The classmates of a Bacolod businessman and artist who was gunned down at the Araneta highway in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City, strongly condemned his brutal murder and called for speedy justice on Thursday, November 3.
“We strongly condemn the brutal murder of our batch mate, Jerry Gasendo, who was mercilessly gunned down by riding-in-tandem suspects last November 2,” his Education and Training Center School 1 Batch 1981 classmates said.
PMaj. Joery Puerto, Police Station 8 chief, said they are looking at drugs as the motive for the killing.
A high value drug suspect arrested in a drug bust in Bacolod on October 27 alleged that Gasendo was the source of her drugs, Puerto said.
Gasendo, 53, of Lizares Extension, Brgy. 40, Bacolod City, sustained four gunshot wounds on the head, he added.
The victim, was driving his Honda Genio scooter when he was shot by a motorcycle-riding gunman at about 1:37 p.m. Wednesday, Puerto said.
Gasendo’s classmates said they “demand that his death will not be another statistic in the countless unsolved assassinations we’ve had in Bacolod, which just lends impunity to these murderers to go on a rampage and commit extrajudicial killings”.
They said Gasendo was a businessman and a father who did everything he could to raise his children singlehandedly after his wife passed away more than a decade ago.
“He will always be remembered as a good friend, an artist and a great dad to his children,” his classmates said.
“We pray for strength for his family members to weather this tragedy and we also request the public to respect the grief that they are going through. It does not matter whether the man led a life as meek as a sheep or perhaps just lived off on a trade that teeters on utmost risk and danger. None of these justify killing,” they added.
They called for a speedy resolution to the murder and to haul in the perpetrators so that justice will be served.
“We equally call on our city officials to join this appeal and send a message to the public that we will not take extrajudicial killings lightly and that these incidents are not mere isolated cases but an affront to our sensibilities as a society, as a humanity,” they said.
Gasendo was owner and cook at Lei & Jerry Palabok House, a former graphic art designer and choir member.*