Unreserved commiserations

What was supposed to be a routine, uneventful flight on a bright and clear Sunday morning suddenly turned tragic just before noon, when the C-130 Hercules carrying 96 military personnel that took off from Laguindingan airport crashed in Patikul town in Sulu.

The crash killed 50 soldiers and three civilians and left 46 injured—the country’s worst military air disaster in nearly 30 years. It occurred as the Armed Forces of the Philippines was still hurting from another tragedy on June 23, when a newly acquired S-70i Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Capas, Tarlac during a training mission, killing all six on board.

“I have no words to capture how I feel about the recent tragedies that befell the AFP,” said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Among the dead and injured were fresh graduates of the 4th Infantry Division training school, who were eager to report for their assignment at the 11th Infantry Division in Jolo to help in the government’s long-running anti-insurgency campaign in the restive southern province, which is home to the Abu Sayyaf extremist group.

How the ill-fated C-130 Hercules, which was piloted by veterans said to have thousands of flight hours under their belt, overshot the Jolo airport runway, skidded, and then burst into flames will be the subject of an exhaustive investigation being pushed by the Department of National Defense as well as by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

For now, the priority is to identify the fatalities. AFP chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the painful process was taking time because some had been burned beyond recognition. The military has already recovered the bodies of all who perished. As of yesterday, 19 of the dead soldiers had been identified, through DNA testing and dental records.

President Duterte flew to Zamboanga on Monday to honor those wounded and killed and promised aid to their families. “They died for our country and it behooves upon us to continue the help,” said the President.

A better way to pay them back for their sacrifice is to address rising concerns over both the reliability of the meager transportation assets of the military and the training standards of pilots, given that the tragic incident was the fourth this year alone.

Last January, a refurbished Vietnam-era UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed in Bukidnon, killing seven. This was followed in April by the crash in Getafe, Bohol of another helicopter, the MD520MG, killing the pilot.

Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon, vice chair of the House committee on defense and security, said the second crash of a valuable air asset in as many weeks has made an investigation into these incidents “twice as urgent,” to determine the causes of the accidents and the safety measures that have to be put in place. This is to avoid similar tragedies that result in not just the loss of lives but also the grounding of already meager military transportation assets that are crucial for missions related to national security, search and rescue, disaster response, and even the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.

The cockpit voice and flight data recorders of the transport plane have fortunately been recovered, and will be sent to the United States for analysis. It may just be a matter of time before the mystery of what exactly happened on that fateful July 4 morning will be solved, whether it was due to human error, equipment failure, or inclement weather.

But this early, the AFP seems to be ruling out the possibility that it was due to the age of the refurbished aircraft.

The ill-fated C-130 was the one of two Lockheed C-130s the government acquired from the US through a security assistance program. The aircraft that first flew in 1988 was formally welcomed to the Philippine Airforce Fleet last Feb. 18, boosting the C-130 fleet to four.

“The aircraft is in tip-top shape. It’s not brand new but it’s in very good condition. In fact, when it was delivered to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it had more than 11,000 flying hours remaining [before its next scheduled maintenance],” said AFP spokesperson Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo.

Nevertheless, Sobejana said he had instructed the Philippine Air Force to review the airworthiness of all of the military’s aircraft and other assets.

President Duterte’s eulogy to the fallen soldiers is right: “We cannot afford to have a similar incident in the future. That should be the last.”

Indeed, one death is one too many among the country’s gallant defenders, especially in this case with the heartbreaking register of the lives lost brimming with the names of young Filipinos just out of training and flush with fervor and promise. To the families and loved ones of those who perished in the crash go the nation’s unreserved commiserations today.