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Chopper wreckage, 7 bodies found in Kabayan, Benguet
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(Updated) MANILA, Philippines - Police operatives on Wednesday found the totally burned wreckage of the presidential chopper that went missing Tuesday afternoon, a police official said. Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, director of the Cagayan Valley regional police, said three charred bodies were found with the wreckage. Two more bodies were later found in the afternoon, according to Senior Superintendent Danny Pelisco, chief of the Benguet Police District. He said one was unidentifiable while the other one was garbed in blue uniform. Later in the night, Lopez Pugong, mayor of Tinoc town in Ifugao province told radio dzBB that a total of seven bodies were found in the crash site by his "runners" and government rescue teams. Ifugao Governor Teodoro Baguilat Jr. confirmed the mayor's statement. "Tulad ng sabi ni Mayor Pugong, ang official count ay pitong bangkay ang na-recover sa crash site." Search operations still continue for the last missing passenger of the ill-fated chopper, according to Baguilat. Earlier, Presidential Management Staff head Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said authorities could not yet identify the first three bodies found. "As of now we could not identify the three. Wala pa... hindi pa namin na-identify kung babae o lalaki [We have also not identified whether they were male or female]," Esperon said in a phone patch interview with reporters. Damian said the "totally burned" wreckage was reportedly found in a heavily forested area at Sitio Mangingihe in Barangay Eheb in Tinoc, Ifugao. But Esperon later clarified that the chopper debris was found in Barangay Tawangan in Kabayan town in Benguet province. Bodies A local policeman who was among those who located the missing aircraft said two of the bodies were found in pieces. “May nakita kami na buo na isa po. Piloto yata yun [We saw a body that was still whole. We think it was the pilot’s]," said SPO2 Samuel Guyon of Tinoc Police in an interview on dzBB radio. Asked how they were able to determine that one of the bodies belongs to the pilot, Guyon said: “Yung uniporme ho [Through his uniform]." The missing Bell 412 aircraft (tail number 1946) was carrying Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia, presidential military aide Brig. Gen. Carlos Clet, Undersecretary for Presidential Engagements and Appointments Malou Frostrom, Presidential Management Staff assistant director Perlita Bandayanon, Navy Petty Officer 1 Demy Reyno, and Air Force Staff Sergeant Roe Gem Perez. 
Palace officials Capadocia, Frostrom and Bandayanon are among the eight people on board the ill-fated chopper. - PIA photo
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