Ateneo De Naga high school 1980

Hard days and fright: The 1966 Beatles concert in Manila, Philippines

2012-01-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

If I ask today any Filipino in the streets of the Philippines if they could still remember the events that happened in Manila on July 3rd thru 5th 1966, it is very unlikely that anybody would be able to accurately recall the tragedy that occurred during those three days. The only ones that I am confident that would remember are the veteran musicians of the Philippines like the Apo Hiking Society, band members of the Hot Dogs, Pilita Corales and Freddie Aguilar. The people I personally know who would also remember the tragedy that occurred on those days would be my high school music and English teacher, Diggs Villabroza and his musical protégé, Ricky “Guitarman” Sadiosa.

The tragic story of the first and only visit of the British band, The Beatles, to Manila smeared a dark spot in the history of the Philippines. I had a hard time piecing together the chronology of what happened during the Beatles’ visit to Manila because there are too many tiny versions of each incident within the whole story. I would brand the visit as chaotic and full of crazy miscommunications resulting to an embarrassing outcome. Hopefully, the narrative in this article would at least be close to what really happened during that fateful and frightful event.

Before heading to the Philippines, the first stop of the Beatles during their 1966 Asian tour was Japan. The group was supposed to arrive in Japan on June 28th but because of a typhoon, their plane was rerouted to Anchorage, Alaska. After the weather cleared, they finally arrived in Japan on June 30, 1966.
They performed on five concerts at Budokan arena in Tokyo from June 30th thru July 2nd. The five concerts were all sold out with a total attendance of about 25,000 people. Their concert also captured a television rating of 60%, which was remarkable.

During the planning of the Manila concert, the promoters of the concert had a hard time trying to find a high class hotel that would accommodate the Beatles. An American newspaper printed an article on June 10, 1966 saying “Wanted: A Manila Beatle pad”. Apparently, most of the five star hotels in Manila were reluctant to accommodate the Beatles because they were worried that their hotel might be invaded by a large crowd of crazy fans. This could cause a security nightmare for the hotel.

On the morning of July 3, 1966, the members of the Beatles boarded a Cathy Pacific flight bound for Manila, Philippines. There was a 70-minute refueling stop in Kaitak airport in Hong Kong before the plane proceeded to Manila. Once the plane touched down at the Manila international airport, the nightmare of the Beatles started.

There was an enormous crowd of young Filipino fans that waited at Manila International Airport to greet the Beatles. Radio and TV reporters kept the public updated on the travel progress of the plane carrying the Beatles. Instead of having the plane parked at the terminal, it stopped at the outskirts of the runway where the Beatles alighted from the plane and hurriedly boarded into waiting limousines.

Below are some of the things the Beatles said when they were asked about their experience during their concert stop in the Philippines.

Ringo Starr: I hated the Philippines. We arrived there with thousands upon thousands of kids, with hundreds upon hundred of policemen, and it was a little dodgy. Everyone had guns and it was really like that hot/Catholic/gun/Spanish Inquisition attitude.

George Harrison: There were tough gorillas, little men who had short-sleeved shirts and acted very menacingly. The normal proceedings in those days was that because the mania was everywhere, we didn't pull up at an airport and get off the plane like normal people. The plane would land and it would go to the far end of the airfield where we would get off, usually with Neil and our diplomatic bags (we carried our shaving gear and whatever in little bags), get in a car, bypass passport control and go to the gig. Mal Evans with Brian Epstein and the rest would go and do our passports and all that scene. But when we got to Manila, a fellow was screaming at us, "Leave those bags there! Get in the car!" We were being bullied for the first time. It wasn't respectful. Everywhere else - America, Sweden, Germany, wherever - even though there was a mania, there was always a lot of respect because we were famous showbiz personalities. But in Manila it was a very negative vibe from the moment we got off the plane, so we were a bit frightened. We got in the car and the guy drove off with us four, leaving Neil behind. Our bags were on the runway and I was thinking: "This is it. We're going to get busted."

The promoter and agent of the Beatles knew that the band members traveled with several pounds of marijuana in their equipment cases. They were worried that if their marijuana was discovered by the customs, they would be arrested. They were hoping that their luggage would be treated the same as diplomatic pouches. When the Beatles returned to the pier from their ride at the yacht, they were handed their luggage without being questioned. They feel that the illegal drugs were found but the government officials kept quiet about it. It was assumed that nobody wanted to do anything that would cause an embarrassment during the Philippine visit of the Beatles.

Neil Aspinall: The army was there and also some thugs in short-sleeved shirts over their trousers and they all had guns. You could see the bulges. These guys got the four Beatles and stuck them in a limo and drove off and wouldn't let them take their briefcases with them. They left them on the runway and those little briefcases had the marijuana in them. So while the confusion was going on I put them in the boot of the limo that I was going in and said: "Take me to wherever you've taken the Beatles."

From the airport, the Beatles were driven in a motorcade to the Philippine Navy Headquarters at Roxas Boulevard where a press conference was held. Afterwards they were taken to a private yacht named Marina owned by a wealthy Filipino named Don Manolo Elizalde, a friend of Philippine concert promoter, Ramon Ramos Jr. The Philippine navy was able to install a ship-to-shore telephone enabling the crew of the yacht to have a connection with Manila Hotel.

George Harrison: They took us away and drove us down to Manila harbour, put us on a boat, took us out to a motor yacht and put us in this room. It was really humid, Mosquito City, and we were all sweating and frightened. For the first time ever in our Beatle existence, we were cut off from Neil, Mal and Brian Epstein. There was not one of them around and, not only that, but we had a whole row of cops with guns lining the deck around this cabin that we were in. We were really gloomy, very brought down by the whole thing. We wished we hadn't come. We should have missed it out. As soon as we got there, it was bad news.

Neil Aspinall: They drove me to the end of a pier and I got out of the car and said, "Where are they?" They pointed: "There they are," and there was a big boat miles away in the middle of the habour. There were what seemed to be rival militia gangs. One gang had taken them and put them on this boat to meet some people who weren't the people putting on the show. It was all very strange. I never really understood why they got put on a boat.

Initially, the Beatles enjoyed their stay at the yacht because it offered privacy. They were alarmed though after they were told that they will return to shore the following day about an hour before their concert. Though the Filipino hosts of the Beatles had good intentions, they were not aware of the Beatle’s lengthy pre-concert preparation routine. Upon learning about this, Brian Epstein got very mad and called Vic Lewis who was then at Manila Hotel. Brian screamed down on the phone telling Vic Lewis, “We’re not staying one minute longer on this bloody boat. It’s going up and down. The boys are fed up. There’s absolutely nothing to do and we do not want to spend any more time on this ghastly little yacht!”

At this point, the Philippine promoter, Ramon Ramos found himself in a huge dilemma. He was forced to promise Malacanang that he will deliver the Beatles to the luncheon hosted by Imelda Marcos scheduled the following day. But Mr. Ramos held back in informing Brian Epstein about the Malacanang appointment afraid that Brian Epstein might turn it down because Brian was then throwing a tantrum.

The Beatles arrived at Manila Hotel at around 4 a.m. on July 4, 1966. They were still asleep when half a dozen of uniformed aides wearing khaki uniforms from Malacanang appeared at the door of Vic Lewis, who is the NEMS booking agent of the Beatles during their Asian tour. The aides demanded to know when the Beatles will arrive at “The party”. Lewis was surprised and asked, “I know nothing about a party”. He then directed the men to Brian who was having a late breakfast.

They found out that Mrs. Marcos invited 300 children to the palace to meet the Beatles. Brian said that it was the first time they heard of the invitation. Brian refused to wake up the Beatles who badly needed their rest in preparation for their concert. He would later learn that while they were in Tokyo, their publicity person named Tony Barrow had received the invitation but failed to respond to the invitation. It is not also clear if this information was relayed to Brian Epstein, who was the manager of the Beatles.

After the Malacanang aides left, Brian received a call from the British ambassador to the Philippines. The ambassador urged Brian to let the Beatles attend the party because it is not a good idea to miss Mrs. Marcos’s party. The ambassador also told Brian that all the help and protection they are receiving in Manila is being provided by President Marcos. In spite of the call, Brian adamantly refused to attend Mrs. Marcos’s party.

Brian’s reason for refusing to attend Marcos’s party is rooted to one bad experience of the Beatles. Back in 1964 during the Beatle’s first trip to the U.S., their first stop was Washington DC. The Beatles were compelled to attend an official function in honor of the British embassy. The members of the Beatles felt that they were treated like freaks during the function. The function was attended by some drunken aristocrats and condescending diplomats. People during the function demanded autographs from the Beatles and expressed surprise that a Beatle can write his own name. John Lennon departed the embassy spitting curses on the event. One lady approached Ringo holding a scissor and stole a lock of his hair. As a result of the unpleasant event, Brian had made a NEMS policy that the Beatles will not attend all official functions given by diplomats, royalties or dictators.

George Harrison: We've no idea why they took us to the boat. I still don't know to this day. An hour or two later Brian Epstein arrived, really flustered, with the Philippine promoter, and he was yelling and shouting. Everyone was shouting and then they took us off the boat, put us in a car and drove us to a hotel suite. The next morning we were woken up by bangs on the door of the hotel and there was a lot of panic going on outside. Somebody came into the room and said: "Come on! You're supposed to be at the palace." We said: "What are you talking about? We're not going to any palace." "You're supposed to be at the palace. Turn on the television." We did, and there it was, live from the palace. There was a huge line of people either side of the long marble corridor with kids in their best clothing and the TV commentator saying: "And they're still not here yet. The Beatles are supposed to be here." We sat there in amazement. We couldn't believe it. We just had to watch ourselves not arriving at the presidential palace.

Paul McCartney: I went out on my own in the morning to the kind of Wall Street area. I remember taking a lot of photographs because right up against it was the shanty town area. There were cardboard dwellings right up against this Wall Street which I'd never seen so well juxtaposed. I got the camera out: "Wow, this is good stuff!" And I bought a couple of paintings from the shanty town as presents to go back home and went back to the hotel to have lunch. Everyone was up and about then and we were in our hotel room when they started saying: "You've got to go to the President's Palace now. Remember that engagement?" We said: "No, no, no." The promoters, with those white shirts with lace that everyone in Manila seemed to wear, looked a little heavy to us. A couple of them carried guns, so it was a bit difficult. We were used to each different country doing it their own way. They were starting to bang on the door: "They will come! They must come!" But we were saying, "Look, just lock the bloody door." We were used to it: "It's our day off." We found out later that it was Imelda Marcos (with her shoes and her bras) waiting for us. Somebody had invited us and we (gracefully, we thought) had declined the offer. But there was the TV announcer saying, "the first Lady is waiting and pretty soon the famous pop group will be arriving". And we're going, "Shoot - nobody's told them!" We stuck to our guns and sat the rest of the day out in the hotel. We turned the telly off and got on with our day off.

