BY VICTOR REYES and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR

A HELICOPTER carrying five Malacañang officials was declared missing yesterday after it failed to reach its destination in Ifugao an hour after take-off from Baguio City.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde told a radio interview that among the passengers was Press Secretary Undersecretary Jose Capadocia.

A staff member of Capadocia said those who also boarded the helicopter were Marilou Frostrom, undersecretary for presidential engagements and appointments, Col. Carlos Clet of the Presidential Security Group, an unidentified PSG member and an unidentified assistant secretary from the Presidential Management Staff.

No information was available on the number and identities of the helicopter’s crew.

The group was part of Arroyo’s advance party. The members were to conduct an ocular inspection in Ifugao where President Arroyo was scheduled to hold a regional interview with construction workers and beneficiaries of government projects at the Halsema highway in Barangay Viewpoint in Banaue, Ifugao.

Brig. Gen. Lino Horacio Lapinid, commander of the 1st Air Division, said the Bell 412 aircraft took off from Baguio around 4:15 p.m.

"We have no contact (with the aircraft). It might have landed somewhere where there is no signal... We are searching for it," Lapinid said.

A report from the Presidential Management Staff said last contact was made at 5 p.m., with the crew reporting zero visibility.

On the possibility that the aircraft crashed, Lapinid said: "We’ll know it tomorrow. We have alerted the PNP. We are checking if there is landing in the provinces."

He said the Air Force chief Maj.Gen. Oscar Rabena and the Presidential Airlift Wing, where the helicopter was assigned, had been alerted.

Lt. Gen. Isagani Cachuela, chief of the Northern Luzon Command, has instructed Army units to check areas where the aircraft could have landed.

Lapinid belied reports that Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo was among those aboard the helicopter.