We all have heard about the proverbial “Nice guys finish last.”
Over the years, this saying (which has origins in baseball) has come to mean that people who are decent, friendly, and honest tend to be “unsuccessful” because they are outmaneuvered or overwhelmed by others who are not like them.
Well, my “Uncle Pete,” former Oriental Mindoro Vice Gov. Pedrito Arellano Reyes, who died at age 79 last April 15, had lived his life disproving that.
Instead, he was Exhibit A of the “power of nice.”
That is also the title of a book by Ron Shapiro published many years ago, whose essence is that treating people with respect and fairness is the key to success. Uncle Pete finished first in the eyes of those who value the Golden Rule, fairness and decency.
Uncle Pete was the eldest son of Igmedio Reyes Sr., a landed businessman from Bongabon, Oriental Mindoro, and his wife Jovita Arellano, a woman whose entrepreneurial skills were ahead of her time. Igmedio and Jovita were my maternal grandparents. My mother Sonia is their firstborn followed by my Auntie Pat, who passed away last year. My Uncle Pete was their third child and much awaited first-born son, followed by Nestor, a physician; Igmedio Jr. a veterinarian; Eduard, a farmer-businessman, and Caesar, a retired sales executive.
Uncle Pete once caught an infection as a young boy and almost died. My proud grandfather’s shoulders were already slumped in dejection. Providentially, a company doctor from a nearby sawmill was passing through Bongabon and someone hauled him to the Reyes home in desperation. Whatever it was he injected into my uncle it saved him.
Uncle Pete was given a second lease on life by the Almighty.
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In his early twenties, he was elected vice mayor of Bongabon, then he assumed the mayorship. In 1968, when he was 24, he married the beautiful Marion Calderon and they raised three daughters who have the grace and good looks of their parents: Karen (Orosa), Gillian (Caballero) and Stephanie.
At the age of 49 in 1992, he was elected vice governor of Oriental Mindoro. I remember the tense days before he was proclaimed winner. He went to a convent in Calapan and prayed and bowed to God’s will. Lo and behold, he was rewarded with a well-earned and clean victory.
Uncle Pete never enriched himself in his long years of public service, in fact, he gave from whatever he had.
His best friend Ruel Manalo said at Uncle Pete’s wake, “Wala na siguro akong makikila na kasing bait ni Pedrito.”
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Boy Umali recalled the steadfast loyalty of my Uncle Pete, who put his long-standing relationship with the Umali family over political ties when he supported his brother, the late Rey Umali, for congressman. The late Umali’s opponent happened to be political ally of my uncle.
The very popular Lito Camo of the novelty hits like Spaghetti Song and Otso-Otso, a relative from Bongabon, said gratefully that during his lean and hungry days, he approached my Uncle Pete if he could buy property from him because he wanted to give his parents a permanent home. Back then, he said it cost P400,000. “Tito Pedring, P50,000 lang po ang kaya ko ngayon,” he recalled telling my uncle. “Ay, sige,” he quoted my uncle as saying. “Hulog-hulugan mo na lang.”
“No one can match the goodness of Pedrito,” says another of his childhood friends, Boy Salcedo.
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His daughter Karen said that even if her dad spent most of his time in Mindoro in fulfillment of his duties as a public servant, he was a devoted and thoughtful husband and father, who always had pasalubong for them after every trip. She also recalled the summers she would spend in Bongabon with us cousins, how her dad would take us to the farm and to the beach. I also remember Uncle Pete as a very spiritual man — Sunday Mass was a commitment to him. We would dress up in our Sunday’s best, attend Mass, then he would take our photos in the garden of the Reyes ancestral home before we changed into our pambahays.
Next to my late dad Frank Mayor and my Tatay Igme, Uncle Pete was a source of security and protection for me. I knew he would always be there for me and my sisters.
“Pedring is the most loving and affectionate of my brothers,” recalls my mom Sonia. During her final visit to him, he reached out for her hand and clasped it tightly.
His youngest daughter Stephanie said her dad gave his children and grandchildren “unconditional” love.
“He was always there to brighten our day,” recalled his eldest grandchild Nicole, who has given him a great-grandchild, Skylar.
Another grandchild, Celine, said her grandfather, whom she called “Daddy,” was “very present” in her life. “He would drive me and my friends in his blue pick-up to our parties,” she recalled.
My uncle, who always would recall how excited he was to see me when I was born because I am his eldest niece, and I shared an undying admiration for the same idol — JFK. Even when he was sick, he could still recite JFK’s 1961 inaugural address by heart.
I remember my last visit to him. I told him I loved him, and he said faintly, “I love you, too.”
Then I replied, “I love you very, very much.”
He whispered, “Me, too.”
Stephanie his daughter recalled that from his temporary home (in order to be near his grandson Dr. Rafael Caballero), Uncle Pete would always ask her, “Kailan tayo uuwi?”
You’re home now, Uncle Pete. *
(You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)