The Dilemma Of My Friend Nestor Maniebo Pestelos, (Not) Coming Out With His Personal-Social Memoirs At 81!

Nestor Maniebo Pestelos from Tiaong, Quezon, married & living in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, is a good friend of mine, mind, dating back 60+ years when we were students at UPCA, now UP Los Baños – we both took the competitive writing exam for the Editor In Chief of the UPCA Student Body Organization’s newspaper called Aggie Green & Gold, and he won. He already had content and style, from voracious reading, including Jean-Paul Sarte – existentialist. Me, never heard of him!

And you know what Nestor Mn Pestelos did as Editor In Chief? He appointed Frank A Hilario, a stranger, full-blooded Ilocano, Tagalog Editor! A historical first. Ah, but in high school, I had been devouring Liwayway and Bulaklak!

The other day or so, I saw Nestor’s Lament on Facebook, this:

Nestor Maniebo Pestelos

NOTES TO MYSELF AT 70 (… First time to be posted)… Surprised I found this in my digital file. This was written 9 years ago, when I reached 70. Must find time to finish it now that I feel my body is approaching its deadline. Morbid but we have to accept our body is not made to last forever. Yes, it has an expiration date.

I don’t think my friend has something he is being careful about, a disease – but I can see he has a dis-ease that has no expiration date – cannot even begin to write his book!

Now you know why I created this new blog of mine – to egg on & help my friend write his book that only he can.

Must go back to that Memoirs project I meant to write upon retirement in 2001 but got involved in many development adventures and misadventures. … The clock is ticking fast. Must find time to reduce my work load and devote priority time to writing this “Final Notes on our Way Out.” (Tentative title).

So it’s not 10 years – it has been 20 years in planning, planning – and planning!

Nestor is a friend of Ed Dela Torre, ex-priest and activist. I know Nestor himself went underground during Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr’s Martial Law years, I don’t know exactly when. And do you know who saved Nestor Pestelos from himself?

First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos saved Nestor Pestelos from the jaws of death!

Do you see now how eye-popping it would be to read my friend Nestor’s memoirs, a story of his life as his last will and testament?

I wrote this note as a reminder to myself about this project.

And Nestor wrote that note 1 year ago!

Ayn Rand was one of the books Nestor Pestelos loved to read when we were AGG editors and aggie students. (Never heard of Ayn Rand either.) Yes, he was always reading, even while walking!

Question: Why can’t Nestor Maniebo Pestelos write his blockbuster memoirs? Answer: He has too many things in his mind!

And I’m just beginning to give advice to people who can’t write their memoirs because they don’t have a creative way of doing it!@517