Honor guards take the flagdraped coffin of Philippine Ambassador to Pakistan Domingo Lucenario Jr. out of a Pakistani Air Force plane on Wednesday. PHOTO BY RENE DILAN
Full military plane-side honors were accorded to the late Philippine Ambassador to Pakistan Domingo Lucenario Jr. whose remains arrived on Wednesday morning at at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City (Metro Manila).
Lucenario was killed together with seven other people including the ambassador of Norway in a helicopter crash on Friday, May 8, in Pakistan.
A Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft ferried the envoy’s remains that were in a flag-draped coffin. A minister in the Pakistani government accompanied the flight, which touched down the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at past 7 a.m.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was the highest-ranked government official on hand to welcome the arrival of Lucenario’s remains, which were immediately taken to the Arlington Chapel in Aeternum Heritage Park in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City (Metro Manila).
Lucenario’s remains will be brought to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday, May 15, at 9 a.m. and will stay there until 2 p.m. Interment is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, at Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches, Quezon City, at 10:30 a.m.