Sulpico given standing ovation by classmates, school officials
Nestor Sulpico's Diploma
Ilonggo taxi driver Nestor Sulpico was given a standing ovation at the graduation ceremonies of a New York nursing school where he was enrolled.
The New York Daily News reported that classmates and school officials of the Beth Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing stood in honor of their classmate as the launching of a scholarship program in his honor was announced during the school's commencement exercises last June 5 (June 6 in the Philippines).
A $1,000 seed money has been for the Nestor Sulpico Scholarship Fund Initiative through the help of Suplico's friends Luanne Kwon and Edmundo Mercado.
The Manhattan-based school awarded Sulpico a posthumous diploma, an honorary associate degree in nursing,
He was honored along with the 101 students who received diplomas during the school's commencement exercises at the auditorium of the Fashion Institute of Technology at 27th and 7th Avenue in Manhattan.
The 51-year old New York taxi driver who was hailed a hero in 2004 for returning $70,000 worth of black pearls left by a passenger in his cab died of cancer of the colon at his home in Jaro District here on April 24, four months after he came home from New York.
His classmates also organized a memorial book containing a collection of Sulpico's photographs that was sent to his family here.
Philippine Consul General to New York Cecilia Rebong accepted Sulpico's honorary degree which will also be sent to his family. Rebong thanked the school for honoring the and recognizing Sulpico.
During the graduation ceremonies, a slide show of photographs of Sulpico arranged by his close friends and classmates was presented.
"He was a very special person and we hope that his memory and the inspiration he has given all of us will carry on in perpetuity at Phillips Beth Israel," said Dean Janet Mackin.