His professional path spanned 37 years and six months and one day of whole-hearted public service, peppered with inspiring years that made him and his leadership one of a kind – a Jose-Chiquito-Miparano-Malayo-kind of leadership, a bold and vibrant leadership.
In fact, lunchtime of September 17, 2013, during the infamous Zamboanga Siege, when he was then the Officer-in-Charge of the Zamboanga City Police Office, news broke out that he was taken hostage by the malefactors, the Moro National Liberation Front. People cowered in fear that time, but one mistah from among the PMA “Makatao” Class of 1989 never doubted that he will come out alive. And lo and behold! In the early evening, the top cop of Zamboanga came out alive, unscathed as if he was not taken hostage. What was more amazing was the fact that he even brought with him 23 members of the Moro National Liberation Front to voluntarily surrender! This was a testament of his persuasive nature, his boldness and grit to make good of what he sought for – peaceful peacekeeping!
However, like all beautifully made movies, an equally beautiful ending is bound to come. Similarly, retirement is exactly like that. You may now comfortably lean against your retirement easy chair and forego your worries relative to peacekeeping, because all Police Commissioned Officers, Police Non-Commissioned Officers, Non-Uniformed Personnel, and everyone you worked with, can assure you that your hard work will be forever etched in their memory, and as to what you have always said, “Keep going, keep doing what is right and what is good because Somebody up there is watching us and what we have done for the service.”
