SK leader, family die in road mishap

BACOLOD CITY – A youth leader and his family were killed in a road accident after their car was hit by a six-wheeler truck Saturday afternoon at the “killer highway” in E.B. Magalona town, Negros Occidental.

Sanggunian Kabataan chair Gene Noel Jonatas, 17, his mother Mini Magdalene, 39, and their driver Allan Carmona, 26, were killed on the spot while his six-year-old sister Ann Margaret died at the Riverside Medical Center where she was brought after the accident.

All are residents of Barangay Paraiso, Sagay City.

E.B. Magalona traffic chief Edwin Dumada-og Jr. said the Jonatas were on board a white Honda Civic when an Isuzu six-wheeler truck owned by Kim Marketing and driven by Roland Pasigado, 26, of Pulupandan, Negros Occidental hit them.

Traffic investigations showed that Pasigado suddenly lost control of the steering wheel and collided with the Honda Civic. He is now detained at the E.B. Magalona police jail.

Meanwhile, the victims’ father, Erjo Jonatas, is arriving from the United States where he works in a luxury liner to attend the burial of his entire family.

The area is often referred to as a “killer highway” after it has claimed lives due to road accidents.  – Antonietta Lopez