In the book “The ultimate Beatles encyclopedia” written by Bill Harry, it confirms the existence of an invitation given to the Beatles from the Philippine promoter Ramon Ramos. The invitation states that the Beatles were to have luncheon with Mrs. Imelda Marcos at 3 p.m. on July 4th, which is an hour before the scheduled concert. Mr. Ramos did not pursue this invitation because he knew that the Beatles wanted to be at the Rizal Stadium two hours before the start of the concert. Mr. Ramos failed to inform Malacanang regarding this matter. Since Malacanang was not aware of the brewing schedule problem, things got worse when the palace set up a courtesy call meeting with the Beatles at 11 a.m.. With so much miscommunication between the Beatles management and the Philippine promoters, it is not fully known if anyone went out of their way to straighten out the scheduling fiasco.

RingoStarr: Personally, I didn't know anything about Madame Marcos having invited us to dinner.. But we'd said no and Brian Epstein had told her no. John and I were sharing a room and we woke up in the morning and phoned down for eggs and bacon (or whatever we were eating in those days) and all the newspapers because we always liked to read about ourselves. We were just hanging out in our beds, chatting and doing whatever we were doing and time went by so we called down again: "Excuse me, can we have the breakfast?" Still nothing happened, so we put the TV on and there was a horrific TV show of Madame Marcos screaming: "They've let me down." There were all these shots with the cameraman focusing on empty plates and up into the little kids' faces, all crying because the Beatles hadn't turned up.

Neil Aspinall: The Beatles didn't do that sort of stuff for anybody. They wouldn't get involved in politics and they wouldn't go to the palace. After it was all over and they hadn't turned up and people were going barmy, we asked Brian what had happened and he said: "I cancelled it. You weren't supposed to go there." It turned nasty in the Philippines. I didn't eat for three days. They would bring up food that was terrible. Even if it was Cornflakes for breakfast, you'd pour the milk out and it would come out in lumps. They had given you sour milk. I remember once ordering dinner and it came up one of those big trays with the rolled lid on it. I rolled back the lid and Ohhhhh! Just by the smell of it I knew we couldn't eat it. Paul and I sneaked out there as well. We must have been very brave or very naive. We got in a car and drove for miles. It was like Manhattan for five minutes and then a dreadful shanty town for a long way out to some sand dunes. We bought a couple of pictures, sat in the sand dunes and had a smoke, then drove back to the hotel with everybody freaking out (especially the security): "Where have you been? How did you get out?" Although people kept saying it was a failure in the Philippines, the Beatles did two gigs to a total of about 100,000 people (after the Marcos thing). The fans had a really good time. They really enjoyed it. There were still thugs about, organizing things (nothing to do with the army), but they seemed to be organizing the fans rather than us.

George Harrison: Again, we had a big problem with the concert. Brain Epstein had made a contract for a stadium of so many thousand people, but when we got there it was like the Monterey Pop Festival. There were about 200,000 people on the site and we were thinking: "Well, the promoter is probably making a bit on the side out of this." We went back to the hotel really tired and jet lagged and pretty cheesed off. I don't recall much of what happened after that until the newspapers arrived.

About late in the afternoon on July 4th 1966, Brian and Vic were at the Manila hotel watching television when the local news came on. It showed on the screen Mrs. Imelda Marcos wandering around Malacanang Palace visibly annoyed. The news caster announced that the Beatles never showed up at the party held on their honor. The 300 children who were war orphans and cripples were all disappointed after being told that the Beatles are not coming.

After the broadcast, Brian immediately called the manager of the government owned T.V. station and asked that he be given a chance to explain to the public what happened. Brian and Vic rushed to the TV station and were placed in front of a camera. The regular programming was interrupted and Brian went live on the air. Just as Brian was about to start to apologize and explain his side of the fiasco to the public, the TV station received a call from Malacanang and the audio of the interview was cut. The public never heard what Brian said.

After the concert the Beatles went back to Manila hotel and the evening went normally where they all drank Scotch, coke and smoked marijuana. The Beatles were unaware of what happened at Malacanang and the brewing problem that awaits them. Being tired, the Beatles decided to sleep early because they were scheduled to fly to New Delhi, India.

In the middle of the night, Vic Lewis was taken from his hotel room by three police officers and brought to a police station. He was interrogated for a long time by two mean men who were demanding why the Beatles did not attend the party of Mrs. Marcos.

Early the next morning, the Beatles woke up early to get dress and prepare to leave for the airport. Neil ordered breakfast for the six of them. After waiting for awhile they began to wonder why their breakfast has not arrived yet. They tried calling the hotel desk but no one seemed there to answer the phone. Mal finally went down to the lobby to find out what was wrong. He found the lobby to be unusually quiet and deserted. All the police officers and security personnel who were around the previous day disappeared. In front of the hotel were two limousines rented by the Beatles and waiting beside the limos were two solitary drivers. The usual police escorts were absent.

Mal was able to get a hotel personnel at the front desk but the man acted irritated. At this point, Mal realize that someone of authority has pulled away all the room service of the hotel away from the Beatles including bellhops. He spotted a newspaper on the lobby that had the headlines of “BEATLES SNUB PRESIDENT”.

When Mal returned to the Beatle’s suite with the newspaper, the TV was on and the Beatles were watching in morning news about them snubbing the party at Malacanang.

According to some people involved with the Asian tour promotion back in 1966, the Beatles scheduled their concert in Manila on July 4th (Philippine-American Friendship day*) as a gift to the Philippine republic. The concert was also believed to be a birthday gift to Imelda Marcos whose birthday falls on July 2nd. Mrs. Marcos has been known to enjoy entertaining international celebrities and she looked forward to meeting with the world famous Fab Four.

*July 4th used to be called Philippine Independence day because the U.S. government gave the Philippines its independence on July 4, 1946. Many Filipino nationalist opposed this and was able to convince President Diosdado Macapagal to change the date from July 4th to June 12th.

Some Beatles historians believe that the Beatles were invited to Manila not to just play music to its fans. The whole thing was a savvy political setup for the Beatles to implicitly endorse the Marcos government. The party hosted by Mrs. Marcos was a cleaver photo-op where the Beatles will be seen having lively chat with Madam Marcos, ambassadors, senators and other Marcos-elected cronies. The 300 specially invited children being entertained by the Beatles would be the heart-softening section of the whole event. Local and international press would surely cover the event. Images showing the Beatles sharing a tea with Mrs. Marcos and shaking hands with government officials would project an image to the world that the Beatles endorses the dictatorship of Marcos.

Paul McCartney: The next morning someone brought in a newspaper and on the front it just said in massive letters: "Beatles Snub President". Oh dear! Well, we didn't mean to. We thought, "We'll just say we're sorry." We were scheduled to leave Manila that morning and as we were leaving the hotel everyone was a bit nasty at reception, so we had to scuffle out as if we hadn't paid our bill.

Ringo Starr: Things started to get really weird: "Come on! Get out of bed! Get packed, we're getting out of here." And as we got downstairs and started to get to the car - we really had no help - there was only one motorbike compared to the huge motorcade that had brought us in.

Tony Barrow, Vic Lewis and Mal loaded by hand all their equipment and luggage into a rented van. KLM flight 862 bound for New Delhi, India was waiting for the Beatles at the airport. Without assistance on moving their equipment, they knew that they will be late in catching the flight. Brian called KLM office who connected his call directly to the plane’s pilot via Skyphone. (Skyphone is an air-to-ground public phone service that was introduced in March 1962). Brian pleaded to the pilot not to leave without them because they fear for their safety if they are stranded in Manila. The pilot agreed to wait but only to the point where he does not have to refuel to reach New Delhi. If it comes to that point, the pilot explained, he will take off with or without the Beatles.

They all hurriedly got in their vehicles and drove to the airport. The drivers seemed to lose their way once or twice while driving. The morning traffic slowed down their progress towards the airport.

When they finally arrived at the airport, the place was turned into a military garrison with soldiers carrying rifles and bayonets. There was also a large angry mob of people waiting for the Beatles. When the Beatles car stopped, they immediately got out and had to rush through a small path through the mob where they were punched and kicked.

George Starr: It was "Beatles Snub First Family" - that's how they decided to present it. It was quite likely it was the promoter or the agent who had done a deal; brown-nosing Mrs Marcos, probably. She was later quoted as saying: "Oh, I never liked them anyway - their music is horrible!" The whole place turned on us. We had people yelling and screaming when we tried to get to the airport. Nobody would give us a ride. We couldn't get any cars. There was nothing available. Finally somebody managed to get a car or two and they put our baggage in one and we got in the other. We were driven to the airport. Two things were happening simultaneously: there were all the government officials or police, who were trying to punch us and yelling and waving fists at us, and then underneath that were the young kids who were still around doing the mania.

Neil Apsinall: They were really putting obstacles in our way. When we were on the way to the airport, a soldier kept sending us round and round the roundabout until in the end I told the driver to pull over.

Paul McCartney: We got down to the airport and found they'd turned the escalators off. So we had to walk up the escalators. All right, let's get out of here then if that's what it's going to be. Behind a huge plate glass window, the sort they have in airports, on the taxi rank outside there were all the Filipino taxi guys banging on the window and we're all going gibber, gibber.

Neil Aspinall: Nobody would help us with all this equipment and so we started using the escalators and then they stopped. So we had to lug all the stuff up the stairs and once we got it all up the stairs the escalators started to work again. The Beatles were going to Delhi and the equipment was going back to England. So at the check-in desk we kept saying, "OK, that's going to Delhi", and they kept putting it on the pile that was going to England. In the end Mal jumped over the counter and sorted it all out for us because nobody was going to do it.

George Harrison: It seemed like forever at the check-in desk. We eventually got into the departure lounge, which was a huge room, but then the thugs appeared again - the same people with the short-sleeved shirts who had been shouting at us as soon as we had got off the plane when we arrived in Manila. There were a number of them coming up to us, pushing and screaming, "Get over there!" They forced us back and then another one would come around the other way, doing it again: "Get over there!" I was trying to keep my eye on all the people, keep moving ahead of them to stay out of their way. It was all really negative. I saw a couple of Buddhist monks and went and hid behind them.

