Two police generals who were critically injured when their Bell 429 helicopter crashed in San Pedro, Laguna yesterday are currently in comas, while their co-passenger, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Archie Gamboa, appears to be recuperating well after the accident.
Maj. Gen. Mariel Magaway, the PNP’s intelligence director, and Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Victor Ramos, the director for comptrollership, have slipped into a coma due to injuries sustained to their heads, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
Ramos, who is being treated at Unihealth Southwoods Hospital and Medical Center in Laguna, had his skull fractured and is in need of an operation. Magaway, meanwhile, has been transferred to the Asian Medical Center in Muntinlupa City at the request of his family.
Gamboa, on the other hand, appeared to be fine judging from a photo posted on Facebook yesterday by his friend, Senator Ronald dela Rosa, in which he can be seen flashing a thumbs-up from his hospital bed at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City. In the post, Dela Rosa asked the public to pray for all of the passengers on the ill-fated two-year-old helicopter.
In a video interview released by the PNP, Gamboa said he is “OK.”
“I was not hurt,” he said, despite reportedly having been pulled from the burning wreckage unconscious. “As a matter of fact, I’m going back to [the] office on Monday. Just help us to pray for those who are still in the hospital.”
The remaining passengers in the chopper — Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesperson; Capt. Keventh Gayrama, Gamboa’s aide; Lt. Col. Ruel Zalatar, the pilot; Lt. Col. Rico Macawili, the copilot; and Senior Master Sgt. Louie Estona — are in stable condition after having incurred minor abrasions to their faces and bodies. They are also recuperating at St. Luke’s.
The PNP yesterday formed a task force, led by Deputy Director-General for Operations Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, to investigate what caused the chopper crash, Rappler reports. A few hours after the accident occurred, the PNP said that the chopper was surrounded by a cloud of dust that may have hampered the pilot’s visibility, which caused it to become entangled in electrical wires.
Gamboa was in San Pedro to attend an event, and the chopper was supposed to bring him and his team to the nearby town of Calamba.
