Noy Pabling: Great governor, excellent congressman, outstanding father

On the day that he died, I wrote a column on a proposed template for choosing governors, and I mentioned five great Cebu governors, including former governors Lito Osmeña, Eddie Gullas, Pabling Garcia, and Gwen Garcia. Little did I know that death snatched him the night of the 18th and since he used to read my column regularly, it’s likely he glimpsed it. In Dumanjug and Ronda, we call him Noy Pabling as our term of endearment because he never made us feel he was higher than us.

Noy Pabling was born on September 25, 1925, one of the sons of Vicente Oracoy Garcia and Josefa Paras. We are related on the Paras side. Noy Pabling and my father were classmates in primary, elementary, and high school in Dumanjug. My father said he and Noy Pabling served as altar boys in the parish church of Saint Francis of Assisi. Noy Pabling and Noy Jesus (Atty. Jesus P. Garcia, his elder brother, and father of former mayor Alvin Garcia), each school day used to walk from Bitoon, his home village, to the old elementary school, six kilometers away. My father lived just near the poblacion, but the Garcia brothers were always the earliest to get to school and were both outstanding pupils and models in academics and behavior.

Both Noy Pabling and Noy Jesus studied in San Carlos and they both landed among the top 10 best performers in the whole country. Noy Pabling was number 3 among the thousands who took the Bar in 1951 with a very high rating of 91.5%. It turned out that his youngest son, congressman Pablo John also placed fourth in 1993, with a rating of 86.51%. Noy Pabling married the late judge Esperanza Fiel Garcia, and they were blessed with brilliant children, including Governor Gwen, former GSIS president Winston, the late Dumanjug mayor Nelson Gamaliel, the late Barili mayor Marlon, congressman Pablo John of the third district, Byron, Deidra, and Farla, who happens to be my student in Law school.

Noy Pabling was a brilliant lawyer and a very engaging trial court practitioner. I saw him in person many times when I worked as a court interpreter, and he made me proud as an unknown distant relative. When he was our Law dean in SWU, I used to bother him in the Capitol to solicit funds for the student council as its president. When I mentioned the name of my father, he immediately handed over the money to which I issued the receipt but he told me not to print his name as he just wanted to help his agaw's son. We all supported him when he ran for board member in 1967 to 1969 then as vice governor from 1969 to 1971. He should run as delegate to the 1972 constitutional convention but he told his followers he couldn’t proceed because Noy Jesus was already running. Noy Pabling, as dean of SWU Law School, recruited a future chief justice to teach there, Noy Jun Davide, the father of Vice Governor Junjun.

Noy Pabling was congressman of both the third district and later the second district when the 15 towns all belonged to one congressional constituency. He was elected deputy speaker and he was a very dynamic debater in all committee hearings and in the plenary sessions. He could speak extemporaneously as he mastered the Constitution and was an expert on parliamentary rules and procedures. To me, the most outstanding achievement of Noy Pabling was to raise a family of great achievers. He worked very hard to send his boys to Law schools in Manila after his parents could not afford the same for himself and Noy Jesus. The Garcia children turn out to be models in public service. And that includes Mayor Christina Frasco of Liloan, perhaps a future governor herself.

The Garcias are the pride of both Dumanjug, Barili, and Cebu Province. With the passing of Noy Pabling we lost another pillar of the old school, men of brilliance, integrity, and honor. If I were to write a biography of Noy Pabling, I would recommend the title of “The Star from the South”, in honor of Bitoon, his proud village. I salute the memory of such a great man, and I lament that perhaps it will be very hard to see another icon of his caliber. Farewell, Noy Pabling. We will never be the same without you.