Emotions pour as Canoy pays his last respects to Pimentel

By NITZ ARANCON, JIGGER JERUSALEM, Correspondents, and FROILAN GALLARDO

Special Correspondent

EMOTIONS continued to pour at the wake of the late former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. here yesterday as former mayor Reuben Canoy paid his last respects to the man who rose to become the city’s political leader four years after he stepped down.

In a wheelchair, the 90-year-old Canoy, accompanied by his daughter Rhona, went to the City Tourism Hall yesterday morning and condoled Pimentel’s widow Lourdes, son and namesake Dr. Aquilino Justinian Pimentel IV and grandchildren.

Canoy and Pimentel formed the Mindanao Alliance during the Marcos years together with another politician, former Misamis Oriental governor HomobonoAdaza. The three subsequently parted ways due to political differences. In 2015, they reconciled and were reunited during a gathering organized by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club.

Teary eyed, Pimentel’s widow Lourdes embraced Canoy before a crowd that included Rep. Rolando Uy of the city’s 1st District.

Canoy served as the 5th city mayor of the city from 1972 to 1976. Pimentel was the 8th and like Canoy, he also served as local chief executive for four years, from 1980 to 1984.

Pimentel’s death on Sunday left Cagayan de Oro with only two surviving former mayors — Canoy and another lawyer, ConstantinoJaraula.

Canoy told reporters he and Pimentel shared a similar advocacy: federalism.

The federalism dream, he said, was something Pimentel would bring to his grave.

The body of Pimentel was brought from Metro Manila to this city where his struggle for freedom and democracy started more than 40 years ago. Aboard an Air Force C-295 twin-prop plane bearing the white casket of the late senator touched down as the sun set in the Laguindingan tarmac on Wednesday.

There, an Army battalion gave arrivals honors as the white casket bearing the remains of Pimentel was lowered from the plane.

Local officials led by Mayor Oscar Moreno followed the Army detail carrying the casket to the waiting black hearse.

Some of the officials were there with Pimentel when he along with other leading opposition leaders were detained by the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Pimentel was jailed four times during the Marcos martial law period.

Councilor Edgar Cabanlas recalled how as a young law student he followed Pimentel to the mountains in Misamis Oriental to meet communist rebels.

Cabanlas said it was those time in between the jails and when Pimentel was at liberty to roam.

“I saw in him a leader who had his ears for everyone. He wanted to learn about the communist rebellion and find a common ground to fight the Marcos dictatorship,” Cabanlas said.

Cabanlas said as the residents in Cagayan de Oro gathered the courage to hold street demonstrations, Pimentel was always there.

“He was there to give us more courage,” Cabanlas said.

City administrator Teddy Sabugaa said one defining moment of Pimentel in Cagayan de Oro was when, as mayor, he declared the last week of May every year as Press Freedom Week.

Sabugaa said it was the Cagayan de Oro Press Club that was given the honor to celebrate the Press Freedom Week.

“That defines the foundation of liberty in our city. We always speak what is in our minds without fear of reprisal,” Sabugaa said.

Mayor Moreno said the philosophies and principles of Pimentel did not die with him.

“His spirit lives on especially among the young,” Moreno said.

To those who knew Pimentel, his contribution to the country earned him a stature beyond a politician.

“You are no longer a politician, but a statesman,” said retired Court of Appeals Associate Justice Romulo Borja in his eulogy during Pimentel’s wake at the City Tourism Hall Wednesday night.

Borja is the son of the late Cagayan de Oro Justiniano R. Borja who served the city from 1954-1964.

One time in an Integrated Bar of the Philippines gathering, Borja said he introduced Pimentel as “Right Honorable,” which means very honorable, referring to his contributions to the country’s political landscape.

Dr. Manuel Jaudian, a former broadcaster and ertswhile president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club, recalled how he first met Pimentel in the 1980s.

Pimentel “did not turn down any reporter who wished to interview him, no matter the time of day. He was always accommodating to the media,” Jaudian said.

Jaudian said Pimentel did not enrich himself while in public office.

“He didn’t have money, and he was the only politician I know who had no businesses. He only depended on lawyering for his livelihood,” he said.

Jaudian said there was even a time when Pimentel ran for public office without campaign funds from his own pocket.

“Whether he wins or loses in an election, he was very determined,” he said.

Andres Bade Jr., Pimentel’s second degree cousin, has fond memories of the late former senator.

Bade said he lived with the Pimentels for close to 30 years, first as a working student then as a staff member when the elder Pimentel became a senator.

“He (Pimentel) was very thorough. He didn’t want laziness. You had to know his routine and be prepared for it. He expected you to do your job and be good at it,” he said.