Brawner: ‘We were given a second chance to live’

Major General Romeo Brawner Jr. and his entire family found themselves praying and lighting candles in a church inside Camp Evangelista around noontime on Sunday, July 4.

Just an hour earlier, Brawner and his family of seven were in the military’s C-130 plane that flew them from the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City to Cagayan de Oro City – the same aircraft that would later overshoot and crash in Patikul town in Sulu, killing over 50 of the 96 soldiers onboard.

“Tumayo kaagad ang balahibo ko (I had goosebumps). My family and I were given a second chance to live,” Brawner told a news conference on Monday, July 5, shortly after he assumed as commander of the 4th Infantry Division, the same position held by Major General Andres Centino before he rose to become Army chief.

The Brawner family, the general’s close aides, and several Jolo-bound soldiers were the last passengers of the ill-fated military plane before it took off from Cagayan de Oro to Sulu on Sunday.

“I saw the faces of the pilots. I saw the faces of the other passengers. I can still remember them,” Brawner told reporters.

As customary practice in the Air Force, Brawner said the plane’s senior pilot, Major Emmanuel Makalintal, gave him a briefing for the flight ahead before it took off from Villamor Air Base.

“He (Makalintal) briefed me as the most senior officer among the passengers of what to expect of the flight and the weather,” Brawner said.

He said he, his family, the pilots, the crew and his staff then gathered around and prayed for a safe flight ahead.

Brawner recalled that two Air Force personnel hitched a ride on the plane at the last minute.

“It was an uneventful flight to Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro. The plane was relatively new and we were the only passengers aboard,” Brawner said, recalling their trip earlier on Sunday.

He said they disembarked at the military airport in Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro, and then the C-130 plane took off again for nearby Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental to refuel and to board the Jolo-bound soldiers.

Brawner said he received the news that the plane crashed more than an hour later on Sunday.

He said he was in high spirits because of the scheduled turnover of the 4th ID command the following day, but his elation was cut short when news of the dead began to pile up. That sent him and his family to church where they offered prayers for the soldiers who were in that plane. – Rappler.com