Ringo Starr: There was chanting, with people hating us all the way. They started spitting at us, spitting on us, and there's the famous story of John and me hiding behind these nuns because we thought, "It's a Catholic country, they won't beat up the nuns."

Paul McCartney: There was a group of nuns in the corner of the airport and when all the fisticuffs broke out we went over to the nuns. It was rather a nice little shot, nuns and Beatles in the corner. They didn't actually protect us, they just stood there looking a bit bemused. Whenever they moved, we moved the other side of them.

John Lennon: When they started on us at the airport, I was petrified. I thought I was going to get hit, so I headed for three nuns and two monks, thinking that might stop them. As far as I know I was just pushed, but I could have been kicked and not known it. "You treat like ordinary passenger, ordinary passenger," they were saying. We said: "Ordinary passenger? He doesn't get kicked, does he?" I saw five in sort of outfits who were doing it, all the kicking and booing and shouting. That was Brian's cock-up. Because he'd had the invitation given to him and declined it and never told us. It was terrifying.

Paul McCartney: We were quite frightened. Most of the aggression (luckily for us) was directed towards our people. One of them got thrown down the stairs violently. But mostly it wasn't overt, though they were annoyed. We felt a bit guilty, but we didn't feel it was our cock-up. Now, knowing more about the regime, what I think is that they had ignored our telling them we weren't coming: "Let them just try and not come - we'll make it difficult for them."

Neil Aspinall: I'm sure nobody got badly hurt, but that was because we didn't fight back, so we got pushed and shoved. We knew not to fight back. If we had fought back it could have been very bad. It was very, very scary and nothing like this had ever happened before - and nothing like it has ever happened since.

George Harrison: Finally they announced the flight and we boarded the plane - and that was the greatest feeling, just to be on that plane. It was a sense of relief. Then the plane sat there. Eventually, there was an announcement on the speaker saying, "Will Mr Epstein and Mr Evans and Mr Barrow (Tony, who was our press agent at that time) get off the plane?" They all had to get off and they looked terrified. Mal went past me down the aisle of the plane breaking out in tears and he turned to me and said: "Tell Lil I love her." (Lil was his wife.) He thought that was it: the plane was going to go and he would be stuck in Manila. The whole feeling was, "Hell, what's going to happen?"

Paul McCartney: When we got on the plane, we were all kissing the seats. It was feeling as if we'd found sanctuary. We had definitely been in a foreign country where all the rules had changed and they carried guns. So we weren't too gung-ho about it at all. Tony Barrow had to go back into the lion's den and they made him pay an amazing airport leaving Manila tax that I think they just dreamed up. Strangely enough, I think it came to the same amount as the receipts for the trip.

When Tony Barrow was escorted out of the plane by an army officer, the pilot summoned Brian to the cockpit. The pilot told Brian that he had waited enough and needs to take off without Tony. Brian begged the pilot not to leave because Tony will surely be put to jail if he is stranded in Manila. Brian kept the pilot busy arguing with him until Tony returned to the plane.

George Harrison: We sat there for what seemed like a couple of hours. It was probably only 30 minutes or an hour, but it was humid and hot. Finally they reboarded, the front door closed and the plane was allowed to leave. I felt such resentment against those people.

The pressurized plane doors were immediately closed and the plane slowly pulled away from the terminal. The angry mob was allowed out of the tarmac where they continue to shout curses and shake their fists to the plane. While the plane was preparing to take off, Brian started saying, “How could I let this happen to the boys? I’ll never forgive myself. I put the boys in physical danger”.

Vic Lewis appeared on the aisle and asked Brian, “Did you get the money?” The money was inside a brown bag which was 50 percent of their talent fee. The other half of the fee was deposited to London as a guarantee of their performance. Brian became enraged and shouted at Vic, “Who was it that screwed up the party invitation? Don’t talk to me about money!” Vic Lewis lost his cool and shouted, “I’ll talk to you about money!” Vic grabbed Brian by the throat and said, “I’ll (censored) kill you!” While the plane was taking off, they were able to pull Vic’s hands off from Brian’s throat and force him down the aisle.

While they were in India on a four-day stay, Brian became sick and had to be attended by a hotel physician. The Beatles blamed Brian for all the bad things that happened while they were in the Philippines. They all agreed that Brian messed big time and lost control of the whole situation.

During their discussions, Neil said, “He (Brian) got another world tour already booked for next year. We’ve got to do this again”

Everybody groaned. George asked, “Is this touring a (censored) annual event?”

“Nobody can hear a bloody note anyway” John said. “No more for me. I say we stop touring”.

Paul McCartney: I remember when we got back home, a journalist asked George: "Did you enjoy it?" And he said: "If I had an atomic bomb I'd go over there and drop it on them." It was an unfortunate little trip, but the nice thing about it was that in the end, when we found out what Marcos and Imelda had been doing to the people - the rip-off that the whole thing was - we were glad to have done what we did. Great! We must have been the only people who'd ever dared to snub Marcos. But we didn't really know what we were doing politically until many years later.

Ringo Starr: We had fantasies that we were going to be put in jail because it was a dictatorship there in those days, not a democracy. You lose your rights in a dictatorship, no matter who you are. So we weren't going to get off the plane. That was my first and last time in Manila.

Neil Aspinall: I'm sure it made the band think hard about touring. It might have been one of the last nails in the touring coffin.

George Martin: When they got out of the country they said, "Never again. This is it." They said to Brian then that they would not tour again. Brian said, "Sorry, lads, we have got something fixed up for Shea Stadium. If we cancel it you are going to lose a million dollars." Oops. They did do Shea Stadium.

John Lennon: No plane's going to go through the Philippines with me on it. I wouldn't even fly over it.

Just minutes after the plane carrying the Beatles took off, the Philippine press issued a statement by President Marcos stating that the members of the Beatles were in no way at fault on the whole fiasco.

One Philippine newspaper printed this article on July 11, 1966:

The company that promoted the Beatles concern in Manila has gone broke. Rafael Corralles, the general manager of Cavalcade Promotions said, “We are liquidating our company. We lost money bringing the Beatles here. We don’t know how much we lost yet until we liquidate and gone through all our company assets”. The management of Cavalcade Promotions insists that they obtained an appointment from the Beatles to pay a courtesy call to Mrs. Marcos. They also added that the social secretary of Mrs. Marcos confirmed the appointment. Mr. Corralles said that the Beatles manager Brian Epstein refused to keep the appointment
.

Please help the victims of typhoon Sendong

2011-12-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a picture will say more words than an article. Please find ways to help the victims of typhoon Sendong.

A lot of people are hurting from the loss of their love ones and personal belongings. Please help those who are currently helpless and are in great despair.

Civilian heroes of December 7, 1941

2011-12-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

There are certain stories or accounts that were written in the history books about the Pearl Harbor attack that are rarely discussed. Several millions of acts of heroism were committed on December 7, 1941 but were never mentioned in any history books. Military personnel mostly are the ones that fought back the Japanese attackers. In this article, I would like to share the heroism of a handful of Hawaiian civilians who fought back a Japanese attacker in defense of their island.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, airman first class Shigenori Nishikaichi of the Imperial Japanese navy was flying what was then one of Japan’s finest fighter plane, the Mitsubishi A6M2 21 Reisen commonly known as “Zero”. He took off from the aircraft carrier Hiryu with seven other Zeros. Their mission was to attack targets in southeastern Oahu. After they strafed and bombed the U.S. naval air station in Mokapu, they flew to Bellows army airbase ten miles south where they bombed and strafed the American base.

While on their way to the rendezvous point at the northern tip of Oahu where they were scheduled to meet with Japanese bombers, Nishikaichi’s group was attacked by nine American P-36A Curtis fighter planes that came out from the clouds. The lightly armed and obsolete P-36 were no match to the Japanese Zeros who could out climb, out turn and out run the slow P-36. The Zeros dominated the dog fight that resulted in all nine P-36 being shot down.

During the dog fight, Nishikaichi’s plane was hit six times, one of which hit his gas tank. As the seven Zeros were heading back to their carrier, Nishikaichi’s plane started to sputter due to loss of fuel. Unable to maintain speed with the other Zeros, Nishikaichi’s plane fell behind. When he finally got to the rendezvous point, he was alone. He spotted an A6M Zero with smoke trailing behind it.

Before flying their planes to Pearl Harbor, the Japanese pilots were told that in case they need to land their plane due to an emergency, they need to land in an isolated island named Ni’ihau. The pilots were told that Ni’ihau is not inhabited and so they would not have any problems being captured. It had been arranged that a Japanese submarine would pick up any pilot that made an emergency landing on the island. Since the Japanese did not place any spy in the island, they did not get an accurate information regarding Ni’ihau. The island is actually inhabited.

Ni’ihau is known in Hawaii as “Forbidden island”. In 1864, Hawaiian king Kamehameha the fifth sold the island to the Robinson family. Wanting to preserve the Polynesian culture, the Robinson family kept the island isolated from modern advances in technology. In case of emergency, the habitants of Ni’ihau is suppose to light a large bon fire on top of the 1,281 foot Mount Paniau for the habitants of Kauai to see. Newspaper takes a week to reach the island. Liquor and tobacco is forbidden in Ni’ihau. The island is being managed by Aybner Robinson, who resides in the main island of Kauai but visits the Ni’ihau once a week normally on a Monday.

Nishikaichi made a quick calculation basing on his remaining fuel and decided to head towards the island of Ni’ihau. The two limping Zeros circled the island and the pilots discovered that the Japanese intelligence information about the island being uninhabited was totally wrong. They spotted what appeared to be a church with clusters of people standing in front of it.

Nishikaichi got confused and flew southwest away from the island. Upon realizing his mistake, he signaled the other Zero to fly back to Ni’ihau. The pilot of the other Zero, Airman 2nd class Saburo Ishii from the aircraft carrier Soryu, ignored Nishikaichi’s suggestion. Ishii had radioed his carrier Shokaku that he intends to return to Oahu and crash his plane on any U.S. military target. Nishikaichi watched Ishii’s plane climb steeply and then all of a sudden dove straight to the ocean.

Nishikaichi flew over the Puuwai village while searching for a suitable place to land his damage plane. When he spotted a small clearing in a cow pasture, he came down to land. The Zero clipped a fence then nosed over causing Nishikaichi to slam against the instrument panel. The Zero stopped about 75 feet away from a house owned by a Hawaiian named Howard Kaleohano. Howard saw the Zero and he immediately ran towards the plane. The villagers also saw the Zero crashed and started to run towards it. Howard pulled out the pilot from the plane and took away his pistol plus the documents that he was carrying.

