“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” –Bob Marley

There are no more individuals like Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel, Jr. today—in fact, the country has not produced a government figure like him in recent memory. Instead, the Philippines is left with a bunch of third-rate comedians and circus jokers masquerading as “statesmen” who enrich themselves. Elections have only produced thieves, drug lords, illiterates, morally-bankrupt punks, showbiz has-beens, and hooligans.
The era of Pimentel, Jose Diokno, Joker Arroyo, Arturo Tolentino, and Lorenzo Tañada has come to an end.
In 1989, the first news item I wrote for the “News Express” that “impressed” managing editor Agnes Españo was about Pimentel, the former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary under the President Corazon Aquino administration. She was so impressed, the article about the senator’s solid rebuke of the surging “lotto” landed on the front page.
Pimentel was in Iloilo City holding a press conference at the Amigo Terrace Hotel while I was at City Hall preparing to hear then-Mayor Rodolfo Ganzon’s latest tirade against “lotto,” which was being “promoted” by Pimentel’s successor at DILG, Luis T. Santos, a fierce critic of Ganzon. It was the first time I came closer to the man considered as one of the pre-Martial Law icons.
A native of Cagayan de Oro City, he spoke fluent Hiligaynon and answered all our questions in the dialect.
The second instance was in 1998, when he was an incumbent senator seeking reelection and I sat at the same table with him. He was accompanied by Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Jewel May Lobaton, who would later become his daughter-in-law, and then-Iloilo City Councilor Julienne Baronda, who currently serves as Iloilo City lone district representative, introduced me to the beauty queen. Then senator again spoke in Hiligaynon and made everyone comfortable with his humility and grace.
I found him to be brilliant and tactful with a knack for saying the right thing at the right time. He was appropriate and sensitive; never careless or rude, as compared to other politicians running for the same office that I had met at the time.
When he had to criticize what he deemed incorrect and unpalatable, it was the kind of criticism that would not offend others.
Magnificent public servants like Pimentel will be missed. Rest in Peace, Tatay Nene.

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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