Bato confirms he was last passenger of chopper that crashed in Nueva Ecija

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Monday confirmed that he was the last passenger of the chopper that crashed in Nueva Ecija.

In an ambush interview, the senator said the pilot "volunteered" to fly him and his two security personnel to Baguio City for an engagement.

The father of the pilot was a very close friend of him and former President Rodrigo Duterte, the senator noted.

"Hinatid lang ako sa Baguio then pagbalik niya 'yun na," Dela Rosa told reporters.

(She just dropped me off in Baguio. After that, the incident happened.)

According to the lawmaker, the flight towards Baguio City was "very smooth" and he did not notice anything wrong with the helicopter.

"Very smooth naman ang flight namin going towards Baguio. Napaka-smooth at masaya kami sa flight. Wala kaming naramdamang anything unusual," he said.

(Our flight going towards Baguio was very smooth. We didn't notice anything unusual.)

He asked for the pilot to just drop him off in Baguio City because he had another engagement in Binmaley, Pangasinan on the same day.

Dela Rosa opted to travel by land going to Pangasinan.

Asked if he considers it as a blessing in disguise, Dela Rosa said, "Oo (yes)."

"Kasi kung nagpahintay pa ako matapos ang engagement ko sa Baguio para bumaba [at] sumakay ulit, magpahatid sa Binmaley, ayaw ko masacrifice 'yung oras dahil magsara agad 'yung clouds dyan sa Baguio. Kaya sabi ko i-drop na lang ako. Pag drop uwi na agad siya," he said. 

(I don't want to sacrifice their time. I didn't ask them to wait for me to end my engagement in Baguio so they can drop me off in Binmaley. The sky would no longer be suitable for flying of I asked them to wait. That's why I told them to just drop me off.)

Dela Rosa said he was just informed later on that the chopper can no longer be contacted.

"May mga text na dumating sa akin 'di na raw ma-contact 'yung chopper," he said.

(There were messages sent to me informing me that the chopper can no longer be contacted.)

Dela Rosa, along with former President Duterte, already visited the wake of the pilot on Sunday night.

Photos posted on PDP-Laban Facebook page showed that Senator Bong Go accompanied Duterte and Dela Rosa.

"It really breaks my heart... Heartbroken ako ngayon nakita ko ang bata na very bright ang future. Twenty-five years old," Dela Rosa said.

Despite being young, Dela Rosa said the pilot was "very skilled", "very competent," and "very experienced."

On Saturday afternoon, a helicopter crashed in Guimba, Nueva Ecija.

The lone fatality is the pilot of the Robinson helicopter with registration number RP-C 4324.

According to CAAP, the chopper departed from Manila at 10:22 a.m. on Saturday, February 1, en route to Baguio, where it dropped off a passenger.

It then took off from Baguio at 11:51 a.m., and landed in Binalonan, Pangasinan at 12:05 p.m. to refuel.

However, the helicopter would not start immediately after refueling. It was finally able to take off at 4:30 p.m.

The CAAP said Sunday it is conducting an investigation following the helicopter crash.—AOL, GMA Integrated News