The family of 29-year-old Joemar Sanchez, the food delivery driver who was gunned down in Iloilo City, is reeling in shock and grief.

Daisy Pioquinto said it’s painful and hard to accept that his brother, whom she described as “good” and “hardworking”, is now gone.

“Ngaa ginpatay ya gid ang utod ko? Naluoy gid ko sa utod ko kay gusto ya gid makasupot para sa pamilya ya para makabalay sila. Kaagahon gapuli kag aga pa magbutagtaw para magbyahe naman.”

Sanchez, a father to a one-year-old baby, was shot several times by a security guard of Malayan Bank along De Leon Street in Barangay Osmeña, Iloilo City around 11 a.m. on Holy Wednesday, March 31.

The security guard, Argie Solis of Laua-an, Antique, chided the FoodPanda rider in yellow-green raincoat for placing the wet plastic bag containing a meal pack on his log book outside the bank.

The two then figured in a heated argument until Solis drew his gun and fired at Sanchez pointblank.

The defenseless victim managed to run away, but the suspect chased and shot him consecutively, causing his death.

After the incident, the security guard fled the crime scene but was later collared in Sibalom, Antique.

Solis was turned over by Laua-an police personnel to the Iloilo City Police Station 1.

The suspect was tearful as he asked for forgiveness for the crime he committed.

“Gapangayo ko sorry. Anhon mo ara na. Indi ko na mabalik ang kabuhi . Gapangayo lang ko sang pasaylo sa pamilya sang gintiro ko. Indi ko man hungod nga patyon sya,” Solis said in an interview over radio station RMN-Iloilo.

However, the victim’s sister said that even though the suspect showed remorse over the untimely death of Sanchez, the incident still happened.

“Tani sir ginsumbag mo nalang maskin gindunot mo pa itsura ya, wala mo lang ginpatay,” Pioquinto told the suspect in tears.

“Wala ka kabalo kon ano sakripisyo nya? Tani ginkonsidirar mo nalang kay gaulan. Tungod lang kay nabasa, amohon mo to? Maskin Magluha kapa ka dugo, indi mo na mabalik ang kabuhi sang utod ko,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Meanwhile, the victim’s older brother, Nick Sanchez, said they want the suspect to be convicted of murder instead of homicide.

“Nagalalain kami kay indi sya madala sa murder, homicide lang gid and mapasaka sa iya,” he said in an interview over radio station Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo.

Under the Revised Penal Code, murder, committed with premeditation, carries a maximum penalty of lifetime imprisonment, while homicide, a bailable offense, can result to a convict spending at least 12 years in prison.

Nick said he could not believe that his “jolly” and “friendly” brother had died.

“Nag-angkas pa ko sa iya motor halin sa balay pero nagbalik sya kay makuha sang iya raincoat kay nag-ulan. Mga after 30 minutes may nagpabalo nga may isa delivery boy nga gintiro,” he recalled.

Nick then called Joemar’s number but his cell phone just kept ringing.

“Didto na ko nakulbaan kay mga 10 times ko na gintawagan pero ga-ring lang. Nagkadto ko dayon sa didto kita ko dayon ang raincoat. Siya gid,” he said.

Joemar was third among six siblings.IMT