"My friend now joins the angels."
"My friend now joins the angels."
Manong Rolly was former Sultan Kudarat Vice Governor Rolando Recinto, a very good friend, counselor and the acknowledged leader of Ilocanos in the province. An energetic leader and a kind soul, he was ambushed and mercilessly killed by riding-in-tandem gunmen while on his way back home from the provincial capital, Tacurong City, to his hometown of Lambayong.
Like most politicians of the old school, he considered public service as a vocation and was friendly to one and all, including known political opponents. He did not bear any grudge on anyone nor did any kind of harm. So trusting was he that he chose, as has been his way for years, to be going around town driving alone. On that fateful Tuesday, his trusting nature did him in. They got him as he drove alone back to Lambayong. Grabe.
Known far and wide in the then undivided Cotabato province as a friendly counselor and mentor to thousands of residents from all walks of life rather than as an astute politician which he really was, Manong Rolly had a ready smile and an engaging presence which endeared him to his constituents. To them, he was the ever helpful and patient "Uncle" ready to be of assistance in whatever way he can. But he also had his limits and is considered a disciplinarian in the truest sense of the word. Even after he has retired from politics and just tended his farm, politicians of all sizes and colors continued to take his counsel. That was not surprising at all.
After all, most people now acknowledge that his giving in to his then fellow mayor, Datu Pax Mangudadatu, instead of engaging him in the gubernatorial race in the elections after martial law, which a host of leaders wanted him to do, ushered in peace and progress for the newly created province of Sultan Kudarat. It marked the end of unwarranted wranglings in the province and directed people's energies to making a go of their separation from the undivided Cotabato province. The rest as they say is now history with Sultan Kudarat getting voted as one of the more progressive provinces in Central Mindanao.
Manong Rolly was one of our most trusted friends and leaders in Mindanao. His loyalties were well known even before he entered politics. Born to migrant Ilocanos in Lambayong, he earned his keep as a gentleman-farmer joining his family in tilling the lands they had earlier "rescued" from the forested areas in the then frontier areas of the undivided Cotabato province. As pioneers, they were known for their hard work, integrity and loyalty to family and community alike, taking pride in their honest labor and their abiding faith in the goodness of the Almighty. Although far from their Ilocos origins, they maintained their ties with the folks back there. Like all settlers far from home, they took pride in their being from the true North. Which is why when the then presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos came around in 1965 to seek their support they readily gave in. Not just voting for him but organizing, mobilizing and campaigning for him as they did in his earlier run for the Senate. And they and their communities were repaid back in terms of better services, infrastructure and peace and stability so they can proceed with lifting themselves and making their areas better places to live and grow. And grow they did making Mindanao's promise a reality.
Last Dec. 24 just 37 minutes before Christmas Day Manong Rolly texted me "Laglagipen ka nga agnanayon Merry Christmas Apo" (You are always in my thoughts Apo Merry Christmas) which was one of the warmest greetings I received that day. I told him we will be visiting him more often in the new year as part of our efforts to renew ties with friends in the area and promote our learning and earning projects to as many local communities as can be. He was, of course, delighted that we will be doing so noting fully well the value of maintaining such ties no matter the season.
I last heard from him on New Year's day when I greeted him best wishes for 2020 and he answered back with a prayer for a better and more peaceful year ahead.
And now he is gone so abruptly and mercilessly.
The least we can do now is to get his killers to justice and ensure that we move with all deliberate speed in bringing about our common dream of a peaceful and progressive Philippines from communities like Lambayong to the big cities to fruition.
Dios ti agngina, (In the Lord's name, thank you) Manong Rolly for living a life of sacrifice and service for family and community. Your good deeds will be forever remembered by the thousands of lives you have so gently touched along the way. Goodbye, dear friend and counselor. You now join the angels in the loving bosom of the Almighty.