Family, friends regard Sulpico as an inspiring example
Nestor Sulpico, "New York's most honest taxi driver," was laid to rest on Saturday as his friends and loved ones continue to grapple with the sudden loss of a life that had just recently shone its brightest.
In simple rites, around 100 of his friends and relatives attended his burial at the Iloilo Memorial Park in Jaro District here.
There was hardly any mention of his heroic feat four years ago when he returned $75,000 worth of black pearls left by a passenger on the taxi he was driving in New York City.
But his elder sister Eva Sulpico-Navarro said her brother remains "an inspiring example" because he lived an honest life as taught by their parents.
She recalled that his brother had always explained his feat by saying: "I was raised to be honest."
Eva said that she hopes that her brother's words "would be your guiding words especially in public service."
Sulpico, 51, died of cancer of the colon on April 24, four months after he came home from New York where he is taking up a nursing course at the Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing.
True to his secretive self, he kept his sickness even from his immediate family, close friends and classmates.
Eva said only their 88-year-old mother Elena was aware of the true extent of his condition.
"He always kept silent about his problems because he didn't want to be a bother to anyone."
She said his brother was aware of his sickness even before he came home last December but chose not to tell anyone about it except their mother.
Sulpico's childhood friend Larry Ang said he and their friends were unaware that he had come home last December and were shocked to hear the news that he had died.
He said Sulpico never failed to call him when he was coming home and would even contact him from the airport while he was still in the US.
Another close friend, Jing Espinosa, said they later found out that Sulpico had instructed his family not to tell his friends that he came home.
"He knew the seriousness of his condition and he came home to die beside his family and especially his daughter," said Ang.
Sulpico was supposed to graduate this September and fulfill his dream of becoming a nurse so that he can bring his 20-year daughter Angel to the US.
"He always talked and worried about his daughter and wanted a bright future for her," said Ang.
Sulpico enrolled in the nursing school shortly after he gained international fame for his honest deed. He was given a scholarship but continued to drive a taxi that was given to him along with a franchise by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Ang said his friend drove the taxi once or twice a week when the regular driver, also a Filipino, took a break.
"He wanted to have another taxi because he saw that the city still needs more taxi units," said Ang.
Friends and classmates at the Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing in New York were also shocked at his passing. They sent flowers and condolences to Sulpico's family.
In an email, they remembered Sulpico as person so full of life and passion.
"We are in a highly competitive nursing program, and tensions always run high. But Nestor was one of the few who could lighten-up any situation—he could make you laugh at a drop of hat, and he was wise when you least expected it," said Luanne Kwon, one of Sulpico's closest friends at the school.
His fame never went up his head, according to his classmates and friends.
"Nestor was so humble about being a hero. He didn't broadcast it for everyone to know. He was given a special certificate by Mayor Bloomberg and even guest-starred on Oprah (Show)—that doesn't happen to just anyone! But Nestor was so low-key about it. I think he thought of himself as just an ordinary guy who did the right thing," said Kwon.
Kwon said that before he went home, Sulpico was behaving differently but even those close to him could not figure out why.
"To know that he was burdened by the knowledge that he had cancer, and that he kept it to himself, telling no one, deeply saddens me to the core."
Kwon said Sulpico's sudden death is "tragic."
"I don't care what anyone says, he was not ready to go. It wasn't his time to go, period. We studied a lot together, and I know how damn hard he worked. Being a nurse was his dream. So, I can't be consoled by telling myself he's in a better place, because he will never see the achievement of all his hard work."
Sulpico's classmates also lauded his strength of character that he developed through the harsh experiences in his life.
"He may not have been the youngest in school but he had a young-at-heart way of living his life. (He) was always full of life, joy, energy and with a great desire to learn as a young boy. Nestor in my eyes was a young man with the experiences, ethics and caring of that of an adult we can all look up to. He will be missed and will be remembered for a life time," said another classmate, Mario Alvarado.