Erjo Junatas arrived yesterday from Florida, U.S.A., finding not just his wife Minni Magdalene and son Gene Noel dead as he was told earlier by his mother over the phone, but also his daughter Ann Margarette who also perished in a car accident in EB Magalona.

“Gadamgo lang ko, indi ni matuod…sakit gid ka tama,”(I am just dreaming, this is not true…this is very painful),  Junatas grieved as he viewed the remains of his wife and children in three coffins at the St. Peter’s funeral chapel in Alijis, Bacolod City.

He knew that his wife and son died on the spot during the accident but was only told about his daughter’s death yesterday by his close friend broadcaster Bambi Yngson, Margarette’s godfather.

The family requested him to break the news about Margarette to Erjo, who rode in his car from the airport to the funeral chapel in Bacolod City where the remains of his wife, children, and their driver, Allan Carmona, lie in state, Yngson said.

Choosing his words carefully, Yngson said he told his distraught friend that he has to compose himself and accept the fact that his daughter “cannot be saved” but Erjo told him not to finish what he was saying, Yngson said.

It was only after seeing his daughter inside the coffin that the reality of the deaths of his three loved ones sunk in and he wept uncontrollably, Yngson said.

He was inconsolable.

Erjo told him that he talked to Minni the day before the accident and he told her about his plan of buying a new car, Yngson said. Instead of her favorite color that is green, Minni told Erjo she wanted a black car.

When Erjo talked about buying a condominium unit in Bacolod City for their son who would be in college next school year, Minni also said she wanted to paint the house black, Yngson said.

The Junatas family was very close and 6-year-old Ann Margarette was a jolly kid who would rather give her godfather a kiss than ask for a Christmas gift, Yngson added.

Erjo, who works as a seaman on a luxury vessel, was scheduled to come home in May to celebrate the graduation of his son from high school.

Weeping before the coffin of his son, Erjo kept on mumbling about the dreams of his “beloved honorable” who had told him about his plans as the SK federation president of Sagay City.

He also called out to his wife and children saying they should have waited for him, and also blamed himself for working so far away.

Staff members of the Sagay City Council said the young Junatas was a charismatic and dynamic youth leader who was able to unite the 25 SK chairmen in the city.

He turned 16 on December 30 and just took a college entrance examination from one of the universities in Bacolod City, SP Secretary Fe Soberano said.

The flag at the Sagay City Hall has been flying at half-mast for Gene Noel, she said.

The remains of the three Junatas fatalities will be brought to Sagay today and a funeral date will be announced later.

Meanwhile, charges of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide will be filed by the Junatas family against Roland Pasigado, driver of the Isuzu six-wheeler truck owned by Kim Marketing that hit the Junatas’ white Honda Civic.

Pasigado is detained at the EB Magalona jail.*NAB

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