Roger O: Politicians are all rotten
By Recah Trinidad
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 22 May 2016
DID Roger O. try to dig in for Mayor Rody Duterte of Davao City in the last presidential election?
No way sir, said Marilyn, mother of a young basketball aspirant whom Roger O. was trying to help through college.
Roger O. was the committed nationalist writer Rogelio L. Ordonez from Alapan, Imus, Cavite. His cremation, scheduled today at the Holy Trinity Chapel in Sucat, Paranaque, has been postponed to give way to the homecoming of his eldest son Lenin, who will arrive from Canada on Monday.
**
My dear kumpadre, my writing mentor together with the poet-novelist Erwin Castillo, passed away on Thursday morning after a brief confinement at the Imus Medical Center.
In a reply to my text message the other week, he said he had suddenly lost his appetite, was rapidly losing weight, after being diagnosed with tumor in the liver.
We would not be communicating again after that fleeting exchange.
**
In an obituary printed in the Inquirer yesterday, Ordonez was cited as a multi-awarded poet, essayist and short story writer, whose tales have been translated and anthologized abroad.
One of those stories, entitled ?Nasaan si Anto?, is about a village underdog who strayed into Roger?s quaint village from nowhere.
It was a great characterization of a hungry, overworked servant, equalled in its power and vividness only by the great Rogelio Sikat with his classic piece ?Tata Celo.?
**
Sikat and Ordonez were contemporaries of prized nationalist writers Ave Perez Jacob, and Edgardo M. Reyes of the ?Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag? fame.
Ordonez et al. belonged to that group described by a respected critic as ?the best of the young writers who have resisted the lure of formalist experimentation in favor of realistic documentation of the plight of the exploited poor.?
Roger O. had always fought oppression.
**
He readily passed the hat around to help tortured nationalist writer Jose F. Lacaba, after the fighting poet from Pateros contracted tuberculosis for having had to sleep on the cold concrete floor during a lengthy heartless incarceration by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
?Bilin po nya sa akin, one day lang cremate na siya,? Marilyn bared.
Roger O. passed away at 9:30 am on Thursday.
Marilyn was mystified how she got a missed call at 6:30 the same morning from Roger O?s cellphone number.
**
It was all too sudden, napakabilis po, said Marilyn.
Did Roger O. bat for Duterte in the last elections?
No way sir, said Marilyn, explaining that Roger O. had always abhorred politicians because they are all rotten one and the same.
She reported that flags at the PUP, where Roger O. was a well-admired stand-out professor, have all been put at half-mast since Thursday.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Recah Trinidad.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Remembering Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde: A Pilgrimage of Gratitude
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT, Sun, 07 Sep 2025Hometown Triumph: Oscar Valdez Defeats Ricky Medina by Decision
Sun, 07 Sep 2025Team USA Captures Two Wins on Day Three of 2025 World Boxing Championships
Sun, 07 Sep 2025McCormack Stops Parra in 9
Sun, 07 Sep 2025Monika Singh Makes History as India's Newest Youth World Champion
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 07 Sep 2025Who is Nico Walsh?
By Joaquin Henson, Sun, 07 Sep 2025Kelvin Watts Highlights Day Two of World Boxing Championships for Team USA
Sun, 07 Sep 2025Weigh-In Results: Oscar Valdez vs. Ricky Medina
Sat, 06 Sep 2025WEIGHTS FROM LOS MOCHIS: Eduardo Nuñez - 130 Lbs., Christopher Diaz - 129.6 Lbs.
Sat, 06 Sep 2025“THE HOMECOMING” OFFICIAL WEIGHTS
Sat, 06 Sep 2025‘SUGAR’ NUNEZ VS. ‘PITUFO’ DIAZ – PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Sat, 06 Sep 2025SUNDERLAND: WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND FIGHT NIGHT RUNNING ORDER
Sat, 06 Sep 2025USA Boxing Nabs Perfect Outing on Day One of 2025 World Boxing Championships
Sat, 06 Sep 2025Kelvin Watts Charged Up for 2025 World Boxing Championships
Sat, 06 Sep 2025Legendary German Trainer Michael Timm Dies
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Sat, 06 Sep 2025