Gunawan family ‘chance passengers’ on ill-fated MH17, relatives say

Had the father not insisted on sticking together, the Gunawans could have lived another day, said the relatives of the Filipino passengers on board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Linda Pabellon, older sister of Irene Gunawan, told GMA News' "Balitanghali" Saturday that her brother-in-law, Indonesian Budy Janto Gunawan, insisted on flying together with his family.

"Kung saan lang may bakante, doon lang. Mauuna sana yung aking kapatid at tsaka yung kanyang anak na babae. Kaso, ang gusto nung asawa, sama-sama sila. Ayun, hanggang nagkaroon nga ng chance dun sa malaki niyang eroplano," she related.

She continued, "Kung nauna sana yung mag-ina, may masa-save sana sa kanilang pamilya, na hindi sama-samang mawawala."

Before his death, Budy was a supervisor for Malaysia Airlines.

Ronel John Pabellon, a nephew of Irene, was devastated by the loss of his aunt, who helped him get through school. He especially mourned his cousins, Darryl Dwight and Sherryl Shania.

"Ang dami po niyang dala. Dala po niya yung mga pang-DJ niya, balak nga po niyang mag-DJ. Yung kapatid po niyang babae, magsasayaw po sila," Ronel John said.

During their interview, a black butterfly flew and settled around the Pabellons.

"Nagpapahiwatig po lamang yun na katunayan na siya ay masaya na maraming nakikiramay sa kanya. 'Yan po ang parang nararamdaman ko sa aking sarili," Tirso said, referring to a widely-held Filipino belief that butterflies are spirits of the recently departed.

Tirso told GMA's “State of the Nation with Jessica Soho” on Friday that his relatives were supposed to arrive earlier that day.

The Gunawans were en route to the Philippines from Amstelveen, Amsterdam for a family reunion when their flight was shot down above eastern Ukraine on Thursday evening.

“Ngayon po sana ang uwi. Noong alas dos ang arrival sa Manila... Uuwi nga po sana [sila] nitong July 27 para sa aming family reunion ng Pabellon,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said on "Balitanghali" Saturday that authorities from Malaysia and the Netherlands were having difficulty in accessing the crash site and recovering the bodies.

"Di po tayo sigurado kung may access na po yun mga concerned sa crash site dahil naniniwala po tayo na ito'y kontrolado ng pro-Russia rebels po ata," explained Jose.

The DFA's regional office in Lucena is in talks with the relatives of the plane crash victims to assist them. Gunawan's sibling in Amsterdam has asked the Philippine Embassy in The Hague to bring their two siblings from Quezon to the Netherlands.

"Yun po ang inaasikaso natin. We are in touch with the Malaysia Airlines office upang ma-facilitate po ang kanilang travel. Kung kinakailangan po ng passport yung magkapatid ay tutulungan po sila ng DFA," said Jose.

The DFA will also help the family in case they need to go to Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines will shoulder the fare of the Pabellon siblings, should they want to travel to Amsterdam.

With the Gunawans were 298 passengers, including 15 crew members of Malaysia Airlines. — Rie Takumi/JDS, GMA News