Recto: ‘I was supposed to be in that chopper’

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto avoided a possibly fatal crash or debilitating injury in Tarlac on Thursday afternoon as he “for some reason” boarded another chopper bound for Crow Valley in Capas town.

Recto also heaved a sigh of relief after knowing that passengers of the Sokol helicopter he saw smash on to a ravine were all alive.

“Thank God. [I] am glad [there were] no casualties. AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) did a good job in recovering victims,” he told reporters in a text message.

“[I] was supposed to be in that chopper,” he said.

According to Recto’s staff, the senator was going to the military reservation camp to witness the live fire drill.

Recto, a reservist, was supposed the board the Sokol helicopter but “for some reason” got on the next chopper.

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Coop-NATCCO party-list Rep. Anthony Bravo, however, was among those injured in the incident. Others who were also hurt from the crash were former House Secretary General Cesar Pareja; Baltazar Reyes; Col. Arthur Baybayan, sergeant-at-arms of the Commission on Appointments; Daisy De Lima, Romeo V. Almonte, 1st Lt. Melvin Betia, and Edilberto M. Mandap.

“Thanks for your prayers. The pilot suffered head injuries and the crew has a broken arm. I have minor scratches along with most of the passengers. The helicopter crashed just as we were about to land in Crow Valley,” Pareja told reporters.

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Reports reaching the police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City revealed that the helicopter – a PZL W-3 Sokół – was descending on the landing deck when the pilot lost control of the chopper and fell on the nearby ravine.

In a DZBB report, Baybayan said they were to attend an “AFP legislative stakeholders’ engagement” at Crow Valley.  /kga