The remains of actress Isabel Granada arrived Thursday morning in the Philippines from Doha Qatar via Philippine Airlines PR 685.
Granada, enlisted personnel of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), was given full military honors as her casket was wrapped with a Philippine flag.
Her husband Armel Cowley and son Hubert received her body at the cargo international terminal in Pasay City.
In 2001, Ms. Granada graduated with a degree of B.S. Aeronautical Engineering from the Philippine Air Transport and Training Services (PATTS) College of Aeronautics.
The actress-singer with Spanish blood is an Airwoman Second Class (AW2C) of the PAF.
The Air Force said it extended funeral honors to Granada as a way of appreciation to its personnel.
“The men and women of the Philippine Air Force share the sense of grief and great loss of Ms. Granada and we wish to pay tribute to this great woman who has achieved so much in her life,” said Air Force spokesperson Maj. Aristides Galang.
Granada was recruited by the PAF through its direct enlistment program in 2001. She was temporarily assigned to the Air Force Special Service group and was given a specialty code skill in recreation (volleyball).
She was later promoted to AW2C.
“She spent a year as an active PAF enlisted personnel as part of the PAF Women’s Volleyball team and opted to remain as a reservist where she continued her support by willingly performing, hosting, and lending her celebrity status to draw crowd to PAF events,” Galang said.
“Her proper demeanor, both as a celebrity and as an aviation enthusiast, also contributed to the PAF’s public image by virtue of her reservist status, which she had proudly admitted,” he added.
Granada died at the age of 41 last November 4 at the Hamad General Hospital in Doha, Qatar due to aneurysm.
READ: Isabel Granada dead at age 41
/kga