Relatives of Flight 541 victims to pursue case

DAVAO CITY — Relatives of the 131 people who died in last year’s crash of Air Philippines’ Flight 541 are bent on pursuing the case against the airline despite the company’s efforts to assuage them by raising insurance benefits.

The ill-fated Boeing 737 aircraft plunged on Holy Wednesday (April 9) last year into Mt. Kamanlangan on Samal Island, before it could land at the nearby Davao International Airport.

The victims’ relatives, who have organized themselves into the Flight 541 Assistance Group Foundation, reportedly refused the airline’s recent offer to increase their insurance benefits from P600,000 to at least P3.5 million each.

The relatives, led by Dr. Carlos Catipan, are demanding that the Flight 541 crash be thoroughly investigated and that they be furnished results of the inquiry, including readings of the National Transport Safety Board of the aircraft’s flight data and voice cockpit recorders.

"We are not after the compensation here, we are demanding justice for the victims whose lives were lost because of that tragedy," Catipan said.

The relatives, who aired suspicions of a possible cover-up in the initial findings of the investigation, are asking President Arroyo to intercede in their case which the US-based law firm Nolan Law Group is handling.

Meanwhile, the victims’ relatives are holding several activities on April 19 to mark the first anniversary of the crash, considered the worst disaster in Philippine aviation history.

The relatives will stage a rally in front of the Air Transportation Office at the Davao International Airport, after which they will proceed to the office of the Presidential Assistant for Mindanao at the Central Bank building here to air their grievances.

A tree-planting activity follows at the crash site at Mt. Kamanlangan. The group will later converge for a Mass at the Davao Memorial Park where the remains of still unidentified victims are buried.