A policeman gestures beside a helicopter that crashed in San Pedro, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines Thursday, March 5, 2020. The helicopter carrying the Philippine national police chief, three generals and four people crashed Thursday after hitting a power cable in a swirl of dust as it took off, injuring those on board, police officials said. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MANILA, Philippines — One of the police generals who are in critical condition following the crash of their helicopter in Laguna on Thursday morning has been transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital.
Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Ramos, PNP Director for Comptrollership, was transferred from the emergency unit to the ICU of Unihealth Southwoods Hospital and Medical Center in Laguna at around 4 p.m, according to Maj. Gen. Benigno Durana Jr., chief of the Directorate for Police Community Relations and acting spokesperson of the PNP.
He said this seeks “to provide critical care” for Ramos, who was among the passengers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Bell 429 chopper that crashed in San Pedro.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Mariel Magaway, PNP Director for Intelligence, is now in the “critical care” section of the Asian Medical Center in Las Piñas City. Durana, however, could not confirm if this was the same as the ICU.
He said Magaway’s body responded when his arm was pinched by the latter’s wife.
“The next 48 hours again will be critical [for them] kaya puspusin po natin ng panalangin ang kanilang paggaling [that’s why I ask everyone to continue praying for their recovery],” added Durana.
He also belied some social media posts on the supposed medical condition of the two police generals, saying that “the most that we can tell is they are in unstable condition.”
As Ramos and Magaway undergo treatment, PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa who was also in the same helicopter, ordered that they be temporarily replaced by Brig. Gen. Ronnie Olay and Brig. Gen. Jess Cambay as officers-in-charge of their respective units.
Olay and Gambay are the deputy chiefs of the Directorates for Comptrollership and Intelligence, respectively.
Meanwhile, Gamboa, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, and five other police officers were transferred to private rooms at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig. All of them are in stable condition.