Summary Ambassador to Pakistan Domingo Lucenario Jr.'s remains were ferried home by a military aircraft.
MANILA (AP) - The body of the Philippine ambassador who was among those killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan last week arrived in his home country Wednesday, with honor guards and his weeping family receiving his flag-draped casket at Manila s airport.
Ambassador to Pakistan Domingo Lucenario Jr. s remains were ferried home by a Pakistani military aircraft, accompanied by his wife and son and Pakistan s minister of commerce, Khurram Dastgir Khan. Filipino honor guards carried the coffin out of the plane and onto the tarmac.
Lucenario s two weeping daughters, other relatives, Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and colleagues were at the airport. The family wept as they hugged each other.
One of the daughters, Marian Lucenario, thanked everyone who condoled and expressed support for her family. "We are deeply saddened and we miss our father every single day," she said.
A viewing and prayer services are scheduled for Friday at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where the 54-year-old career diplomat spent 35 years in service.
Lucenario and several foreign dignitaries, including the ambassador of Norway and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, were killed Friday when the helicopter transporting them to a ceremony at a ski resort in northern Pakistan crashed and caught fire as it was landing.