To help translate what the pilot was saying, a Japanese resident of the island named Ishimatsu Shintani was summoned to help. Shintani was a 60 year old bee keeper who had lived in Hawaii for 41 years. Being aware of his own background, Shintani appeared nervous of becoming involved in the situation. After Nishikaichi spoke to Shintani briefly, Shintani was shocked and immediately left without relaying to Kaleohano what the Japanese pilot had told him.

The next to be summoned to translate was Yoshio Harada and his wife Irene. Yoshio was born in Kauai in 1903 to Japanese immigrants. He has three brothers in Japan and Irene was born to Japanese parents. Yoshio moved from Kauai to California as a young man and lived there for seven years before relocating to Ni’ihau with his wife in 1939.

Unaware that war has already began between the U.S. and Japan, Nishikaichi was treated as a guest and given a luau (Hawaiian feast). During the party, Nishikaichi borrowed a guitar and sang a Japanese song. During the party, Nishikaichi was probably wondering when the Japanese submarine would come and rescue him. The Japanese submarine I-74 was indeed in the area at 1:30 p.m. Hawaiian time but the sub commander was ordered to sail on toward Oahu to intercept any incoming American relief ship.

By nightfall, news about the Pearl Harbor attack reached Ni’ihau by radio. The pilot was questioned anew about his role in the attack. The Ni’ihauans debated on what to do with the Japanese pilot.

The following day, Nishikaichi was taken by tractor to Kii landing near the northern tip of the island. Robinson’s boat always docks at Kii whenever he comes to the island for his weekly inspection. The Ni’ihuauans were unaware of the boat travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. military due to the Pearl Harbor attack and so they waited and wondered why the boat of Robinson has not arrived yet. While waiting, Nishikaichi spoke to Harada and convinced him that the war would be won by Japan because of the weak American military defense. Irene Harada was somewhat convince but not as much as Yoshio.

The following day, (December 12th), Shintani came to the house of Howard Kaleohano and asked for the pilot’s papers. Kaleohano got the pilot’s map but Shintani told him, “Not that but the other papers”. When Kaleohano refused to hand him the other documents, Shintani tried to bribe him by offering him $200 in exchange for the pilot’s papers and gun. (In those days, $200 is a large sum of money because the hourly minimum wage back in 1941 was 23 cents per hour.) This angered Howard and ordered Shintani to leave. Shintani became afraid that he might get shot by Nishikaichi or Harada if he does not show up with the papers and so he fled to the jungle.

Harada and Nishikaichi made plans to capture the whole island and so they went back to the Zero plane and removed the two machine guns. Using the machine guns, Harada and Nishikaichi fired at the houses of the village. The villagers escaped through the windows of their houses and hid inside caves. Harada and Nishikaichi walked through the streets of the village shouting threats that they would shoot everyone if they are not told where Howard Kaleohano is hiding for them to get the military papers of Nishikaichi. Unknown to Harada and Nishikaichi, five natives along with Howard had left the island on a boat heading to the Kauai to seek help.

On December 13th, Kaahakila Kalima, Ben Kanahele and their wives tried to return to the village to get food but were all captured by Nishikaichi and Harada. Both machine guns were then out of ammunition but Harada has a double barrel shotgun and Nishikaichi had a pistol.

Nishikaichi took the shotgun and leveled it to Ben Kanahele threatening him that if he does not reveal the whereabouts of Kaleohano, he will be shot. Kanahele knocked off the shotgun and lunged at the Japanese pilot. Nishikaichi quickly pulled out his pistol and shot Kanahele on the chest, hip and groin. This greatly angered Kanahele who is a husky strong Hawaiian. Kanahele picked up the Japanese pilot and threw him against the stone wall. Kanahele’s wife grabbed a stone and hit the Japanese pilot’s head. Then, Kanahele pulled out a knife and slit the pilot’s throat killing him. Harada grabbed the shotgun and committed suicide by shooting himself in the stomach.

Ben Kanahele recovered from his injuries and was awarded the purple heart and the medal of merit on August 15, 1945 by Lt. General Robert C. Richardson at the Army Headquarters in Fort Shafter, Honolulu.

Shintani was sent to a Japanese internment camp. He later returned to Ni’ihau and rejoined his family where he obtained his American citizenship in 1960.

Irene Harada was imprisoned for 31 months but was released in June 1944. She was never charged with treason during the length of her captivity. Irene claimed that she just felt sorry for the Japanese pilot and wanted to help him.

For many years the gravesite of Nishikaichi was marked as an unknown Japanese soldier. It was not until 1956 when Nishikaichi’s family found out about his death and claimed his ashes. The remains of Nishikaichi’s plane and the antiquated tractor used to transport the Japanese pilot to the boat landing area in Ni’ihau is on permanent display in the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.

On January 26, 1942, Navy Lt. C. B. Baldwin wrote on his report, “The fact that the two Ni’ihau Japanese who had previously shown no anti-American tendencies went to the aid of the pilot when Japan domination of the island seemed possible, indicate likelihood that Japanese residents previously believed loyal to the United States may aid Japan if further Japanese attacks appear successful”.

The incident in the island of Ni’ihau brought awareness to the possibility that Americans of Japanese descent might come to the aid of the Japanese invaders if they land on American shores. The unfortunate incident ultimately influenced the internment of Japanese Americans all over United States during World War II.

“When I graduated from the Japan National Police Reserve and reported to my first assignment, it was on December 8, 1951. At the time, even I did not realize the significance of the day. Those persons who lost husbands and fathers and sons, of course, can never forget that day, and I am afraid that even this small story is like opening an old wound. I pray from the bottom of my heart for those who were killed in action and their bereaved families.

I once explained the meaning of the word samurai to an American. The words are written with two Chinese characters. The first means 'stop enemy's sword,' and the second means 'gentleman’. So you see, actually there is nothing aggressive in the samurai spirit; it is the same as your American defense.

The late Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who commanded the force that struck Pearl Harbor, was strongly opposed to war with the United States. He knew America, and although opposed to war, he was also a loyal naval officer. When he came aboard the flagship Akagi, he told us: 'If we go to war with the United States, you will have to face the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Its commander, Admiral Kimmel, is an extremely able officer, selected for his post over many older officers. It will be very difficult to overcome him.'

Two days after we attacked Pearl Harbor, we were listening to the American radio in the command compartment of the Akagi. Admiral Nagumo was in the room. When I told him that Admiral Husband Kimmel had been relieved because of our attack, he was very sympathetic and said he was very sorry for him.

There was no ill feeling or hate before the war against the United States. Why did we make such a mistake? No more Pearl Harbors and no more Hiroshimas should be the watchword for those who believe in peace.

I hereby again pray for those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor…with all my heart.”

Lieutenant Zenji Abe
25th Squadron Leader that attacked Pearl Harbor
Carrier Akagi

Life Files

2011-11-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

Years ago, I went to a historical library that housed different types of historical records that dates back to the 1700s. I found it interesting to just browse through records showing purchase receipts, public notices, passenger and shipping manifests, newspaper writings, arrest warrants, job wanted ads and advertisement of products that seemed quite ancient. I saw endless sheets of census records listing people’s names, address, number of children, type of work, origin, etc. Viewing old black and white pictures and analyzing the details of items in the photos creates a story in my mind of how people lived when the 19th century camera burned the image on its glass plates that served as a film negative.

I always find peace and solitude whenever I am inside a historical library, museum or artifacts warehouse. I would sometimes just walk through long rows of tall file racks or shelves containing delicate ancient documents that seemed to be waiting for curious minds to discover its contents.

During one of my reflective strolls inside a historical library, a thought came into my mind—“Supposing God set before you the life files of every human being that ever lived or is currently living on earth. These files contain all the words, deeds and thoughts that every person on earth uttered, performed, felt and conceived in his/her life. What would you do?”

I was stumped at first because the prospect of having such access to vast knowledge seemed perplexing even though I know it will never happen in my lifetime. This gave me an opportunity to reflect on the imaginative prospect of being able to open a file of any person on earth and discover this person’s true life. A few probing questions immediately knocked at the door of my heart seeking answers. These questions are:

Which files would you open first? Would you choose the files of people that you know? Or would they be from people whom you know but don’t know you?

Would you open up files of people that you love or people that you hate and despise?

Would you spend time reading word by word the files of your enemies and the people that unjustly hurt you?

Would you open up a life file with an intent of searching for something that interests you like a disturbing deed?

Do the lives of famous or controversial people fascinate you? Which files of these known people would you open? Eager to find out what really happened to Amelia Earhart? Do you want to see who really killed President John F. Kennedy? Is Jimmy Hoffa or Adolf Hitler still alive?

The choice on whose files you choose to open and your true intent of accessing that certain file(s) reflects the type of heart that you have. Don’t deceive yourself by claiming that your intent of knowing the contents of a certain file is borne out of your own innocent curiosity. Break through that personal curtain of deception and truly ascertain the true contents of your heart.

If you were allowed to only open ten files, which ones would you chose?

If you were allowed to only open four files, which ones would you select?

If you were allowed to only open one file, which one would it be?

Did you know that God allows us to open one file? Which file would that be? YOUR OWN FILE! Yes, you can open your file because you have the ability to know your historical thoughts and deeds. Your conscience can always present your true heart’s intent whenever you do a certain deed.

There are a lot of people who try to deceive themselves by ignoring their conscience that convicts them of their wayward thoughts and deeds. You can deceive people on your true intent but the truth will always mark on your file. This record is always available for you to read if you choose to honestly reflect about your inner self.

As I conclude my reflection on the choice of what file to open, I decided that I am only worthy of opening my own personal file. God is the only one worthy of opening the files of the souls that he created. I felt that humans were not given the supernatural ability by God to easily view the lives of other people because humans always have the tendency to impose harsh judgment on the imperfections of others.

Have you loved and cared for another file lately?

Minding my own file…

Martin Luther and Reformation Day

2011-10-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

Does anybody know what day it is today? Ok wise guy, I know it is Monday. But other than today being Monday, is there anything else that makes today special? Payday? No, that’s not it. The day we mail the mortgage check? Not that either. Halloween? My family does not celebrate that. Well, with too many wise crackers out there, I might as well tell you the event that is being commemorated today—Reformation Day!

