Word of Thanks-delivered on my father's funeral-Feb. 28, 2006-Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Sorsogon City

Most Reverend, Jesus Varela, Reverend fathers, our relatives from both the Arnedo and Salvador sides of the Family, Friends from Sorsogon, Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon.

The Arnedo family has asked me to convey our thanks to the many people who have touched and enriched my father’s life, those who extended their arms in prayer for the eternal repose of his soul and, to those who have brought comfort to our family during our time of grief.

First on the list is the Sorsogon clergy, my father’s kindred spirit in his service to the poor and the needy. My father took great pride not just with his close friendship with Bishop Concordio Ma. Sarte and his boyhood friend Bishop Jesus Varela, but with many priests as well, some of whom are present here today.

To him the Sorsoganon priests were either his sons or brothers, and would say to us, in rare moments of bravado that the reason for his close kinship with them is that in reality, he was a cardinal, and the only one allowed by Rome to have seven children.

In truth he loved the clergy because they reinforced his belief, that there is only one way to live one’s life on this earth, and that is to live simply, to live life with purpose and to put paramount value to serving the poor.

Most people remember my father for his brief stint as an executive of this province. Yet the most often repeated stories at our dinner table were not those about being governor. But rather those of clients unjustly accused who came to him in desperate need, unschooled, shoeless, destitute. Their cases were often difficult for these were not the most sophisticated of people, and the crimes they were accused of had the gravest of penalties. Nothing made him prouder than winning their cases and having them acquitted.

I thank you reverend fathers for your words of comfort upon my father’s death. Thanks for the prayers and counsel you gave him during the most challenging moments of his life. My father was always emboldened by the thought that the clergy always prayed for him and thus his decisions would always turn out to be for the greater good. So, from the grateful family of Nonoy “Cardinal” Arnedo, salamatunun tabi.

To our relatives, you have been a tremendous source of strength for my Mom and my siblings. To the Chacon family, especially Manoy Albert, who had saved my father’s life maybe hundreds of times over during the past many years, despite the fact that Daddy could be the most difficult of patients. Manoy Albert, thank you for your patience and devotion. No uncle on this earth could possibly be luckier.

To the dearest friends of my father, the members of the Class of 1948. Thank you for your friendship, for the care and affection you have shown him especially during the latter part of his life when Alzheimer’s disease robbed him of the joy of your company and the strength to fulfill his role as your class president.

To those who supported and believed in my father during his public life, let me say again thank you. Indeed you have chosen well, for he was a man of vision, of Christian values and of tremendous internal strength. Yet even the best among us, the most well-meaning and the most courageous of men need encouragement. Your support gave him so much more than that. You, our dear friends, were the wind beneath my father’s wings.

As we entrust his soul to God, I ask you one more time to pray for Nonoy Arnedo, that he may join the mighty company of those who, like him, dedicated their lives to the example of servant leadership. That Jesus may say to him, “Well done my good and faithful servant, come join My Father’s banquet”

Salamatunun tabi sa pag padaba niyo kan Daddy. Marahay na Hapon. Diyos Mabalos saindo Gabos.