January 16, 2025

Emmanuel "Manny" F. Piñol

Official Website

FAREWELL TO A FRIEND

Manny Piñol November 4, 2014 2 min read
By Manny Pinol
This will be the first time I will post a story about a funeral.
This is not about death but the life of a simple man who believed in a political leader.
I woke up early this morning to catch up with the requiem mass for a friend and supporter, Napoleon Macasaet of Kidapawan City.
Napo, as he was called by friends, was not a rich guy. He was not a poltician.
He was just a simple farmer who believed in me and joined me in my campaign for the Governorship in 1998.
When I won the Governorship in 1998, he brought to my attention the problem in one village in Arakan town where a rich businessman was terrorizing people so he could control over 1,000 hectares of land.
I was able to resolve the problem and that was about the biggest favor Napo asked from me and it was not even for his personal benefit.
I very seldom saw Napo after that. He did not bother me for favors unlike other political supporters who think that political leaders like myself owe them our positions and must therefore be curried with favors.
Today, when he was brought to his final resting place, I was told my his sister, Aida Lletada, former branch manager of the Development Bank of the Philippines in Kidapawan City, that Napo had suffered for over two years because of diabetes.
His leg was amputated and it was later found out that he had cancer.
In all of his hardships, however, Napo never even sought me out for help and I never even knew that he was sick.
Today, as I said my farewell to a friend, I asked myself how many more Napos are there in the country today, people who will give everything they have to support a political leader they believe in without expecting anything in return?
Perhaps, if there were more Napos, this country would have many more hardworking and dedicated political leaders who would work for the welfare and well-being of everybody, not just the people who supported them politically.
(Photos show Napo’s family members and friends gather for the last rites at the Kidapawan City cemetery this morning.)

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