On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk and professor of theology named Martin Luther nailed a notice on the door of the Wittenberg Castle church in Germany. The paper became widely known as the “Ninety-five thesis” on which Martin Luther protested the sale of indulgencies. In those days, if you want to schedule a debate, you put up a sign.

In 1516, a Dominican friar named Johann Tetzel was named as the papal commissioner of indulgencies. Tetzel was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgencies to raise money to rebuilt St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. Tetzel became known for the couplet “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs”.

The act of indulgence is strongly disputed by Martin Luther because the practice basically says that freedom from God’s punishment for sin can be purchased with money. This is clearly not in line with the Holy Scriptures for God is the only one who could forgive sin. Luther taught that salvation is not earned by doing good deeds but is received only as a free gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ as the redeemer from sin.

Prince Frederick III, an elector of Saxony, banned the sale of indulgence in Wittenburg. But in spite of the ban, many churches still traveled to purchase them. Some of these indulgence purchases in form of letters of pardon were shown to Martin Luther claiming that they no longer need to repent of their sins since they already paid money for them.

Martin Luther’s "Ninety five Theses" letter was quickly translated from Latin to German. Eventually, a copy made its way to Rome and an effort began to convince Luther to recant his claims. On April 18, 1521, Luther appeared as ordered before the Diet of the Worms, which was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire. The general assembly was held at the town of Worms which is one of the towns in the Rhine. It was conducted from January 28th thru May 25, 1521 and was presided by Emperor Charles V.

During the assembly, Johann Eck (assistant of the archbishop of Trier) asked Luther if copies of writings laid across the table were his and if he stood by its contents. Luther confirmed that the materials were his but requested additional time to answer the second question which was if he stood by its contents. Luther prayed and consulted with friends. The following day, Luther gave this answer to the assembly:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen”

On May 25, 1571, the emperor declared Martin Luther as an outlaw, banning his literature and ordered his arrest. It was also made a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence.

Prince Frederick III was a supporter of Luther and wanted to save him from harm. While Luther was on his way home, masked men hired by Prince Frederick “kidnapped” Luther and brought him to the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.

During his stay in Wartburg Castle, Luther translated the New Testament of the bible from Greek to German finishing it in 1522. He and his collaborators also translated the Old Testament completing it in 1534. He continued to refine the translation of the bible until the end of his life.

In June 13, 1525, Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora who was one of the 12 nuns that Luther helped escape the Nimbschen Cistercian Convent in April 1523. Luther arranged the 12 nun escapees to be smuggled out of the convent in herring barrels. Luther’s wedding set the seal of approval on clerical marriages. The couple moved into a former monastery called “The Black Cloister”. They had six children, two of which died.

Referring to his wife, Luther confided to his friend, Michael Stifel (German monk and mathematician) on August 11, 1526: “My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my poverty for the riches of Croesus.”

Gossip: The whispers of Gehenna.

2011-10-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

I wrote this article to unmask a spiritual desease that constantly creeps in and around our tongues that will lead our souls to its ultimate demise. ALL of us (including myself) have committed this sin against our Creator. It is time that we hold our tongues to prevent it from getting hold of our souls.

Years ago, I remember an incident that happened in the company where I used to work at. I was quietly eating my lunch at the cafeteria while reading a newspaper when a group of female co-workers decided to sit down around the table next to mine. I was not too thrilled to be next to these ladies because they are kind of loud when they converse amongst themselves. This chatter box group brought with them a stack of the latest copies of magazines and tabloids like The National Inquirer, Globe, Star and Us. Their faces were glued to these magazines and after a few minutes of silence, one of them said, “Hey, look at this!” pointing to an article that has a picture above it. Their heads congregated in front of the magazine and their eyes widened while their jaws dropped to the floor in perfect unison. A lady in the group said, “Well, this actress is now a bonafide slut!” Another article seemed to have been detected by the group’s radar and they all started chattering away like excited chipmunks. They started saying things like:

“She is going out with that?!” (Pointing to the man next to the celebrity in the picture)

“Ah huh, ah huh!. Let me tell you girls, she is just in it for the money and fame!”

“Her underwear is longer than her shorts! She looks sooooo cheap!!!”

“After having that baby, she now looks like a frog!”

“The clothes that she wears ought to be worn only during Halloween parties!”

“I betcha their marriage will only last a month!”

“Did you hear about their daughter doing this? She is out of control like her mother! The father is no better than the mother because he has women stashed all over the place. They all need to be in rehab!!”

“Guess who moved in together in an apartment? They look so hot together!”

“Hey, hey, did you know………”

It would be a needless effort for me to identify this type of conversation because all of us are familiar with its tone. Gossip had been in existence since the early years of mankind. It is some sort of twisted action or behavior of people that accuses and charges another human being whose actions they viewed as immoral, scandalous, intriguing or humorous.

How does gossip start? Does the following sound familiar to you?:

“Did you hear about what this person did?!”

“No, please tell me”

“Well, just between you and me, he/she…”

After a brief period of time, a mob of tongues has charged, convicted & condemned the subject of the gossip. Gossip does not discriminate. It exists among the young, old, rich, poor, average and intelligent. Its venomous veins are attached to every culture and nationality in this world.

What do you feel when you gossip? Do you feel a sense of satisfaction that you are a better person than the subject of your gossip? It is my personal belief that gossip is a sinful tonic that is used by careless minds to boost self righteousness.

If you are a gossip recipient, do you feel that a deep sense of curiosity is satisfied in you upon hearing the gossip? Does the mystery of the gossip trigger your curiosity? Do you crave for more like it was a potent drug?

Do you feel safe from the moral liability since you are just a hearer and not the source nor the transmitter of the gossip? If you don’t feel morally liable, let me ask you this question: When you recognized that what you were listening to is gossip, what made you continue to listen? Why didn’t you walk away or reprove it?

Recently, I was able to locate a friend through the internet. Through our conversation, I found out that my friend enjoys attending social gatherings whose attendees are from the same region where my friend grew up at. My friend told me that during these gatherings, gossip swarms like bees around a hive. When I told my friend that I find this behavior quite disdained, my friend dismissed my opinion as silly. My friend said that they were just “simply updating themselves” about the affairs of other people whom they find interesting. My friend said that they were just “merely sharing information” to enable themselves to know where everybody has gone to or is at in their lives.

What does gossip generate? From what I know, it sows hate, lies and creates discord among people. What people do not realize is that gossip is a very potent toxin that harms the gossiper more than the person who is the subject of the gossip. Why do I say this? Unbeknownst to the gossiper, whenever this person flicks out his/her tongue, he/she places himself/herself under the crosshairs of God’s wrath. God thunders in His 9th Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”.

Well, supposing the gossip is true. What then? In Psalm 101:5, the Almighty God says, “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy”. Leviticus 19:16, “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.”

There are endless but futile attempts to moralize gossiping. It had been used as a way to warn other people by demonizing the character of another person. Be fearful in falling into this belief because your seemingly righteous act is actually an act of slander. Your act of disparaging towards another person creates a window in your heart for the evil one to come and take residence.

There are some that believe that without incorporating gossip during conversations, the substance of the conversation becomes dull and boring. It has occurred in the past when idle talk became the essence of the life of conversations. Both gossip and humor has become intertwined during social gatherings.

Nowadays, I have seen people take an evil act or behavior and detoxify it by giving it a new description or respectable name. Pornography is called adult material; Divorce is called dissolution or parting ways; Revenge is called an Act of Vindicating Honor; Lie is called modified facts and information; Gossip is sometimes called a human nature’s yearning for concealed knowledge.

Gossipers have been known to don the coat of a crusader for transparency like Wikileaks whose existence is to publish private, secret and classified information to the world. They cruise their crusade by seeking out cracks and gaps in the private lives of others for them to peer through. They do their grimy deed while guarding their own lives with sealed bricks and barbed wires.

Do you feel like gossiping? Does it feel uplifting when you relay or receive a gossip? Do you feel like you are a righteous judge when you gossip? Look at the mirror and observed yourself when you hear a gossip. Does your eyes widen and your mouth opens up when you hear a juicy scandalous news about a person that you know? What is your first instinct? Do you feel the urge to pass on the gossip to selected friends? What level of thrill do you experience while being a conduit to a gossip?

Do you feel that your thirst for gossip is unquenchable? You promised yourself that you had enough of gossip but when you hear its poisonous whispers, you pretend to ignore it but your ears are ardently atone to every word in that whisper.

It is sad that people’s hearts nowadays have hardened and have accepted gossip as a part of their daily lives. Many support the spread of gossip as long as they are not the subject of the gossip.

In the history of mankind, there had been countless attempts to tame the tongue without any success. In the book of James 3:8-9, it states, “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.”

How you use your tongue reflects the nature of your heart. Do you use your tongue to edify and praise others? Does your tongue value virtue and produces good fruits by building up the spirit of other people? Does it give comfort to the individuals who are discouraged? Does your tongue bring life or does it bring death?

Honestly reflect on how you have used your tongue and remember this: The road to hell is paved with gossiping tongues.

Your tongue, your soul, your decision.....Your Eternal Destination…

The first Filipinos in America?

2011-10-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

A few articles ago, I wrote about a Filipino who served as a soldier for the Union army during the American civil war. In that article, I mentioned about the “Manila Men” that were recruited by French buccaneer Jean Baptiste Lafitte and fought alongside with the American troops under the command of Major General Andrew Jackson in the war of 1812.

After posting that article in the blog, I began to wonder if there is any recorded history that tells about when the first Filipinos arrived in United States. Filipino historians had written articles about the Filipinos that arrived in North America for the first time during the 18th century (1700s) riding the Manila galleon ships. These Filipino seafarers settled in the bayous of Louisiana and became fishermen. Though historical evidence points to early Filipino settlers in Louisiana, I felt that there are Filipinos who arrived in North America prior to the 1700s.

About 250 miles north from my house is the city of Morro Bay. On the entrance of Morro bay is a large volcanic rock formation called Morro Rock. This 581-foot rock was called “El Morro” in 1542 by Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo because it resembled a turban worn by the north African people. Near Morro Rock is a small bronze memorial plaque containing this inscription:

During the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade era from 1565 to 1815 Spanish galleons crossed the pacific between the Philippines and Mexico.

On October 18, 1587, the Manila Galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza commanded by Pedro de Unamuno entered Morro Bay near here. A landing party was sent to shore which included Luzon Indios, marking the first landing of Filipinos in the continental United States. The landing party took official possession of the area for Spain by putting up a cross made of branches. The group was attacked by native Indians two days later, and one of the Filipinos was killed. Unamuno and his crew gave up further exploration of this part of the coast.

