Skip to content
OurVote2022logo
mindanews-fact-check-logo-1
  • Business
  • Peace Process
  • Governance
  • Travel
  • Arts & Culture
  • Special Reports
  • Mindaviews
  • Pictures
Menu
  • Business
  • Peace Process
  • Governance
  • Travel
  • Arts & Culture
  • Special Reports
  • Mindaviews
  • Pictures

Plane crash victims identified through dental records return home

  • Froilan Gallardo

-

  • July 8, 2021
Share this story

CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 07 July) — Vilma Monera of Maramag, Bukidnon wept as six military trucks bearing flag-draped white caskets rolled into the parking lot of the gym at the 4thInfantry Division headquarters here on Wednesday afternoon.

A military aide gently took her hand and guided her to the casket bearing the remains of her son, Army Private Vic Monera, 22, but when she tried to open the casket and was told gently that she cannot, she broke down in tears.

Rachel Maestro (in green) weeps as she embraces the flag-draped sealed casket of her husband, Army Sgt. Butch Maestro, at the 4th Infantry Division gym in Cagayan de Oro on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

Rachel Maestro, wife of Army Sgt. Butch Maestro of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental also wept when she was told she could not open his casket.

Maestro just held on to the Philippine flag that draped her husband’s casket.

“Most were burned beyond recognition. That is the reason we have to seal the caskets,”  Major Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., commander of the 4th Infantry Division, said.

Monera and Maestro are  lucky their loved ones were identified immediately.

Brawner said only 19 of the 52 confirmed dead in the C-130 plane crash in Sulu on Sunday, July 4, were identified through their dental records.

The rest who could not be identified through dental records will be identified through DNA tests.

The 55-year-old Monera recalled how she pleaded with her son not to join the Philippine Army.

“I wanted him to join the maritime fleet. He did not listen,” Monera said.

A military honor detail carries one of six caskets from the Philippine Air Force C295 plane which brought the remains of six soldiers killed in the July 4, 2021 C-130 crash in Patikul Sulu to Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

Vic, the eldest of her three children, was a graduate of Bachelor Science in Maritime Transportation and had plied the Cebu-Manila interisland route aboard a passenger ship but lost his job when the COVID-19 pandemic struck last year.

Her son came home to their two-hectare farm in Maramag, Bukidnon dejected.

“He said he wanted to help us. He also wanted to marry his girlfriend,” she said.

Monera’s son and Maestro’s husband were among six soldiers whose remains were flown to Lumbia Airport here on board a Philippine Air Force C295 Wednesday morning.


Honor guards keep watch on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 during the wake at the 4th Infantry Division gym in Cagayan de Oro City for six soldiers who perished three days earlier in the C-130 crash in Patikul, Sulu. The remains of the six were flown to the city Wednesday morning after they were identified through their dental records. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
Pic3

Brawner said military probers used dental records of the dead soldiers to determine their identities.

He said the 4th Infantry Division sent to Zamboanga City copies of the dental records of the soldiers who died in the crash.

Major Francisco Garello, Jr., 4ID spokesperson identified the six soldiers whose remains were flown to this city as Sgt. Butch Maestro of Balingoan town, Misamis Oriental; Private Raymar Carmona  of Kitcharao town in Agusan del Norte; and the four from Bukidnon — Private Marcelino Alquisar of Impasugong; Privates Mark Nash Lumanta and Vic Monera of Maramag; and Private Mel Mark Angana of Malaybalay City.

After an overnight vigil at the gym, they will be transported to their respective hometowns on Thursday.

Three more soldiers who were identified were transported to their hometowns in Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental on Wednesday, he said.

The 4ID recruited 86 of the soldiers who took the C-130 plane that crashed in Patikul, Sulu on Sunday.

They were supposed to be deployed to the 11th Infantry Division in Jolo, Sulu to fight the Abu Sayyaf. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)

 

Your perspective matters! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage respectful discussions. Don't hesitate to share your ideas or engage with others.
Advertisement
Follow us on Facebook
Facebook
The MindaNews Podcast
-- ad here--

TOP STORIES

DOLE to probe Chowking branch after door-to-door order fiasco

Ian Carl Espinosa November 29, 2023 5:21 pm

No price increase on Noche Buena items – DTI Davao

Antonio L. Colina IV November 29, 2023 2:48 pm

All set for ‘Duyog Kasadya: A Tuburan Institute Christmas Musical Offering’ in Davao

Antonio L. Colina IV November 28, 2023 2:05 pm

Chowking Davao worker goes viral for knocking on subdivision doors to get orders

Ian Carl Espinosa November 27, 2023 3:19 pm

Robbery suspect killed after ‘resisting’ arrest in Davao City

Antonio L. Colina IV November 27, 2023 2:58 pm

MINDAVIEWS

REVIEW: Pagpangga will always see us through

Joan Mae Soco-Bantayan November 26, 2023 6:39 pm

REVIEW: Pinangga takes us back to a courageous past 

Ismael P. Magadan Jr. November 25, 2023 9:08 am

COMMENTARY: Presidential visits and preferential treatment for national media

Ben Sumog-oy November 24, 2023 11:26 pm
Read more MINDAVIEWS

BUSINESS NEWS

2K internet subscribers in Agusan del Sur await service restoration 

Chris V. Panganiban November 26, 2023 9:10 pm

GrabCar launched in Davao

Allizah Keziah Manulat October 14, 2023 4:47 pm

Xiamen Air to resume direct flights between Davao and Quanzhou

Antonio L. Colina IV October 12, 2023 3:30 pm

18 homegrown cafés joining Davao Coffee Crawl

Antonio L. Colina IV September 20, 2023 3:12 pm

25 delegates from Mindanao to join international expo in Sabah

Antonio L. Colina IV September 13, 2023 2:00 pm

Senator Villar cites EU’s GSP+ during tuna congress

Bong S. Sarmiento September 7, 2023 5:21 pm

ARTS & CULTURE

KINURISKURIS: Victory Chapel

Keith Bacongco November 26, 2023 5:28 pm

VIDEO ESSAY | This Land is Mined: Selected short films from Davao de Oro

Jay Rosas November 13, 2023 6:13 pm

KINURISKURIS: Laundry shop

Keith Bacongco November 5, 2023 4:51 pm

KINURISKURIS: Sta. Ana Church

Keith Bacongco October 29, 2023 7:07 pm

KINURISKURIS: Buddhist Temple

Keith Bacongco October 22, 2023 10:18 pm

KINURISKURIS: Landmark

Keith Bacongco October 15, 2023 5:00 pm

MindaNews is the news service arm of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism. It is composed of independent, professional journalists who believe and practice people empowerment through media.

23C Saturn St. GSIS Subdivision, Davao City Philippines Tel. No.: 082 297 4360 editor [at] mindanews.com
Facebook Twitter

© MindaNews 2016 -2023 | All Rights Reserved

About Us

Privacy Policy