By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – The remains of a police Col. Pergentino Malabed who died in the Jan. 29 collision between a military helicopter and a commercial plane near Washington, D.C., in the United States will be brought home on Thursday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) information chief Col. Randulf Tuaño on Monday said Malabed’s remains will arrive at 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 20 and will be given full honors on Feb. 27.
“Officially dadalhin yung kanyang labi dito para bigyan ng honor dito sa Feb. 27 para for viewing and then finally ang internment niya ay sa March 5 (He will be brought here to be given honors on Feb. 27 and for public viewing and then the internment on March 5),” Tuaño said in a press conference at Camp Crame.
Malabed, chief of the supply management division under the PNP Directorate for Logistics, was among the 67 fatalities of the incident.
Tuaño said Malabed was on official travel “fulfilling his duty, committed to the service of protecting and securing both the PNP and the nation.”
The ill-fated American Airlines plane was approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport when the US Army helicopter flew into its path.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the passenger plane, while three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. (PNA)