There are two things in the inscription that caught my attention—October 18, 1587 and the words, “Luzon Indios”. If the historical claim on the plaque is indeed accurate, this means that Filipinos arrived in North America before the pilgrims. Though the plaque was unveiled by the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), there are a few historians that question its accuracy.

As an amateur historian, I have observed that accuracy becomes harder to attain as historians research further and further back in time. Written accounts left by our forefathers who witnessed significant historical events sometimes does not match physical evidence to validate its accuracy. As I write this article, I am hoping that new physical evidence will be unearthed that would sweep away any doubts regarding the exact date of the arrival of the first Filipinos in America. Until that happens, the available record of the first journey of Filipinos to America happened in 1587.

In 1586, two Spanish ships left the port of Manila under the command of Pedro De Unamuno. The ships were bound for Acapulco. Before the ship’s departure, the Spanish authorities instructed Captain Unamuno not to go to China per the instruction of Mexico Archbishop Pedro Moya De Contreras. The archbishop gave this instruction because the church authorities in Manila were worried that if the merchants in Acapulco establish a direct trade route to China, they would no longer go to Manila to pick up Chinese goods. If this happens, the Spanish post in Manila would be abandoned.

After Captain Unamuno left the Manila port, he disobeyed the instructions given to him by the archbishop of Acapulco and sailed to China. When the Portuguese officials saw Unamuno’s ship in China, they confiscated both ships and reported the incident to the Spanish authorities in Manila. Captain Juan De Argumedo was dispatched from Manila to China to arrest Captain Unamuno for defying direct orders from the Spanish church authorities.

Captain Unamuno and his men avoided capture and later met two Franciscan priests: Fr. Martin Ignacio De Loyola and Fr. Francisco De Noguera. Fr. De Loyola is the grand nephew of Ignatius De Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

Fr. Martin Ignacio de Loyola was the first person to circumnavigate the world twice during his missionary efforts in China. He was later imprisoned then expelled forcing him to move back to the Portuguese outpost in Macau.

Fr. De Loyola loaned money to Captain Unamuno to purchase a small Portuguese made merchant ship which he named Nuestra Senora De Buena Esperanza. Using the funds given to him by the Acapulco merchants, Captain Unamuno loaded the ship with Chinese goods. His crew consisted of Spanish soldiers, two Franciscan priests and Luzon Indios. On July 12, 1587, the Nuestra Senora De Buena Esperanza set sail to Acapulco, Mexico.

While sailing to Acapulco, the mast of the ship broke forcing Unamuno to seek land to repair and resupply his ship. In October 18, 1587, they spotted land and entered a bay whom he named Puerto De San Lucas. This land Unamuno found would later be called the state of California.

A council met in the ship and it was decided that a landing party be sent to shore to explore and take the port in the name of King Philip. Two groups were sent to shore: The first group of 12 Spanish soldiers was lead by Captain Unamuno. The second group of unknown number of Luzon Indios was lead by Fr. Martin De Loyola. The Luzon Indios were armed with swords and shields while Fr. De Loyola carried a cross.

While exploring the land, two of the Indios saw five Indians, two of which were carrying babies on their backs. They tried to make contact with the Indians but the Indians ran up the hill leaving behind the explorers. Fr. De Loyola later erected a cross.

On October 19th, Captain Unamuno came to shore with soldiers and the Indios was lead by Fr. De Noguera. They discovered an empty camp, foot prints, seventeen dugouts and other evidences that people live in the area.

On October 20th, the landing party were attacked by the Indians. Three of the soldiers were wounded while one was killed. A Luzon Indio was killed when he failed to cover himself with his shield when a javelin was thrown to him by an Indian attacker. More Indians started pouring down the hill to attack the landing party. Fortunately, reinforcements came from the ship and they were able to repulse the attack with one additional soldier being wounded. As the darkness started to roll in, the Indians withdrew. That evening, Captain Unamuno decided to continue their voyage to Acapulco.

Eight years after the first landing of Luzon Indios in California, another Spanish galleon ship named San Agustin with a crew of Luzon Indios landed in Point Reyes near the San Francisco Bay area on November 6, 1595. The Spaniards named the place “La Bahia de San Francisco” (The bay of San Francisco).

I found this article that was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 14, 1995 written by Carl Nolte.

“The San Agustin, which was probably a small warship in the Spanish navy, was commanded by Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno and had a crew of Spanish officers and Filipino sailors, according to historian Raymond Aker, who has studied the ship and its voyage. The expedition turned out badly: The San Agustin was the first ship known to be wrecked on the California coast.

The San Agustin’s voyage began in the summer of 1595 when it sailed from Manila to Acapulco with a cargo of 130 tons of Ming Dynasty porcelain, silk and other trade goods from China bound for Spain. It was part of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade that would dominate the economy of the Philippine colony from 1565 to 1815. On occasion, a galleon ship would also carry gold and silver, extracted from Philippine mines. This was the case with the Santa Ana, a galleon ship that left Manila the year after Pedro de Unamuno’s voyage, in 1588. It was hijacked by English pirates off the coast of Mexico.

When the San Agustin landed in Point Reyes, the ship’s Spanish officers wanted to quickly resume the voyage to Acapulco but Captain Cermeno wanted to explore the land. By then the ship had made contact with the local natives, the Coast Miwoks, who lived in about 6 villages in the area. Cermeno gave them cloths and other gifts while the Miwoks gave them seeds and a banner of black feathers.

At Cermeno’s direction, the Filipino sailors “assembled a small launch on the beach for exploring the shallow waters nearby. They stayed at the bay for three weeks, in gentle fall weather.” Unfortunately, a storm came which pulled the ship’s anchor up and blew the ship to the rocks, killing a dozen men including a priest. What happened to the cargo of the San Agustin? According to Nolte, “the Miwoks picked up the cargo, slept on the silk meant for the royalty of Europe, ate from the priceless blue porcelain of the Wan Li period of the Ming Dynasty.”

Captain Cermeno and his crew of Filipino sailors and a dog then built a larger launch from the materials they could find in Point Reyes and sailed out to Acapulco, which they reached without losing a man. They did lose the dog, though, which the Filipino crew and their Spanish captain ate to survive.”

The first Filipinos who landed in America were not immigrants but were members of an exploration team. Being explorers, they did not need any visas. The Filipino seafarer who deserted the Spanish galleons and established the Saint Malo settlement in the marshlands of Louisiana were the first Filipino illegal aliens in America. These Filipino T.N.Ts (Tago-Nang-Tago) who lived in the bayous of Louisiana kept away from mainstream society. Their existence was only known after a journalist named Lafcadio Hearn wrote an article about the Filipinos in America and published it in the American political magazine “Harper’s Weekly” in 1883
.

The Colgante Bridge Tragedy, September 16, 1972. Naga City.

2011-09-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

A few years ago during my short visit to Naga City, I was walking to the house of an old friend when I came upon the Colgante bridge that connects Pena Francia Avenue and Dayangdang Street. While crossing the bridge, I stopped half way and decided to look down on the river. A muddy water flowed calmly under the bridge but the dark water seemed to hide a terrible past whose horrors are mostly forgotten.

As I was looking at the side of the bridge, I saw a small path leading underneath the bridge. I went down the path and found the place under the bridge dump and smelly. While I was looking at the slow flowing dark water, I remembered the tragedy that happened close to four decades ago that took the lives of many local people in the region.

At that moment, sounds from the distant past echoed in my

mind of breaking timber and thundering shouts of fright and panic that filled the whole area around the bridge. As I observed the quiet surroundings underneath the bridge, I could hear the faint screams of agony that seemed to linger in the place after four decades had passed. It was then that I decided to write an article about the tragedy in Naga whose details is beginning to tatter in people’s minds.

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the Colgante tragedy. This article is dedicated to the departed ones and those who still have the physical and emotional scars that the Colgante bridge tragedy left.

COLGANTE BRIDGE DISASTER MEMORY by Joseph Ivan Yuboco

The collapse of the Colgante bridge in Naga during the Pena Francia fluvial procession of September 1972, was considered a major tragedy in the Philippines back in those days. An estimated 140 people perished, including people from the media. Though the memory of that day remained in the minds of many witnesses that were there during that tragic day, rarely is it mentioned in regular conversations nowadays.

Recalling a tragic event is sometimes not pleasant to do. But storing its memory in a hidden shelf in our memory can also be a sign of disrespect to the victims of the tragedy. I believe that both tragedy and triumph in this world should have an equal standing in our historical books. Both provides valuable lessons for those of us who would take time and look deeper to the events that led to its occurrence.

I think it was about 1970 when I first saw Colgante bridge. Weeks before my first visit to Colgante bridge, my friends warned me to walk carefully while crossing the Colgante bridge because it is a very old and rickety structure. My brother even told me that you could actually make the whole bridge shake by just jumping hard on the middle of it. My friends also advised me not to cross the bridge when darkness falls because carnivorous evil spirits are believe to rise up from the bottom of the bridge to grab unsuspecting people who happened to be crossing the bridge at night. The “Lady in white” is also known to live underneath the bridge and sings enchanting songs to lure unsuspecting locals to their demise—No Filipino horror story is complete unless the “White Lady” sings.

One afternoon, my brother and I decided to check out the Colgante bridge and see if the stories we have heard were indeed true. After school at around 5PM, we went to the bridge and stood at the western end of the bridge (Pena Francia avenue side). I looked at its foundation and saw a few large wooden posts, some of which are slightly leaning. To make sure it was safe to cross, we waited for a car to cross over the bridge. After a few minutes, we saw a car drive up to the bridge. The car stopped at the beginning of the bridge and the driver shifted its gears to gear number one before proceeding cautiously. I noticed that the whole bridge swayed slightly while the car was crossing. We waited for a few minutes for the shaking of the bridge to stop before my brother and I decided to cross it.

My brother was braver than I and so he casually walked over the bridge like it was not a big deal. While I was crossing the bridge, I extended my arms horizontally to keep my balance even and made sure that every wooden plank that I stepped on would hold my weight before taking another step. I became terrified when I saw that one of the wooden planks on the pedestrian path was missing. My brother, who was then standing on the other side of the bridge, ridiculed me and kept on shouting for me to hurry up. He said, “Ivan! Para mabalyo ka lang ning tulay, sobra man ang kaartehan mo! Dalian mo ta tibaad abuton kita ning matangang banggi digdi!”. (Ivan, all you need to do is cross the bridge! Quit acting up! Hurry because I don’t want to wait for you until midnight).

At around 3PM during the fluvial procession of September, 1972, I was standing along Elias Angeles street at the cross walk between Colegio de Santa Isabel and Naga Cathedral. There were a lot of vendors around cathedral selling toy clay guns and so I was checking them out when all of a sudden I heard a chorus of shouts coming from the direction of the Colgante bridge. At first, people were confused on what was going on but a lot of people from the crowd started running towards the colgante bridge. Being a little kid, I didn’t want to run along with the crowd in fear that I might get trampled. I heard people shouting in excitement, “Si Colgante na gaba!” (The Colgante collapsed!).

I went to Colgante bridge when I finally found it safe to go near it. The entrance towards the bridge was packed with excited on-lookers. It was chaotic. I was then standing on Pena Francia avenue and I could see people standing at the edge of where the bridge broke and they were looking down at the river. Majority of them are just curious bystanders. Fearing that my parents might get worried, I decided to go home. The next day, the Colgante bridge disaster hit the front page of Bulletin today, which is now called Manila Bulletin.

The following week, I started asking my classmates if they witnessed the tragedy. My classmates had “fantastic” stories that are mostly fabricated. One classmate told me that when the bridge broke, there was a man who was standing at the part of the bridge that broke and his body also broke into two. (How in the heck did that happened??). This student narrated in gruesome detail how the man’s guts spilled out when his body broke. Another student said that there were electric wires running under the bridge and when the bridge broke, the wires fell to the river and it electrocuted a lot of people killing them.

It took about another week or two before I decided to go to Colgante bridge to find out how it looked like. When I got there, there was a single lane cross bridge that was constructed along the side of the fallen bridge. Like the original wooden Colgante bridge, the tiny cross bridge would also sway when a person walk on it. When I was crossing the cross bridge, I looked down at the water. The bottom of the river is barely clear but I could see white objects that I could not identify. Someone told me that they were body parts but I did not believe them because the rescuers were able to retrieve all the bodies that were found underneath the bridge.

Crazy rumors swirled wildly regarding the incident. One known rumor claims that a "white lady" was seen on the bridge before it collapsed. Old folks told spooky stories to us children saying that every midnight and also during the early morning hours, a crying lady wearing a white robe would be seen gliding on water as if searching for souls that are still trapped under the muddy bottom of the river.

Memoirs of Tito Genova Valiente – Naga City

When I left home to watch the 1972 fluvial procession, I told my parents and relatives that I was going to watch the procession near the Colgante bridge. My high school classmates were with me that day and when we reached an area near the Colgante bridge, we saw that the crowd was thick as a bee hive. We decided not to squeeze through the crowd but instead decided to visit the home of a lovely girl named Maria Elena Peña. Maria Elena is the very first girl to grace the cover of Ateneo’s Blue and Gold school paper.

After our lively visit to Maria Elena’s house, we decided to walk back to Centro (downtown). While we were walking along Panganiban avenue heading to centro, we learned from other folks that the Colgante bridge fell. Along the way, we met Mang Edong Morales. Back in those days, there were just two names in photography known to the Catholic schools around the old cathedral: Mang Edong’s and the Bragais studio. No one went to Arevalo’s because that was

UNC’s territory. As we approached Mang Edong, we noticed that he was soaking wet. Mang Edong told us, “Nagaba Noy an Colgante!” (The Colgante collapsed). I am not sure if we

helped him but we rushed to the Colgante bridge to find out for ourselves what had happened. Grief and despair mobbed the scene. Names were being screamed. Roger Diaz, now an officer in the military, remembered the scene as a wet hell.

It was almost past six in the evening when I arrived back home. From the street, I could sense that our house was full of people and all the lights were on. When the people inside our house saw me, they all came alive with shouts, screams of surprise and relief. My sister cried. My grandmother’s voice in Tigaonon dialect went above the din: Ayaw na pag-uriti! (Don’t scold him anymore!)

When the excitement subsided, I was informed that one of the names that were listed as a fatality in the Colgante bridge tragedy was a Valiente. Upon hearing this, my uncles, brother and a cousin went to local radio stations in Naga to verify if I was indeed one of the people who died in the accident. My relatives also went to the provincial hospital and other sites to check the corpses taken from the Colgante. They went through agonizing moments while pulling the sheets off of every corpse to check their missing relative. I could not remember anything else at home. I did not even explain where I was for that would have been the most trivial explanation for that day.

Tony Lagniton - Buena Park, California, USA

I was working as a salesman for Coca-Cola back in 1972 and I was assigned in Naga City. I was drinking beer with a couple of my friends in a house near the Colgante bridge. We had a good view of the Colgante from the veranda of the house. While we were watching the crowd at the Colgante bridge, we suddenly saw the whole bridge collapse before our eyes. The tragedy ended our drinking session immediately.

Junie Ablay – ADEN HS 1980, Colorado, USA

Our house was located near the Panganiban bridge along the banks of the Bicol river. When the news about the Colgante collapse reached my parents, they started gathering my brothers and sisters to make sure that all of us were accounted for. We were not allowed to leave the house. At around 6PM, we all saw a body floating at Bicol river near our house. Somebody came riding a bangka and retrieved the body.

Teody Laquindanum – ADEN HS 1980, Naga, Philippines

I left the house with my older first cousin, Benar Manalag, that day to watch the Pena Francia fluvial procession. Before we left, my mother told my cousin, “Bantayan mo yan si Teody. Dai mo pabayaan ta ika ang matuha”. (Watch your cousin Teody. Do not leave him because you are older). My cousin obediently agreed to my mother.

My cousin suggested that we watch the fluvial procession at the Colgante bridge. When we got to the bridge, we saw a lot of people on it. There were children and teenagers swimming on the river near the bridge and some children would go to the top middle part of the bridge and jump to the river. I also saw ice cream vendors chiming their tiny bells, balloon vendors waiting for customers and balot vendors roaming among the crowd. The atmosphere was merry and relaxed.

We have been waiting at the bridge for about an hour already when I felt the bridge sway a little bit. I heard a teenager shout, “Magagaba na ang tulay!” (The bridge is going to collapse). Something inside me told me to leave the bridge. When I told my cousin that I wanted to leave, he became upset, telling me, “Ano ka na man Teody? Idtong harani nang mag abot ang pagoda, saka man gusto mong mag hali. Kung gusto mong umuli, magsulo kang umuli!” (What’s the matter with you, Teody? Just when the barge carrying the image is about to arrive, you decide that you want to leave. If you want to go home, go home alone!) I responded to my cousin, “Mapuli ako pero bahala kang mag explika kay nanay!” (I am going home alone but you have to explain this to Mom). This made Benar worried because he remembered that my mother specifically instructed him to watch over me. Benar was quite perturbed when we left Colgante bridge. It was about 15 minutes later after we left the Colgante bridge when we heard that the bridge collapsed. We were able to dodged disaster because I listened to that voice inside me.

Bunny Fulgentes – ADEN HS 1979, Simi Valley, California USA

I was a third grader back in September 1972. The following week after the Colgante bridge tragedy, we came back to school at Naga Parochial school and found one of my classmates named Arnel Avila missing. All my classmates at Taal section wondered where Arnel was. Our teacher sadly told us that Arnel was one of the fatalities of the Colgante bridge disaster.

My sister, Ingga, also told me that one of the teachers of Colegio de Sta Isabel died at Colgante.

Sem Cordial – ADEN HS 1980, Manila Philippines

From the Cathedral, I saw a tall crane that was brought in by the city engineers to clean up the remains of the old wooden bridge. It was also used to reconstruct the Colgante bridge.

Ricky “Guitarman” Sadiosa – ADEN HS 1980, Hong Kong

I was standing along the side of the wall of Colegio De Santa Isabel near the Colgante when the bridge collapsed. Things became chaotic and people started running along the shores of the Bicol river. Some people who witnessed the disaster help retrieve the victims.

I did not bother to squeeze through the crowd because of the panic. There were a lot of frantic people calling out the names of their relatives that they believed might have been at the bridge or along the river banks. There were people in the water but I did not see the conditions of the ones who fell off the bridge and the ones that died. I tried to run towards the broken bridge but the crowd was very thick. I saw that there were a lot of people who died. They had a hard time locating the victims because the water was either black or dark brown. Many were never found. Bodies which were pulled out of the wreck were lined up along the shore and some were covered with newspapers and blankets.

People who were rescued had all sorts of wounds. There was no organized rescue effort because the police did not devote time to prepare for such a disaster. They mainly focused their efforts on controlling the size of the crowd on the bridge, which they failed to do so.

When the barge carrying the Pena Francia image came close to the Colgante bridge, hoards of people rushed towards the bridge. The police felt helpless in preventing the overcrowding of the bridge. This is my recollection of the Colgante tragedy.

Emmanuel Matias – UNC engineering grad, San Francisco, California

When I was a kid, we used to live in Naga city subdivision. From the second floor of our house, we saw trucks carrying the bodies of the Colgante bridge tragedy being delivered to the radio station located along Panganiban avenue.

Rex Imperial – ADEN HS 1975 – Antipolo, Philippines

I was having a drinking session with the Morales brothers at the Morales Studio located in front of our house when all of a sudden we heard a commotion coming from everywhere. After hearing that the Colgante bridge had collapsed, my co-drinkers got worried and told me that their father was at the bridge taking pictures. They immediately got up and rushed to the scene. I was about to go with them but I was too drunk to do so. So I opted to stay behind and drink some coffee to make me sober. I listened to the radio and was able to monitor what was happening at the bridge. It was then that I learned that many died at the incident.

After waiting for about an hour or so, we saw Mang Edong (The father of the Moral

es brothers) arrived at the house all wet. He had some bruises on his arms and face but he looked alright. I also saw his professional camera strapped at his side all wet and slightly damaged. Obviously, he was one of the victims but fortunately he survived.

Mang Edong narrated to us how he survived by holding on a beam as the bridge collapsed underneath him. According to him, the people who died either drowned or got crushed from the falling debris. I remember that the bridge was made of lumber. We were all glad that Mang Edong was safe

Gerry Zantua – ADEN HS 1980, Legaspi, Philippines

I don't have vivid memories of the colgante collapse since we were still in grade III then. As far as I can remember, my brothers and I were at the compound of the Ursua family at Penafrancia Avenue. We always go to the Ursua’s residence every Pena Francia fiesta to watch the fluvial procession.

