ILOILO CITY, Philippines--Nestor Sulpico, "New York's most honest taxi driver," was laid to rest on Saturday, as his friends and loved ones continued 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 would remain "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 hoped that her brother's words "would be (everyone's) guiding words especially (for those) 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 knew he was sick 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 came home last December and were shocked to learn 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," Ang told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). Sulpico was to graduate this September and fulfill his dream of becoming a nurse, part of a larger plan to bring his 20-year daughter Angel to the US.
Sulpico, who was estranged from his wife, was a single father. "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 to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, they remembered Suplico 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 Suplico'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, Suplico 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 was "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 friend said.
Suplico'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 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.
The sixth of seven siblings, Sulpico's family comes from Cagamutan village in Leganes town, 11 km north of Iloilo City, where his deceased father Loreto Sr., once served as a municipal councilor. The family transferred to Tabuc Suba village in Jaro District in Iloilo City.
He finished his elementary education at the Cagamutan Elementary School in Leganes and high school at the Central Philippine University. He took up Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, but later transferred to the Western Institute of Technology in Iloilo City where he earned a business degree.
After holding various jobs, he decided to leave for the US in 1990. He held mostly contractual jobs including the installation of computer networks and hauling of boxes in the United Parcel Service. He was driving a taxi for less than a month when his fate changed on July 15, 2004, after he found the pearls inside a backpack left by hedge-fund manager Lawrence Policastro.
In an interview shortly after he found the pearls, Sulpico had said that, at first, he imagined how the jewels, then worth nearly P4 million, could change his life. "I thought of the days when I was just roaming New York, shivering in the snow, desperately looking for a job."
But Sulpico said that returning the jewels was one of the easiest decisions he ever made in his life. "I believe that honesty is the most important virtue which serves as a foundation of all other virtues."
He called Policastro through the mobile phone he found in the backpack and told the businessman that he had the jewels. The deed earned him praises from New Yorkers, who called him "New York's most honest taxi driver" because taxi drivers in there were notorious for being discourteous and for over-charging their passengers, especially tourists.
Policastro had offered him a $500 reward, which Sulpico was reluctant to accept. The businessman also raised at least $5,000 for an educational fund to help the Filipino driver finish nursing studies. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also gave him an "integrity award" and a symbolic key to the city.
Sulpico returned to a hero's welcome in Iloilo. The Senate passed a resolution commending his honesty and he received a citation and P100,000 in cash from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Elena said his son did not have any regrets.
"He lived and died with the virtues that I taught them since they were children. Nothing changed him even after he became famous," said the 88-year-old Elena. In an interview four years ago, Sulpico said his feat fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a hero.
"I could not ask for more and even if I die, I feel that I have become a role model for the younger generations," he said. | 
