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MANILA, Philippines – A day after Jesse Robredo’s death was confirmed, divers retrieved the wreckage of the ill-fated plane that crashed off Masbate and recovered the body of one of the two pilots, Capt. Jessup Bahinting.
Supporters also gathered in Naga City to pay their respects to the late Interior Secretary, while the government said it was planning a state funeral.
The search and rescue teams tried to lift up the crashed aircraft to the surface earlier on Wednesday, August 22, but the operation was complicated by a strong current.
Robredo’s body now lies in a closed casket at a viewing room inside the Archbishop’s Palace in Naga City, where citizens have been lining up since last night to pay their respects and bid him good-bye.
Robredo’s body will remain there until Friday, August 24, when it will be transported to Manila prior to the state funeral Malacañang had offered to the Robredo family.
Body of pilot recovered
In Masbate, teams of divers from the military and the Coast Guard recovered the body of Bahinting as a machine earlier tried to haul the ill-fated aircraft out of the sea.
“Fuselage lifted and hanging by rope at shallower level where scuba divers could work on it. One more body recovered,” Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas posted on his Twitter account.
1730 update. Fuselage lifted to and hanging by rope at shallower level where scuba divers cud work on it. One more body recovered.
— Mar Roxas (@MARoxas) August 22, 2012
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said families of the pilots went to the funeral parlor, La Funeraria Eternas, to identify the recovered body.
Although the operation was originally scheduled to start at 10.30 am, it was pushed back to 3 pm due to a strong current that would have compromised the laying of a rope that was supposed to be tied to the plane.
As originally planned, once the rope was secure, a hydraulic device was supposed to attempt to hoist the aircraft to the surface. Only then would an official investigation into the cause of the accident begin, said Maj Gen Eduardo del Rosario, commander of Task Force Kalihim.
Robredo supporters pay last respects
Meanwhile in Naga, citizens, friends and relatives of Robredo trooped to the Archbishop’s Palace to bid their beloved former mayor good-bye.
Government officials and Cabinet members arrived to attend the necrological mass and extend condolences to the family.
At least two daily masses will be held until Friday, when the remains will be flown to Manila.
Officials and employees of the DILG also mourned the untimely demise of their boss as work resumed Wednesday following the long weekend.
State funeral
On Friday Robredo will receive the “highest kind of funeral” the government can give, Communications Undersecretary Manolo Quezon said during a press briefing in Malacañang.
The deceased Interior and Local Government Secretary technically does not qualify for such a service, but Quezon explained that it is Aquino’s prerogative “to grant a state funeral to those who are considered worthy.” The state will shoulder all expenses.
After the funeral, Rodredo’s body will be brought back to Naga, where he will be buried with full state honors on Tuesday, August 28. – Rappler.com/With reports from Ayee Macaraig in Masbate, Natashya Gutierrez in Naga, Paterno Esmaquel II and Rey Santos in Manila
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