TEXTMATE: Pacifico Talpacido, public affairs officer from Philippine Public Safety College, said he was texting Senior Inspector Jun Abrasado right before the tragedy. Photo by Reynaldo Santos Jr.

MANILA, Philippines - It was Senior Inspector Jun Abrasado, aide of the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, who first reported trouble at the ill-fated plane that crashed off Masbate on Saturday, August 18.

While on their way to Naga City, Abrasado sent text messages to Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) public affairs officer Pacifico Talpacido, telling him of their plan to return to the airport in Mactan, Cebu due to a technical problem with the plane.

Talpacido was with Robredo in the ground breaking of the PPSC Center to be constructed in Consolacion, Cebu. He said they were tracking the movement of Robredo via Abrasado to ensure his safety.

Talpacido said this was the plan: the plane would return to Cebu, and there, Robredo and Abrasado would take a commercial flight back to Manila.

Robredo and the team, however, did not make it back to Cebu. The plane crashed while attempting an emergency landing on the Masbate airport on Saturday, August 18. A volunteer diver taking part in the search and rescue operations retrieved Tuesday, August 21, Robredo's body from the wreckage, 180 feet under water and 800 meters from the Masbate shore.

Talpacido told Rappler on Wednesday, August 22, that he had a short exchange of text messages with Abrasado before the tragedy.

Here are Abrasado's text messages:

• 3:29 pm: Abrasado said that they would return to Cebu due to a problem with one of the plane's propellers.

• 3:41 pm: Abrasado requested Talpacido to buy two plane tickets for a commercial flight that would bring him and Robredo to Manila.

Talpacido immediately booked seats for the two on a Cebu Pacific flight to Manila, with a 4:35 pm boarding time.

• 4:20 pm: Abrasado said that their plane would not make it to Cebu and would make an emergency landing on the Masbate airport.

Talpico did not receive another message from Abrasado after this. He said that they only learned of the tragedy as soon as they arrived in Manila that night. - Rappler.com