A British man who was diagnosed with prostate cancer is looking for his Filipino friend to give millions of inheritance as his way of giving back.
The story of Verne Mclean from Birmingham, England was featured in an episode of the show “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho”.
Mclean was diagnosed with cancer and has assets worth about 500,000 pounds or about P33 million; he wished to share 5-10% of it with his Filipino friend.
Verne said that as soon as he finds him he will immediately give him Php300,000, reported GMA News.
“I’m quite well-off, but not a multi-millionaire but I’m all right. I’m comfortable,” he said.
Verne said that he used to work in Libya in 1979 where he met a Filipino chef named Mar.
He said that Mar always gave him extra servings of food at a cafeteria because he knew he was vegetarian.
“His personality shone. He was a wise boy,” Verne said. “Absolutely brilliant. Always smiling, always joking. When you went in the house he was a certain life and soul to the party.”
The Filipino also helped Verne a number of times.
“I could understand him perfectly. We got good friends. I used to go around to their house. Maybe once every 6, 7 weeks,” Verne said.
The two got separated when Verne was assigned to another country and Mar moved back to the Philippines.
“Mar wrote. I can’t write. He sent letters and he invited me over to Manila. I never responded. I’ve never written in my life. I mean, I couldn’t do anything. So I’ve got the letters. I’ve kept them to this day,” Verne said.
The last letter he received from Mar was in 1984.
Verne was able to save up when he returned to the United Kingdom. He started a business and bought several houses. After he retired, he planned to visit the Philippines, but it never happened.
In 2018, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“We talked more about it last year of contacting Mar ’cause I thought, maybe, he’s still there in Manila.’ He’s always resonated in my thoughts. I want to know how he is. He may have gone. He might be a multi-millionaire, but we don’t know, do we? But I really would like to track him and find out. If I can catch him face-to-face and we can keep in touch. It would really be a blessing,” he said.
