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MANILA, Philippines – The body of the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was finally retrieved near the plane crash site on Tuesday, August 21, putting and end to 3 days of frantic search and rescue operation off the coast of Masbate.
On the same day his father died 29 years ago, President Benigno Aquino III traveled to Naga City to deliver the body of his friend to Robredo’s family, who remained hopeful until the end.
Body found
Shortly after after 8 am, Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas informed the President that Robredo’s corpse had been located inside the ill-fated Piper Seneca aircraft.
The plane’s fuselage was found 800 m offshore in Masbate, at a depth of 180 ft and Aquino himself broke the news to the family, Roxas told reporters.
I have very sad new,jessie has passed.His body has been recovered and will be brought to naga. Prayers please for ma’am Lennie and his kids.
— Mar Roxas (@MARoxas) August 21, 2012
Also found was one body, presumably that of one of the two pilots Jesse Bahinting and co-pilot Kshitiz Chand. But it has yet to be retrieved.
Robredo’s body was located by British volunteer technical diver Matt Reed in the cabin of the Piper Seneca. The corpses of the two pilots are in the cockpit, added Roxas.
Reed was part of a 3-person team of divers based in Malapascua, Cebu.
After removing Robredo’s body from the fuselage, the search and rescue operations continued until they were suspended mid-afternoon when another volunteer diver had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering possible decompression sickness.
PNoy in Naga
Meanwhile in Robredo’s hometown of Naga, his family, friends, former coworkers and supporters received the news of the longtime former mayor of the city with deep sorry.
Huge crowds gathered outside the Robredo family home until the widow and her 3 daughters were waiting to proceed to the airport to receive the body.
The late DILG chief’s casket arrived in Naga at the same time as the President, who personally accompanied it into a funeral home alongside other cabinet members such as Roxas and Ricky Carandang.
The body will remain there until the official viewing starts later in the evening.
Ochoa now acting DILG chief
After Robredo’s passing, Aquino named Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. as officer-in-charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Even after more than two years on the job, Robredo’s own appointment as Department of the Interior and Local Government chief was never given the green light by the powerful Commission on Appointments, which was supposed to confirm him next week, said Sen Franklin Drilon.
The late Secretary went missing on Saturday after the private plane he was traveling in from Cebu crashed into the sea about 500 from the airstrip at Masbate.
Only his aide police inspector Jun Abrasado survived the accident.
Robredo will be missed by his wife, Atty. Leni Robredo, and three daughters: Aika, 24; Patricia, 18; and Jillian, 12.
He was 54. – Rappler.com, with reports from Ayee Macaraig in Masbate, Natashya Gutierrez in Naga and Carmela Fonbuena in Manila
- Divers go deeper in search and rescue
- Sundown in Masbate and Robredo’s brother
- ‘We can’t lose Robredo’
- Search for Robredo suspended until Monday
- Daughter of ill-fated plane’s pilot waits for ‘miracle’
- Robredo brother: Dead or alive, I just want him found
- Diver recovers flight plan of Robredo plane
- Robredo aide recounts to Aquino what happened
- Technical divers can search for Robredo
- VLOG: Masbate somber but hopeful for Robredo rescue
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