Remembering Rey Pineda

Philippine sports lost a dear friend and strong patron in Rey Pineda this week. The decades-long sportsman and official of the Philippine Lawn Bowls Association (PLBA) and under it the Petanque Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI), was felled by a heart attack early this week. With his passing, this writer lost a good buddy, elder brother, endearing host, jovial ally and kumpare. His sudden departure leaves an unusual void in the sports community. Rey bridged so many feuding factions, he was probably a bridge-builder in a past life.

The proud kapampangan Pineda, also a former president of the Rotary Club Clark Centennial, helped the sport of lawn bowls take root not just among retired expats in Angeles, but with locals, as well, to the point that the Philippines is now a world power in the sport. My first encounter with him almost a decade ago was because the lawn bowls community was raising funds for the late Greg McDougal, the owner of the patent for the electric toothbrush, who had died after spending millions of pesos funding a proper pitch at Angeles Sports Club. This gave the national team a place to practice, and allowed the country to host the lawn bowls competition of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. 

I recall Rey telling me that he was one of the young men safeguarding Ninoy Aquino in the US before the senator came home to the Philippines and was shot. He told colorful stories of how Aquino would wade into crowds at his speaking engagements, unmindful of the threats against his life. Rey admired his courage, and was truly saddened when Aquino was murdered, he valued his friends, and always found a way to show it.

Rey was just filled with a superhuman love for life. He owned the fabulous chain of C’ Italian restaurants, a loving nod to his wife Charmaine. C’ introduced to the Filipino palate panizza, the flat, rectangular snack that was similar to pizza, but was sliced into diagonal strips so you could roll arugula and alfalfa sprouts into it. He loved his food, his wine and entertaining. The original branch of C’ just outside the fence of the former Clark airbase drew government officials, celebrities and lovers of fine food from Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon. Rey eventually attained his dream of branching out to Metro Manila, though it wasn’t easy.

Pineda loved the outdoors, and expressed this not merely through his passion for lawn bowls, but also for petanque, the French cousin of other European sports like lawn bowls and bocce. In petanque, you throw a metal ball underhanded as across a pitch as close as possible to a small white ball or jack. The main difference is that it can be played on practically any surface, usually gravel.

In 2011, this writer accompanied the Philippine petanque team to the SEA Games in Indonesia, and saw firsthand how big the potential for this sport was. At the time, the seven athletes who represented the country were the only people who actually played petanque, and yet we came within one match of a bronze medal against wealthy opponents, including members of the royal family of Brunei. Since then, the Petanque Development Academy has found eager young players willing to train and teach others for international competition, and the sports is gradually being introduced in schools in Central Luzon. 

Rey was also a man who loved creativity in all its forms. He was greatly fond of blues music, and would find occasions to have performances or bring in artists to educate Filipino ears to its historic sound. Rey would famously nod his head, sing along and even move to his favorite classic tunes, his glass in one hand, a cigar in the other. It was only fitting that he personally followed the career of his son Ling, who became a guitarist while still in his teens. He was also close friends with Peter Herman, one of the biggest music producers in the US, and a very close friend of singer Billy Joel. Herman’s grandfather had set up the largest locator company in Clark in the 1990’s, and flies to the country every few months. The two would spend their nights talking music and entertainment over a fabulous dinner and well into the night.

But perhaps what many people remember Rey for the most was his love of big bikes. He owned several motorcycles, including a classic James Dean motorcycle. Most of his collection were made up of Harley Davidsons, though, and he helped organize the Death March Ride, wherein over 150 riders on motorcycles of every description would trace the path of the Bataan Death year. Stopping at memorial markers in Nueva Ecija and Bataan, you would see grown men of at least half a dozen nationalities shed tears together in remembering the fallen from World War II. For Rey, there was no feeling that could compare to having the wind in his face. He was the kind of man who would ride his Harley down North Luzon Expressway to Manila just to attend the christening of a friend’s child, even in inclement weather. That was the kind of friend he was.

Rey was also a fierce, loyal friend who would brook no insult to anyone dear to him. He would race into the street to chase someone who would offend or hurt anyone he called friend. After that, he would become his jovial, smiling teddy bear self again. Life was short, he would say, it wasn’t worth it staying mad at anybody. It was a lesson I took to heart. It would be hard to encompass what he meant to so many people in the meager confines of a newspaper column, but even vainly, we must try. When you were with Rey Pineda, life was good: good food, good music, good conversation, good smokes, good wine, and laughter. Everything just seemed more peaceful, like there was nothing to worry about. He was the very definition of cool.

Thank you for the memories, Rey. The world is dimmer without you in it. I guess the good Lord was looking for the perfect dinner companion. Now, He has the best. Put in a good word for us, will you?