Philippines top policeman survives copter crash

MANILA: The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) survived when his helicopter on Thursday morning crashed while on his way to a command conference in Laguna province in Southern Luzon but two of his senior officers were also in serious condition, police reported.

General Archie Gamboa suffered minor injuries during the crash that occurred at about 10 am on Thursday in the town of San Pedro, Laguna and was recovering at a hospital in Metro Manila, said freshman Senator Ronald dela Rosa who visited him when he learned of the crash.

Dela Rosa, also a former PNP chief, and Gamboa are “mistahs” or classmates who belonged to Class ‘ 86 of the state-run Philippine Military Academy, the country’s premier military institution in the resort city of Baguio in the Northern Luzon highlands.

But two of Gamboa’s fellow passengers - Major General Mariel Agaway, the PNP chief of intelligence, and Major General Jovic Ramos, the PNP comptroller (chief finance officer) - were in serious condition.

This was revealed by Major General Benigno Durana, the PNP chief of police-community relations, who said Agaway and Ramos were “unconscious” when rescuers brought them out from the burning helicopter.

Durana said eight people, headed by Gamboa and composed of Agaway, Ramos, Brigadier General Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesman, as well as Gamboa’s aide, the two helicopter pilots bearing the rank of lieutenant colonel, and a staff sergeant.

Durana said the two-year-old Bell 429 helicopter owned by the PNP, left Thursday morning for Calamba City in Laguna for a regional command conference. But before proceeding to Calamba, he said Gamboa and and his party were to visit first a compound in San Pedro, Laguna to inspect vehicles impounded by the PNP Highway Patrol Group.

Witnesses, including residents and DZMM radio reporter Noel Alamar, said as the helicopter lifted off, it created a huge duststorm that affected visibility and got entangled with that power lines that forced it to crash on the road.