Comedian Sammy Lagmay passes away

MANILA, Philippines — Comedian Sammy Lagmay passed away on Wednesday afternoon due to complications brought about by diabetes, his sister Mylene Mariano told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

He was 55.

A former production office messenger, the funny man was discovered and became a mainstay on the 1980s sitcom “Chicks to Chicks” on IBC 13.

He often played the put-upon sidekick in several sitcoms (“Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata,” “George and Cecil”) and movies (“Bala at Lipstick,” “My Monster Mom”) and also worked as assistant director on ABS-CBN shows (“That’s My Doc,” “Okay Fine Whatever”).

Colleagues in show business remember Lagmay fondly.

Actress Carmi Martin, a co-star on “Chicks,” told the Inquirer that Lagmay was “a good man.”

Actor Roderick Paulate, star of “Abangan” and “Bala,” remembered him as “simple, humorous.”

Fellow comic Tessie Tomas related that she and Lagmay became close on the set of “Abangan.”

Filmmaker Jose Javier Reyes, writer of “Abangan,” said Lagmay wanted to work, even though diabetes had left him weak and blind toward the end.

According to Mariano, the wake is at St. Peter’s Chapel in Novaliches, Quezon City. Funeral is on Sunday at Providence Memorial Park in Bulacan.