MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has temporarily stopped its search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said on Monday, March 17.
In a phone patch interview with reporters, Gazmin said the decision was made after extensive C130 flights conducted by the Philippine Air Force (PAF) over Philippine waters yielded no results.
Asked about the search for the missing plane, Gazmin said, “Temporary stop. Naikot na nila ‘yung buong area natin eh. (They have covered our entire area.)”
“We had several C130 flights with a wider coverage but they didn’t find anything” Gazmin said.
The defense chief made the statement two days after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in a press conference that Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 had been deliberately diverted from its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.
Gazmin declined to say when the operations ceased.
The Philippines was among the first countries to join the search for the plane, which was earlier reported to have lost contact over Vietnam waters.
Peter Paul Galvez, spokesperson of the Department of National Defense, earlier said that Gazmin ordered the search operations “under the possibility that Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 may have veered off its path and entered Philippine territory.”
The plane and its passengers have yet to be located. – Rappler.com
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