs missing

MANILA, Philippines - A Bel 142 helicopter carrying Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia, Pres. Arroyo’s senior military aide Brig. Gen. Carlos Clet, Appointments Secretary Malou Frostrom and two pilots was reported missing last night, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

Remonde said the helicopter took off from Baguio City”s Loakan Airport at 4:15 p.m. on a 30-minute flight to Banawe as advance party for Mrs. Arroyo, who is scheduled to inspect the Halsema Highway today. But as of 6 p.m. they had not yet arrived.

“We fervently hope and pray that nothing has happened to them. The two of them are very close to me,” Remonde told The STAR in a telephone interview.

He said Capadocia called up Malacañang Media Affairs and Relations Officer Alex de los Santos at 5 p.m. and said visibility was poor and the pilots were looking for a safe place to land.

“The last time we heard from them was that they were passing over the town of Bugiya on the boundary of Banawe,” he said.

Remonde said Capadocia is his No. 2 man at the Office of the Press Secretary for media operations and relations, while Frostrom used to be his deputy when he was still Director General of the Presidential Management Staff.

As of press time, Mrs. Arroyo was yet to be informed of the missing helicopter carrying the officials.

De los Santos, who was supposed to meet Capadocia, said he got a text from the official at past 4 p.m. saying they were about to take off from Baguio City.

“Take-off na kami (We’re about to take-off),” the text message read.

“That’s the last communication we got from Sir. We could no longer contact him,” De los Santos said in a telephone interview.

Remonde said rescue units from the Air Force and the Presidential Security Group were immediately sent to scour the area.

Air Force spokesman Maj. Gerardo Zamudio said that Maj. Gen. Isagani Cachuela, commander of the Northern Luzon Command, has alerted all Army ground units to look for the missing helicopter in all possible landing areas in their jurisdiction.

Remonde said the services of private mining firms in the area were also tapped.

The two officials are among the longest-serving staff in the Arroyo administration. – With Jaime Laude