THREE days before the unfortunate incident, a top Palace official admitted having rode the same C-130 military plane that crashed in Patikul, Sulu on Sunday.
According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that he was part of the government team which delivered medical supplies and COVID-19 vaccines to Iloilo City last Thursday.
“‘Yong C-130 po na bumagsak, ‘yon din po ‘yong C-130 na sinakyan natin,” Roque was quoted as saying in a taped public briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night.
“Fortunately po, mukhang ibang crew naman ‘yong nandoon pero namatayan din po, nakikiramay po, pero noong nakausap ko po ‘yong ilang crew na sinakyan namin, talagang they are also in shock dahil alam nila na it could have happened to them, too,” he added.
Roque was apparently referring to the same military aircraft that crashed in Patikul, Sulu on Sunday. The crash, deemed as the country’s worst military disaster, resulted in the death of 53 people, including three civilians who were at the crash site when the incident happened.
The C-130 Hercules transport plane was carrying 96 people, mostly fresh army graduates, when it overshot the runway while trying to land in Sulu province Sunday.