A traffic officer inspects the vehicle of Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Reynaldo who was killed along with his wife Lilia on Monday when their mini Pajero was rammed by a passenger bus along Fairview in Quezon City. (Photo by KJ ROSALES)

MANILA, Philippines — Five days before Christmas Day, Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City lived up to its reputation as a “killer highway’’ after a Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge and his wife were killed as a speeding passenger bus rammed their vehicle early Monday morning.

SPO3 Edgardo Talacay of the Quezon City District Traffic Enforcement Unit (traffic sector 5) identified the victims as Judge Reynaldo Laigo, 70, of Makati RTC branch 58 and his wife Lilia Reynaldo Laigo, 66, both residents of 7 Desiderio St. Don Jose Subdivision Barangay Fairview Quezon City.

Investigators disclosed that at 4:30am the Laigo couple on board a mini Pajero with license plate RCU 547 was going west bound towards the Good Shepherd Parish Church in Fairview when a speeding Corimba Express Inc. passenger bus bearing plate number TXX-508 driven by Generoso Magante Jr., 42, of Block 15 Lot 80 Goodwill St., Diamond Crest San Jose Del Monte Bulacan rammed the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Talacay said the momentum and impact of the passenger bus dragged the mini Pajero 15 meters away from the point of contact making the Laigo’s vehicle swirl several times before going to a halt at the middle of Commonwealth Avenue.

He noted that Judge Laigo was about to negotiate a left turn and was at the middle of Commonwealth Avenue going westbound when Magante lost control of the wheel crashing the passenger bus into the other vehicle.

The police including rescue and emergency groups from various sectors had a difficult time extricating the bodies of the couple as the mini Pajero was a total wreck while the passenger bus incurred dents on its front part.

Talacay said although he is not a doctor he thinks that Mrs. Laigo still showed signs of life when he examined her pulse beat but the severity of the vehicle’s damage caused rescuers to retrieve the bodies of the victims at 5:15am or 45 minutes after the accident occurred.

Rescue groups rushed Judge Laigo to the Fairview General Hospital and Mrs. Laigo to the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) where the attending physicians both declared them dead on arrival.

On the advice of his counsel, Magante refused to answer questions from newsmen but Talacay said that the passenger bus driver said that he honked his horn several times to warn the other vehicle while the bus skidded after he slammed on the breaks due to the wet pavement.

”Kahit basa ang kalye di dudulas ang bus at sasalpok ng ganung kalakas sa sasakyan ni Judge kung hindi mabilis ang takbo niya. Kung 20 kilometers lang ang bilis niya di magkakaganun (Even if the road is slippery the bus won’t skid and create a strong impact on the judge’s vehicle. If he was running at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour this would not have happened),’’ Talacay added.

At the EAMC morgue relatives and friends of Mrs. Laigo held a mass while they cried and grief in pain over the loss of a loved one.

A relative of the victims who was at the Quezon City District Traffic Enforcement Unit (traffic sector 5) station said that they were going to attend the traditional “Simbang Gabi’’ when the accident occurred.

The female relative who declined to identify herself presented an identification card to this newsman showing that Judge Laigo was a lay minister of the church. Judge Laigo was the one who justified the arrest of newsmen who covered the November 29, 2008 Manila Peninsula siege that was led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. (With a report by Czarina Nicole O. Ong)