The deafening sound of C-130 flying above Villamor Air Base signified the return of two pilots to the Pasay City air base. Only this time, Major Jude Salang-Oy, 34, and 1st Lieutenant April John Dadulla, 29, embarked from the plane in enclosed wooden boxes.
Salang-Oy and Dadulla were the two pilots who perished in Bukidnon, Northern Mindanao, after their jet crashed into the mountain ranges. They did not survive, and their remains were recovered from the crash a day after their jet was reported missing.
At exactly 1:22 pm on Saturday, March 8, their remains were flown from Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, to Pasay City, for arrival honors. The plane landed in Villamor shortly past 3 pm, prompting the honor guards in dark blue uniforms to walk to the aircraft and bring down the caskets to metal holders located just below the plane.
After more or less 20 minutes, the white caskets, wrapped in Philippine flags, alighted from the aircraft. A few meters away from the C-130, the relatives were waiting. Dressed in black and white, some were wiping away tears as they saw their lifeless loved ones.
Twelve PAF officers in white uniforms lifted the caskets and carried them on their shoulders. A funeral song “Nearer My God To Thee” played in the background, and PAF officers bearing Salang-Oy’s casket started walking away from the plane, then Dadulla’s remains followed. Their caskets were placed in front of saluting PAF personnel and other loved ones waiting on the other end of the runway.
Once settled, immediate family members of Salang-oy and Dadulla walked toward them, accompanied by Defense chief Gilbert Teodoro, Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo, and other officials. Commander-in-chief Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was supposed to lead the honors, but skipped the event due to an “urgent matter.”
Military priests blessed the remains, and afterwards, Teodoro, in his barong with black cloth wrapped around one of his arm sleeves, led the conferment of the Distinguished Aviation Cross award on the two. This recognition, the highest aviation-related award, is given to PAF personnel “for distinguished heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.”
The ceremony ended with the caskets being transported to funeral cars and the loved ones leaving the area to start the vigil. PAF spokesperson Colonel Ma. Consuelo Castillo said the air force will hold vigils inside Villamor and in Basa Air Base, Pampanga, to allow personnel and officers to pay their last respects. She added that the pilots’ family also requested for privacy.
In mourning
“Of course, the morale of the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Air Force is in mourning right now. We are deeply saddened by this event, but then, our mission goes on,” the PAF spokesperson told reporters.
A native of Tabuk, Kalinga, Salang-Oy left behind his wife and four-year-old kid. Dadulla, meanwhile, was reportedly a native of Bukidnon, the same province where he perished. Castillo said the pilots’ family will receive special assistance under Republic Act No. 6963, “which is equivalent to the average six (6) months’ salary, including allowances and bonuses, during the last twelve (12) months preceding the death of the officer.”
Aside from these and pensions, Salang-Oy’s kid will also receive educational assistance from the PAF. Castillo said it’s also up to the family if they would want to lay the remains of their loved ones at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, since the pilots died in line of duty.
“The investigation is ongoing. In fact, our investigating team from the Philippine Air Force trekked for a whole day, in Mount Kalatungan, to investigate the crash site,” Castillo said in a mix of Filipino and English. She added that the President, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines and PAF’s chain of command, have told them to ensure a thorough investigation on the incident.
Apart from what caused the crash, the accident brings to the table more questions in need of answers.
FA-50s’ fate
The Bukidnon tragedy was the first aviation accident recorded involving pilots flying one of the country’s 12 FA-50 fighter jets. For now, the rest of the PAF’s FA-50 fleet is grounded, Castillo said, this being part of standard procedure after aviation accidents.
“This means we need to check our current fleet to rule out the possibility that material factor caused the accident,” the air force spokesperson explained.
During the Marawi siege in 2017, the same fighter jets accidentally killed two soldiers and wounded others who were fighting Maute rebels, after their bomb went 250 meters off target. The fleet became temporarily grounded for months after the mishap, but was later redeployed after the probe showed that the error was not on the part of the jets nor the pilots.
