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A senior police official who reportedly remained in a coma following a helicopter crash in March this year in Laguna has died and will receive full honors, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced Tuesday.
Major General José Víctor Ramos, former director of the PNP comptroller, died after midnight on Monday, confirmed PNP chief General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan in a press release issued by spokesman Colonel Ysmael Yu.
“On behalf of the 1986 class of the Philippine Military Academy ‘Sinagtala’, I join the officers and staff of the Philippine National Police in prayer and mourning for the death of Major General José Víctor Ramos of Police at 12 : 07 AM today, ”Cascolan said in the same statement.
The head of the PNP said that Ramos died “after a long and hard battle due to the serious injuries he suffered during that fateful helicopter accident in San Pedro, Laguna on March 5, 2020.”
“He will be awarded all the honors as befits a police general,” Cascolan said of Ramos whose body was cremated.
Ramos’ official retirement date is November 25, 2020, according to Yu in a separate message to Camp Crame reporters.
“As chairman and director of the PNP Tenders and Awards Committee, he was instrumental in the swift and transparent procurement of various equipment and essential items for the PNP, as well as in the immediate discharge of the necessary funds for our personnel in the terrain, ”Yu added.
A PNP-owned helicopter carrying Ramos and seven other people, including retired General Archie Gamboa, the head of the PNP at the time, was taking off in San Pedro, Laguna in March when it appeared in a freak accident.
The Bell 429 was taking off from the ground in near-zero visibility due to a dust swirl when it touched a power line, forcing it to land, injuring Ramos, Gamboa and other officials, including the former intelligence director of PNP, major. General Mariel Magaway and former PNP spokesman Brig. General Bernard Banac.
Of the officials who were injured, it was Ramos and Magaway who suffered the most serious injuries.
After the accident, the PNP grounded all of its helicopters while entrusting Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar to investigate the incident.
Publishing the investigation’s findings, Yu said the accident was due to pilot errors, and that the Bell 429 was “in flying condition” and “has no problems” on both engines.
“The pilot-in-command was unable to perform a risk assessment prior to takeoff, which is required for a trained pilot like him,” he said. “That there was a lack of situational awareness and evaluation of the environment that are part of the protocol for a safe and adequate takeoff.”
“That there were some judgments on the part of the pilot-in-command that included underestimating the aircraft’s capabilities,” said the PNP spokesman, citing the investigation report.
