Overcoming a tragedy! ORPHAN OF CONFLICT NOW A NEW LAWYER

By Manny Piñol

At noon today, I received a photo of a tarp taken by my brother, Socrates, in Pikit, North Cotabato which left me feeling a lump in my throat.

“Bapa Sumulong Sultan Manong Manny Piñol Maraming Salamat sa pagkupkop sa pamilya ko. Abogado na po ako. Mabuhay kayo. Atty. Badr Mangindra,” the text in the tarp said.

My thoughts brought me back to a tragic event over 20 years ago when a young Moro rebel commander whom I befriended and who was fiercely loyal to me was killed in a gunfight in Tulunan town.

The killing of Commander Jaime Mangindra left his young widow, Zenaida, with the burden of sending their 4 children to school, two older girls and two boys, Badr and Saddam.

Shortly after the burial of her husband, Zenaida and her children came to the Governor’s Office bringing with them the title to a 20-hectare property which was the only thing of value that Jaime left behind.

She offered the land to me so she could raise money to send her children to school.

I told her to keep the land for her children and gave her an amount which I believed kept her children in school.

Up until the end of my political stint in 2010, the Mangindra children including Badr would visit me in the office.

The last I heard from them was that the two girls found jobs, one of them in the Office of Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan, while Badr worked with foreign NGOs.

Today, I learned of the great news that he passed the recent examinations for lawyers and only because he posted a tarp thanking me and Mayor Sultan.

There is a feeling of great joy to know that this kid who was orphaned by the senseless killings which marked the troubled history of my province has overcome adversities to realize his dream.

I am also glad that today, with the dogged determination of President Rody Duterte to bring peace to the Bangsamoro Area, the conflict has ended.

I am certain that there will be no more Badrs and Saddams who will grow up and become lawyers or engineers without their fathers sharing the moments of joy.

Congratulations Badr but most of all, Congratulations to your brave mother, Zenaida, who carried you through the hardest and saddest part of your life.

May Allah bless you, your mother and your sisters.

(Photo by Vice Gubernatorial Candidate Soc Piñol of North Cotabato.)