The US Indo-Pacific Command earlier confirmed that the US Department of Defense contracted the aircraft and that personnel on board were conducting "intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ...

According to the PNP, eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke coming from the aircraft before it plummeted to the ground.

An explosion stirred police officers on duty at a detachment of the 4th Maneuver Platoon, 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) in Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur evening on January 1, 2025.