LEGAZPI, Albay: The Energy Development Corp. (EDC) vowed to bring home the bodies of the four persons on board the Cessna plane 340A RP-C2080 that crashed near the crater of Mount Mayon.Ed Jimenez, corporate affairs spokesman, said the EDC is finalizing arrangements with the families of Capt. James Crisostomo Jr. and Joel Martin, as well as Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, for their remains to be brought back to their homes in the Philippines and Australia, respectively.'EDC once again would like to express its profound gratitude to all the individuals and teams that worked together on the search, rescue, and finally, the retrieval of its four dear colleagues. They have been working heroically for seven days since the small plane was reported delayed at the airport destination,' Jimenez said.The retrieval operations would not have been successful without the more than 700 responders.'We are aware of the extreme challenges posed by the terrain, altitude, weather and temperature, and other hazards involved in these retrieval operations, and for coming to the aid of others, we will be eternally grateful to every person and team that did not stop until our four Kapamilya were located and brought down to the high ground campsite. We pray the final legs of the trip down will be safe, and that the weather will be mild and dry,' said Richard Tantoco, president and chief operating officer of EDC.'We thank the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police as well as the BFP-SRF and all other uniformed personnel who have come to our aid in our time of great need,' Tantoco added.The EDC likewise thanks all the government agencies, civilian volunteers, and stakeholders that have been working together since the start of the SAR last Saturday up to today's retrieval operations — the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and its Philippine Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center for providing initial info on the plane's circumstance; the Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, INAEC Aviation for providing air assets and humanitarian assistance, the EDC's Emergency Response Teams from its geothermal facilities, and the Wilderness Search and Rescue, Phils.'To Mayor Caloy Irwin Baldo Jr. for taking charge of the complex and high-risk search and rescue efforts as incident commander, and to Dr. Cedric Daep, head of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, for providing his expertise in advising the SAR team, especially on critical matters and for patiently explaining its SAR plans and status to the public through the media,' he said.'Without the leadership, collaboration, and expertise of Mayor Caloy Baldo Jr. and Dr. Cedric Daep, we would not be discussing the successful retrieval now. We thank them profusely,' Tantoco added.The EDC also expressed gratitude to the Office of Civil Defense Region 5 and Tactical Operations Group 5 for linking, coordinating, and providing technical expertise on the search and rescue with the local government; to Albay Gov. Edcel Greco Lagman for approving and facilitating the SAR; to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) Camalig; the Rural Health Unit of Camalig; the MDRRMO of Guinobatan, Daraga, Naga; to Camalig village chief Elvis Millares for leading local guides and providing directions to the SAR team; and to Anoling village head Eugenio Segovia for providing access to their village and its resources and for allowing the SAR team to setup camp in their area.The Cessna plane with registry number RP-C2080 was owned by the EDC.
