Leonardo Manecio (sometimes credited as "Manicio") aka Nardong Putik was a Filipino gangster turned folk hero. Putik was born in 1923 in Sabang, Dasmariñas, Cavite. His father was a politician of some consequence in his town who was killed by his political enemies. Putik was a driver by profession and at one time saw services as a policeman in Dasmariñas. Putik was married to Feliciana but had many common-law wives. He had one known son, Leonardo, Jr. and two known daughters, Angelita and Estrellita with his legal wife.
An amulet-wielding hoodlum from Cavite province, Putik credited his ability to survive and escape numerous ambushes and gunfights to his anting-anting (amulet). Nardong Putik's ability to elude the law and his enemies made him a legend to many people.
According to Caviteños, Putik got that name as he was known to submerge himself in mud paddies, among carabaos, using bamboo or papaya stalks as breathing tubes, whenever he had to evade a police or military dragnet. But according to some people, he can be invisible once he set foot on the mud using his anting-anting.
His mysterious powers and unexplainable abilities made him a legend, and that's the reason why I put him here.
