Punongbayan’s death marked

CABANATUAN CITY — Officials and employees of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) mark today the first death anniversary of Dr. Raymundo Punongbayan.

Sen. Richard Gordon, PNRC chairman, told The STAR that he and Phivolcs director Reynaldo Solidum will honor Punongbayan, who died when a military helicopter carrying him and other government scientists crashed in a mountainous area in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija on April 28 last year.

Punongbayan’s group was to conduct an aerial inspection of a planned resettlement site for landslide victims in Dingalan, Aurora when the tragedy happened.

"We remember him. Of course, we will honor him," Gordon said of Punongbayan, who was a member of the PNRC board of directors when he died. — Manny Galvez