NAGA
CITY—Senior Insp. June Paolo Abrazado is still struggling to find peace
of mind after surviving the plane crash that killed then Interior
Secretary Jesse Robredo and their two pilots off the coast of Masbate
City on August 18.
During
the 40th day observance here of the death of the former secretary of
the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Abrazado, 27,
Robredo’s police aide, said he has to live with the “guilt” that came
with being the lone survivor and the question why he has to be the one
who survived.
Abrazado, who has since returned to his job at the
Philippine National Police, was with his wife Lourvila, 24, and
2-month-old son Blaze.
Miracle
The impact during
the crash kept on playing over and over in his mind, he said, and
failing to understand how he survived, he could only say that it must
have been a miracle.
He also felt conflicted after the media
reported false accounts of how he survived, including a report that he
jumped out of the plane which he found impossible to happen.
“There
is nothing to explain to those who criticize me … I understand why they
don’t even consider the injuries I suffered after the crash and the
trauma it brought me,” he said.
He said it is a “mortal sin” for
an aide like him, no matter how impossible the circumstances, to have
failed to save the person he was sworn to protect.
“I was very
willing and prepared to give my life for Sir Jess. When I accepted the
job as his aide I knew very well my responsibility and the things I
should sacrifice without any mental reservation … that includes my
life,” he said.
He said he was thankful to the families of
Robredo and his widow who supported and inspired him to move on and
defended him from negative speculations.
He also wanted to thank
his lifesaver, Joseph Delfin Beldaboy, the fishermen who plucked him
from the sea shortly after the plane went down.
Abrazado said
Beldaboy took the courage to rush to the crash site even as everyone was
prohibited from going near the crashed plane because of the danger that
it might explode.
He also extended his gratitude to his family,
relatives, friends, the Masbate Philippine National Police, Coast Guard,
local officials and other people who supported and encouraged him to be
strong amid adversity.
Wish
“The first week after
the crash I wished I didn’t wake up and things could have been easier
for everybody. But the people who took care and supported me made me
realize that there is more in life to live for, specially with my wife
and child,” Abrazado said.
He recalled how Jesse treated him like his own son.
“I
am alive today not because of my abilities, but by a stroke of luck
that only God knows why. I do not know what God has planned for me. I
have always believed that everything happens in God’s will. And if this
is all God’s will, it is my great honor having been beside Sir Jess up
to the last moment before God took him,” Abrazado said.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment