MANILA, Philippines?It came in a plain white envelope in his own handwriting.

Former advertising executive Paul R. Mortel had been sending letters to the editor for the last three decades but his last piece to the Inquirer proved to be a real shocker: It was his obituary.

Mortel, 67, died in his Marikina City home that he shared with his maid on Thursday night due to complications caused by diabetes, but not before he could send his own obituary to the newspaper.

He started writing letters to the editor in 1969, sharing his views on various issues, from the need on cutting down on the number of holidays, helping the endangered tamaraw, to decongesting Metro Manila.

Mortel gained a lot of friends through his letters, including public officials like former Sen. Juan Flavier. He also got replies even from abroad, including the White House.

He kept his letters and the replies at home. Some of them he even framed.

?By the time you read this, I am gone, taken away by the Lord in His bosom,? Mortel wrote in his last letter to Inquirer opinion editor Jorge Aruta.

He wrote ?30?

?I would like to request to you, my last, to have my obituary published so that my friends and co-workers in the advertising industry who still remember me will be able to see me for the last time,? he added.

Enclosed was his obituary titled ?Paul R. Mortel writes 30,? referring to the custom of journalists to write ?30? at the end of their articles.

Mortel, who worked for Ace-Compton, Philippine Advertising Counselors and Vintage Enterprises, wrote down the possible causes of his demise: A heart attack, stroke, renal failure or complication from diabetes.

The lifelong bachelor also gave instructions where his remains would lie?Sacred Heart Chapel, MBLA Court, Malanday, Marikina?and his internment?at Paraiso Memorial Park in San Mateo, Rizal.

?I joked to him that it was too morbid,? recalled his niece Vigie Mortel-Tipace, who took the letter given to her in March to the Inquirer on Friday.

Thrilled beyond words

In an interview with a magazine in the 1970s, Mortel said that when he saw his name in print for the first time in 1969, he was ?thrilled beyond words.?

He said that was what started him on his ?hobby, a little way of helping.?

A native of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, he also wrote magazine articles about politics, sports and show biz. But letter-writing was his first love and went to it with gusto after he retired in 1993.

?During mornings, he always wanted to immediately get his hands on a copy of the Inquirer. He would look if his letter was published. If it was, he would cut it out, photocopy it, and then paste it in one of his books,? his sister Flordeliza Mortel-Pamintuan said.

?They already knew him at the post office because he would send so many letters. You could not talk to him when he was writing his letters because he did not like the flow of his thoughts to be disturbed,? she said.

No mountain at Luneta

Pamintuan said her brother liked to write suggestions and to make corrections whenever he saw something wrong.

?There was this movie about Jose Rizal showing the national hero being executed in Luneta. However, that scene had a mountain in the background,? Pamintuan said.

?So he wrote the producer and the director, pointing out that there is no mountain in Luneta,? she said.

Tipace said Mortel at first typed his letters, but later switched to long hand when his Underwood broke down. ?We gave him a computer before but really, he could not appreciate it,? Tipace said.

Copies of Inquirer opinion columns at Mortel?s home showed that he was a regular correspondent of Inquirer columnists like Isagani Cruz, the late Adrian Cristobal and Manolo Iñigo.

He also wrote government officials, insisting that the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials required them to reply to all letters ?within 15 working days.?

White House replies

But more often than not, he got answers from government officials.

?Million thanks for sharing with me your most interesting and readable column?Astonishing Trivia. I shared it with my children and grandchildren,? Flavier said in his note.

?He made many friends and some of them even visited at home. They shared stories and some would suggest that he write down this or that letter,? Pamintuan said.

Pamintuan also said that during Christmas, Mortel would send handmade greeting cards to personalities and broadcast journalists like Jessica Soho, the late ?Tia Dely? Magpayo, Karen Davila, Vic de Leon-Lima and Arnold Clavio.

Tipace said that his uncle also wrote the White House and got replies and autographed pictures of US presidents in return.

She said Mortel?s passion for letter-writing was also based on his passion for books, especially those about history, general information and trivia. ?

?He always wanted us to appreciate these,? Tipace said, showing the books at Mortel?s home.

Christmas games

She said that Mortel was a working student in college and finished only up to third year of his commerce course at the University of the East.

?He tried to compensate by reading books,? Tipace said. ?Every time he had enough money, he would buy books.?

?Our Christmas games with him were always about trivia like ?What?s the capital of this country,? she added.

Another niece, Desiree Manlapaz, said that instead of regaling them with fairy tales when they were young, Mortel would tell them about history and the rise and fall of nations.

She said that when Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? struck last year, Mortel tried to save his collections of letters and books, putting them on top of cabinets, as floodwaters rose.

?It almost cost him his life. He was showing us how he tried to open the screen door but the floodwaters were too strong. Luckily, they were eventually rescued,? Manlapaz said.

Pamintuan said Mortel?s interment was set for Wednesday after the arrival of his sibling from Canada.