An academic and cultured man, his father was owner of the tobacco estate businesses and controller of the monopoly around Northern Luzon, especially in Isabela which Nieto inherited.

As a football player of the 1910s and 1920s he spent his years at Bohemian SC as a Defender and was widely regarded as the best Filipino full-back of all time in the eyes of the sports journalists, watchers and athletes of that period.

So Manolo, as how he was called by his close acquaintances, began his life as a public servant when he was first appointed by Quezon as a secretary of the Senate while also continuing his father business and studies.

Besides being a knowledgeable individual he had a lot of qualities and a strong personality that helped him throughout his life and be successful in the multiple fields he part-taken while carrying a leading role.

Those victories and not only, nonetheless, shaped Nieto's greatness who, thanks to his abilities was a nightmare for any forwards facing him, but was hence remembered as such because he was matched as well with very strong opponents who were always in contention to dethrone the Bohemians.

[6] Prior and during start of the decade and on, however, Nieto's presence on the field was characterized by absences due to his studies and then for his works as a politician but made some cameos like he did when he faced rival Aurora in the spring of 1931, ended in a 1–1 draw.

[5] After missing out on the 1915 edition he took part at the 1917 Far East Games in Tokyo where he was included in the Filipino team that won its biggest ever win by margin to this day, defeating Japan by 15 goals to 2.

Before he inaugurated the opening of the company he took an oath of office, the previous day, in the business studio of Benito Razón, manager of the National Trading Corporation.

It happened in a celebration organized by the Dominican friars and the whole student body, among them also Nieto, while forming a guard of honor in front of the college building.

Following Quezon's death, Sergio Osmeña, who became president, revamped the Philippine Commonwealth War Cabinet and named Nieto as the secretary of agriculture and Commerce.

He was designated in a committee where he and the other officials and notable people were tasked in raising the necessary funds for the erection of a national monument in honor of the late president Manuel L.

He had to return to the capital again, this time, accompanied by the chief of staff of the Philippine Army and acting secretary of National Defense, General Valdes to visit the Filipino forces in Bataan and report to the President the situation.

"When President Quezon was urged to go outside of the country to not get captured by the Japanese, Colonel Nieto played a major role and took responsibility in planning particular and correct movements to assure a safe escape.

With the waters still occupied by the Japanese, they decided to risk it and embarked on the motor torpedo boats with Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley in the middle of the night of March 26 and 27 and arrived from Dumaguete to Oroquieta in Misamis.

Colonel Nieto arranged with details the movements of the president's family and Cabinet members, executing perfectly his plan and insured the accomplishment of a difficult and dangeorous journey while assuming major responsibility in transporting President Quezon and taking him to safety from the Philippines to Melbourne, Australia and was applauded for demonstrating marked skill and coolness in the face of a greatly superior enemy force.

Colonel Nieto was appointed his Cabinet Secretariat and continued to aid President Quezon while accompanying him from different States until his health condition deteriored and passed away on August 1, 1944.

Nieto's services to the Nation continued when he was nominated on the 23rd of January in 1956 by President Ramon Magsaysay, succeeded by Carlos P. Garcia, as the ambassador of the Philippines to Spain as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary and ended his first tenure in this role in 1960.

The calls for the painting's transfer to Manila by the Filipinos and the sympathetic Spaniards in the 1950s led General Francisco Franco to order its complete restoration and donate it to the Philippines.

His two sons Manuel and Rene were prominent sportsmen as well with the first who continued his father's work as an ambassador of the country, became a chairman of the Games and Amusements Board and was a politician as well, serving his duty as an ally of Marcos.