Sorry, Jesse.

I must admit, Jesse, that I lumped you with all the politicians I hate. I hate them all, politicians and lawyers. They make life complicated and miserable for a lot of people.

I didn't know you. I'm not a Naga native, nor have I ever been to Naga, or ever cared about it. You and your Naga and your history were totally outside my collective consciousness. "Naga" was a name from way, way back in my grade school days, as an obscure place from Philippine social studies. If you presided over the place at one time, and life for its inhabitants became better, then you must have taken something from it in return. That is how things have always been in this country, right Jesse? Give little things and then take back a multitude. Ask people and firms to donate trash bins and paint, use the paint to paint the trash bins and letter your name on them, donate them to the town or city, have your picture taken during the turn-over ceremonies, making sure not to miss your wide grin and you pointing to the donated trash bins, and presto! A free, effective PR opportunity equivalent to at least a hundred votes for your re-election! Do this thing many times over and the whole town or city will vote for you.

Or you can let the roads rot for years in your town or city, let motorists' disgust and tempers simmer, convene the council well before the start of the campaign period which carries a ban on public works and construction, order truckloads of overpriced, inferior quality asphalt, overlay the rutted roads with it, put up billboards with your big photo and name on them: "Mayor So-and-So, in coordination with This-and-That agency, has made possible this project for the beloved constituents of This-and-That town or city." Just a few days of rain "melts" the asphalt overlay, but the billboards are so durable they can withstand an IED. Laudable.

I lumped you with these imbeciles, Jesse. I'm so biased against your kind. You were a politician. You played politics. I now see that you played it differently. A bit unorthodox, but effective and endearing to a lot of people. You hit it right on the mark.

But Fate is cruel and unkind. Death took you away and you've left us behind. You did wonderful things that gave hope to a lot of people. You showed the way to fresh starts. You could have led those starts yourself, and a whole lot more, but many genuinely good men get plucked early from life. I don't know why. It's a question for philosophers to answer.

I think the hundreds upon hundreds of people who believe in you and hold you dear can't be wrong, Jesse. There are those who remain unconvinced or don't care. They don't matter now. But I WAS one of them, and for this I'm sorry, Jesse.