Fired CAAP airworthiness officer hoping for reversal of decision

The Late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The airworthiness officer who gave the go-signal for the ill-fated plane of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to fly in August 2012 said Thursday that he was hoping that the order of the Ombudsman dismissing him from service would be overturned.

“I am waiting for my lawyer to file a motion, hopefully he finishes it soon,” said Fernando Valdez Abalos, the airworthiness officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

On Thursday, the Office of the Ombudsman found Abalos liable for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and meted the penalty of dismissal from the service, with its accessory penalties.

Mechanic Nelson Napata and Federico Omolon III of Aviatour’s Flyin’ Inc. were also mentioned in the Ombudsman order.

Abalos said that it was Napata who originally allowed the Piper Seneca plane to fly. The aircraft with registration No. RP-C4431 crashed in the waters off the coast of Masbate and killed Robredo.

CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III was the recipient of the order from the Office of the Ombudsman to sack Abalos, Napata and Omolon.

“Hopefully, there would be a reversal,” Abalos said.

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