The debris of a Philippine C-130 cargo plane which crashed shortly after takeoff Monday night was found today approximately two miles (3km) offshore, according to the Philippines News Agency.

As maintained by an Air Force official, the aircraft, carrying two pilots and nine crew members on board, was reported missing after the control tower at Davao International Airport wasn’t able anymore to contact the pilot halfway between Manila and Davao.

About 6 am today, a search team found two bodies of the crew members just off the coast of Barangay.

"We have received reports from our tactical operations group in Davao that they have found debris near one village," Air force spokesman Major Gerardo Zamudio said.

The Philippines Air Force transport plane was bound for Iloilo, a province of the archipelagic country situated in the Western Visayas region, in order to pick up members of the Presidential Security Group, the lead agency whose mission is providing security for the President and the Vice-president of the Philippines, as well as their close relatives.

According to Pedrito Cadungog, The Air Force chief, the possibility of an attack or sabotage by Muslim separatist rebels amid enduring offensives in the south shouldn’t be excluded.

The plane’s pilot was identified as Major Manuel Sambrano, and the co-pilot was Captain Adrian de Dios, ABS-CBN Davao reported. They were both experienced airmen with over 4,000 flight hours each, Cadungog said.

"The air force has been in the limelight because of our airstrikes of MILF lawless groups," he stated.