MY PEACEFUL Sunday at church on May 4 was abruptly shattered by news of a deadly car crash at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City.
Two lives were lost. Three others were injured.
At first, I took it as just another car accident — a routine police report, perhaps. But everything changed when I saw a video of a man screaming in anguish, crying out, “Anak ko ‘yan… anak ko ‘yon…”
That broke me. I wept — quietly, secretly.
The man in the viral video was Danmark Masongsong. He was about to fly to the Czech Republic for a job as a machine operator. Just after entering the airport for his noon flight, he received a phone call that would change his life forever: his loved ones had been struck by an SUV just outside the departure area.
He rushed out and found the lifeless body of his five-year-old daughter, Malia Kates Uychen, pinned beneath the ill-fated vehicle. The SUV was driven by 47-year-old Leo Gonzales.
Masongsong wailed in despair. It was a heart-wrenching scene — one that moved many to tears.
It was too painful to watch, yet profoundly relatable.
Everyone who saw the video felt his pain. They empathized. They sympathized.
Aside from his daughter, Masongsong’s wife, mother, and niece were also injured and rushed to hospitals. His wife remains in critical condition at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig, while his mother and niece are confined at San Juan de Dios Hospital in Manila.
Undoubtedly, Masongsong’s world — and his family’s — has been turned upside down.
The Breadwinner
Then there’s the story of Dearick Keo Faustino from Barangay Abulalas, Hagonoy, Bulacan.
He was supposed to turn 30 on May 29.
Keo was the breadwinner of his family — a dedicated senior supervisor at a publishing company. He was supporting his younger brother’s college education and providing for his family’s needs.
An ideal son. A responsible brother.
Keo was bound for a six-day business trip to Dubai. But he never made it.
He died instantly in the same crash.
In a media interview, his uncle, Nicolas Faustino, described Keo as a dreamer, a hard worker, and a devoted family provider.
A life full of promise — gone in a flash.
The Driver’s Alibi
The tragic stories of Maila and Keo are nothing short of kalunos-lunos (heartbreaking).
But then comes the alibi of the SUV driver, Leo Gonzales.
According to Gonzales, another car suddenly sped past him, causing him to panic. Instead of hitting the brake, he accidentally pressed the accelerator. The rest, as they say, is tragedy — and history.
However, airport CCTV footage does not support his claim.
Speculations began to swirl:
* Maybe he was an untrained or reckless driver.
* Maybe he was sleepy and misstepped.
* Maybe he was under the influence of drugs.
* Maybe he was drunk.
With all these “maybes,” nothing is certain yet — unless Gonzales undergoes a drug and alcohol test or comes forward with a truthful confession.
But one thing is painfully clear: one of those “maybes” proved deadly.
And the irreversible truth remains: two innocent lives were lost — both filled with dreams and aspirations.
Sayang.
Faulty Bollards?
Another “deadly maybe” lies in the airport’s infrastructure — the bollards.
Maybe they were substandard. One of them failed to stop Gonzales’ SUV.
Bollards are short, sturdy posts meant to act as barriers between vehicles and pedestrian areas. At airports, they are crucial for safety at arrival and departure zones.
At NAIA Terminal 1, however, one failed to do its job.
Because of this, both the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) — the airport’s new private operator — are now investigating the possibility of faulty bollards.
Maybe, had those bollards been built to standard, the SUV wouldn’t have reached the victims.
Maybe, just maybe, Maila and Keo would still be alive.
Slapdash Job?
This tragedy should serve as a wake-up call to the San Miguel Corporation-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC), which took over airport operations in September 2024.
Under the privatization deal, SMC’s NNIC is tasked with modernizing the airport and improving the passenger experience. The company is investing a whopping ₱123.5 billion to turn that vision into reality.
But if faulty bollards are already emerging under their watch, then perhaps this “modernization” is not quite what it promises to be.
Is the airport revamp just a slapdash job?
‘Dousing Fire with Water’
In essence, maybe is just a word — synonymous with perhaps, possibly, conceivably.
But at NAIA on May 4, maybe turned deadly.
Maybe Gonzales panicked. Maybe a bollard failed.
Maybe — just maybe — negligence killed two innocent people.
These “maybes” have now placed San Miguel Corporation’s credibility under scrutiny.
To his credit, SMC President Ramon Ang moved swiftly. He took responsibility and pledged financial aid to the victims’ families.
In doing so, Ang effectively “doused the fire with water,” containing what could’ve been a wildfire of public outrage over the privatization of NAIA.
Quick. Calculated. Strategic.
Ang played it smart.
But even the smartest moves can’t bring back the lives lost to carelessness and deadly maybes./PN