Procured under Noynoy Aquino’s presidency, the fighter jets from Korean Aerospace Industry were worth P18.9 billion and had returned the military to the supersonic age. At the time, the jets were necessary to at least give the Philippine military enough assets for minimum credible defense. In terms of features, these fighter jets can carry up to 4.5 tons of weapons — such as air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, machine guns, and precision guided bombers. The jets also have a Night Vision Imaging System, Radar Warning Receiver, and Counter Measure Dispenser System.
The current grounding has no specific period and could last depending on the probe. Because of their capabilities, these fighter jets are vital in maintaining the country’s defense. For one, Castillo said FA-50s were dubbed “game changers” during the Marawi siege because of their bombing capabilities. These jets are also used for West Philippine Sea patrols amid the ongoing maritime tensions.
“But as soon as we clear things regarding this, and of course, if there is a national emergency or a national concern that we have to address, then we’re going to lift the grounding as soon as possible so that our aircraft can perform their mission,” Castillo added.
There’s a proposal to acquire additional FA-50 fighter jets as part of the Rehorizon 3 of the AFP’s modernization program, according to a Philippine News Agency report. Castillo confirmed this week that the PAF’s recommendation has already been submitted to Teodoro’s office for approval. It’s not clear, though, if the proposal was submitted before or after the recent accident.
“I’m not in a position to answer that but we have a recommendation to buy another set of 12 of this type of aircraft because they’ve proven to be very dependable for the past 10 years that we’ve been using them,” Castillo said, when asked if the jet crash would have an adverse effect on the proposal.
In 2021, Polish-made Black Hawk choppers acquired by the PAF also got involved in an aviation accident in Tarlac, killing at least six. But despite the accident, the defense department still signed a contract to purchase $624 million worth of new Black Hawk choppers in February 2022.
On NPA, air strikes
When asked to confirm if the FA-50 jets Salang-Oy and Dadulla had flown were used in the recent Mindanao airstrikes, Castillo declined to provide a categorical answer: “Right now, I cannot comment on that, but what we can say is your Philippine Air Force is a force provider for the operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We provide support whenever needed to support our ground troops.”
Rappler earlier reported that the fighter jet went missing at around the same time the armed forces launched military airstrikes in the Pantaron mountain range in Northern Mindanao on Tuesday, March 4. The Philippine Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade (403IB) commander Colonel Antonio Duluan Jr. said they requested support from the PAF to soften the defenses of alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels near Cabanglasan town, located in the mountain range.
Duluan said the airstrikes happened between 1 to 2 am on March 4. Earlier, Philippine Army 4th Infantry Division (4ID) Major General Michele Anayron said they could not confirm whether the crashed aircraft was specifically used for the airstrikes.
Citing a radio report, Mindanao-based Mindanews said that 4ID spokesperson Liuetenant Colonel Francisco Garello noted that the 403IB “acted on reliable intelligence provided by the community” when it launched military operations against communist rebels in Cabanglasan. The 4ID officer said the military needed “needed air support for the larger confrontation.”
Communist Party of the Philippines’ Philippine Revolution Web Central also said in a March 8 report that two FA-50 fighter jets allegedly dropped bombs in Bukidnon on March 4.
Air strikes are not unusual in the countrysides — this method has been used by the military as an offense against rebels. The first time these FA-50 jets were first used for “surgical airstrikes” was in October 2019, when the military jets dropped 500 pounds of bombs on a temporary NPA base in Las Navas, Northern Samar. More “surgical airstrikes” or targeted bombing followed after that.
Progressive and rights groups are against these air strikes because of their supposed implications on civilians. Rights group Karapatan was quoted by alternative outfit Davao Today, where it said that airstrikes have “placed the lives of civilians in peril and violated the laws of war.” The group also noted that article 24 (3) of the 1923 Hague Rules of Air Warfare states that “the bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings not in the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land forces is prohibited.”
In a statement, progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan also urged the government to include in its probe into the crash the impact of airstrikes in rural communities and on the environment. – Rappler.com
*Some quotes were translated into English for brevity