From the vantage point of the Ursua’s backyard, we saw the horrific collapse of the Colgante bridge. Our dear "Ina" had not yet passed under the bridge because only a few boats had gone through when the bridge collapsed. I even saw somebody jumped down to the river as the bridge was collapsing. People tried to scramble up the collapsed bridge but it was a futile effort because as they tried to climb up the bridge, another portion of the bridge completely crumbled.

As we went home at our house in Concepcion avenue near the Provincial hospital, we went by the compound of DZRB station (now ABS-CBN station). There we saw the dead bodies of the victims laying on the basketball court. These were the cadavers that were not accommodated by the provincial hospital. Curious people lining up to see the bodies and many tried to find out if they could recognize anyone of them as being either their relative or friend.

Iyo lang yan garo ang naguiguiromdoman ko, or naubusan na ako ning ingles. After a few days, Marcos declared martial law. But that is a whole different story.

Bogs Abogado – ADEN HS 1980, Manila, Philippines

What I can recall from that Colgante incident was that my aunt told us about the tragic incident after she came back from watching the fluvial procession. It was a national tragedy that was in the front pages of Bulletin Today and Daily Express, which were the leading newspapers at that time. The recovery efforts made by the Philippine Navy divers was in the news everyday. The scene was very gruesome as you get to see many bloated bodies being recovered daily. Many of the dead are women and children.

Cezar Bagadion – ADEN HS 1980, Manila, Philippines

I was at home when we heard over the radio late afternoon about Colgante's tragic collapse. I remember going to the site together with some of my friends the following day. Rescue and retrieval operations were still on going and the only memories which left a permanent imprint in my mind were the broken bridge and the numerous slippers of different sizes and shapes which were strewn all over the place with some still floating on the river. There was a lot of sadness in our neighborhood during that time. I really don't know for how long was it...but for a good period of time, I did not walk going to NPS simply because the colgante bridge was an integral part of my route.

Bobet Refran – ADEN HS 1980, Pampanga, Philippines

Ang tulay kang Colgante ay naging parte na kang buhay ko iyan. Ang boarding house mi kaidto ay mga 200 meters lang from that bridge. Isa pang landmark dyan so para baduya dyan sa pag isakat kan tulay bago tumawid sa Blumentritt. May phobia na ako sa harani dyan between Elias Angeles street and Pena Francia avenue tombok ang colgante bridge ta nakikilan kami ni Victor Saulon dyan ning biente sinko centavos tapos may kaereba pang suntok sa pandok.

Pena Francia is really our devotion kaya yearly our family participates on that religious occasion. Natatandaan ko pa kaidto ang ama ko na legitimate na taga Naga from San Filipe. Dyan siya nag dakula and ang nanay ko naman ay from Tigaon. Both of them decided to stay in Tigaon.

Pagpoon sana kan traslasyon excited na kam

i maka duman sa Naga. Usually after lunch nag aarkela sinda nin jeep kaereba ang mga deboto sa tigawon para mag traslasyon. When we reached Naga, nagbababa kami along Pena Francia avenue sa tapat kan police station na harani sa Camarines sur high school ta aram kong malimpoy ang lugar na idto dahil sa darakulaon na acacia trees. We have to wait hangan sa pag agi kan divino rostro ta duman kami minasunod sa pag prosesyon.

During the fluvial, ang lugar naman na pig hehelengan mi kan sakay

ni INA sa banks of the river na harani sa Magsaysay bridge un dakulaon na vacant lot na sadire daa kan mga Abella na usually open un for public pag fluvial, thanks doon sa may sadere kan daga. Maengat ang papa ko pag abot sa mga ganon sitwasyon. Habo niya kaming masaktan during the prosesyon dahil nga sa mga nag boboya, dae macontrol ang crowd. So minarayo na sana kami.

Kan mangyari na ngane ang trahedya, nakalagpas na si INA sa colgante bridge sa sobrang kagalakan asin kaogmahan kan mga naghereleng duman sa tulay. Sabi nag rulokso pa ngane daa so mga tawo kaya lalong nag kaigwa impact ang kahoy asin gurang ng tulay. Sa heleng ko more than 300 person ang napasama sa wreckage kan tulay.

Aram ko nag responde kaidto so opisina na Papa (Malaria Eradication Service na under sinda kaidto kan Department of Health ) kasi igwa sinda kaidto nin speed boat saka mga service na pick-up and jeep na ang tatak kan awto ninda JEEP made in USA. Igwa pa ngane nin kamot na nag aabrasahan and may background na bandera kan kano asin pinoy. Ganyan kadayopot ang pag ka amigohan kan pinoy asin kano kan panahon heheh.

Anyway, mayo kaming direct contact kan pangyayari, iyan sana ang nagegeromdoman ko. After so long na dai ako naka-attendir ning fluvial, nakabalik uli ako sa Naga para mag-attendir pero solosolo na lang ako ta mayo na akong kaereba. Duman man geraray ako nagdadalan sa sinabi kong lugar para magpasalamat ki INA. Kaya kan pag agi niya sa tapat ko during the fluvial, para ka bang binigyan ng bagong lakas after so long time na nalingawan mo siya and besides napaluha na sana ako ta naaalala ko kasi so teen age life ko sa NAGA CITY and dakulaon na tabang asin tinukdo niya sa sadiri ko. All my achievements and my failures ini offer ko na sa kanya. Nagpapasalamat man ako dahil naging Bikolano ako, dahil naging taga Tigawon ako, dahil naging Atenista ako, and dahil naging friend and batch mates ko kamo. All these things ay parte na kan life natin na minsan masarap gunitain.

Jose C. Camano – Philippines.

I was already in college and writing for the Bicol Mail, a local newspaper, when I encountered my guardian angel.

In September 1972, few days before I was arrested by the agents of Philippine Constabu
lary, I was on the wooden Colgante bridge that connected the Penafrancia Avenue to Tabuco Avenue awaiting the fluvial procession of the Lady of Penafrancia. Since the route of the water procession passes under the Colgante bridge, I felt that being on the bridge would be an ideal spot for a reporter covering the fluvial procession.

People were jostling and pushing in that crowded bridge. It was very uncomfortable on Colgante and I felt that I was being pushed and led out of the bridge. I left the bridge and had tried to look for another spot where I can observe the fluvial procession but I found none. I then proceeded to downtown and tried to skip the procession

After spending sometime at downtown and looking at the thriller photos outside the movie house, I went back to Colgante Bridge. There I saw the collapse bridge and bodies of people being fished off from the river one by one pinned under the collapsed wooden beams of the bridge. My gardian angel did not only spare me from certain death but also shielded me from the trauma and agony of witnessing people helplessly struggle under water as they gasped their last breath before drowning.

Bodies were piled at DZRB radio station at Concepcion Pequeňa where they could be identified by relatives and friends. I proceeded to the radio station and had to hop from one body onto another that were laid on the dusty hall. The body count reach to about 50. I recognized one of the died as the security guard of the local branch of the Philippine National Bank who was known as “Jess Lapid” because he resembled the actor.

It was the first time in the history of the Penafrancia celebration where the image did not complete the whole route of the fluvial procession.

I was not able to draw any meaning from this tragedy. Was it a way of communicating to the people that the ritual should be discontinued? After all, the voyadores that came to worship and carry the image from the shrine to the cathedral and back to her shrine were mostly drunk, rowdy and wild men. The atmosphere was far from contemplative and spiritual event. Some voyadores might have been motivated by joyful spirituality when they have devoted their lives to being the Lady’s noble escorts year after year. But this meaningful devotion is oftentimes diluted by others who are just there due to just sheer fanaticism and fun. Viva La Beer Gin.

Joaquin F. Perez - Philippines

I can still vividly remember the events that happened on that tragic Third Saturday of September, 1972.

My wife, Bebot, and I were bedridden with Influenza, in our room overlooking Mesirecordia Street. Our ears then were glued to our transistor radio following the progress of the fluvial procession. All of a sudden the radio announcer cried out, amidst shouts of ‘Viva la Virgen,’ that the wooden Colgante Bridge was breaking up! Then there was a sudden eerie silence (we were told later that the announcer went down with the Bridge and was listed as one of the fatali
ties). When I looked out our window I could see a succession of wet bloated bodies being carried on the dripping wet bare backs of ‘voyadores’ on their way to Radio Station DZRB in Panganiban! We later learned that the final body count reached more than a hundred! Papa Johnny, my father-in-law, was near the bridge, and was able to save about 5 men and women, with his military experience as a U.S. Veteran! There were, unfortunately, some who also died while pitifully trying to save others.

The following are a few information I was able to gather during my research.

The Colgante bridge was 15 years old back in 1972. It was built with steel grinders and wooden planks. It was not able to support the weight of 1000 people that stood on top of the bridge to watch the fluvial procession. When it collapsed, it fell 30 feet into the water.

Four days after the colgante bridge fell, public concern over the victims took a back seat because martial law was declared. The Philippine media network was ordered closed by Marcos and journalists were hunted down by the Philippine Constabulary and army.

As the Colgante victims were being mourned and buried, then Public Information Secretary Francisco “Kit” Tatad, read on television proclamation number 1081 on the eve of September 21, 1972.

The city mayor of Naga city back in 1972 was Vicente Sibulo. Due to declaration of martial law, mayor Sibulo found it hard to mobilize the city government’s resources. Mayor Sibulo was the leader of the Liberal Party which opposed Marcos’s Nacionalista Party. When Sibulo asked the Department of Public Works & Highways to lend their crane, the officials there initially hesitated. But due to the magnitude of the tragedy, the officials became humane enough and lent their equipment to haul away the debris of the fallen bridge.

Even though the colgante tragedy captured national headlines, the Marcos administration only responded three days after the tragedy. Mayor Sibulo said that he was forced to ally himself to the Marcos administration because it was the only way Marcos will release the funds to construct a new concrete Colgante bridge.

Manuel Sadiua, a member of the Naga City Press Club, arrived minutes after the bridge fell. Sadiua lost count of the number of bodies that were pulled out from the river. He remembered the bodies were laid side by side at the pavement of the former radio site of Radyo Ng Bayan three blocks from the river.

As darkness fell, police and ambulance sirens can be heard around the area. The Church bells tolled like a mother wailing in agony for the death of her child. It is believed that a number of the dead victims were electrocuted because there were decorative lights on the bridge that day. Philippine navy frogmen worked to locate and retrieve the bodies of the victims. Several unclaimed cadavers were wrapped in brown paper and placed in hastily built boxes.

Most of the guards at the Naga City jail rushed to the Colgante bridge to assist in the rescue operation. Only two guards were left at the jail. Sensing their opportunity to escape, the prisoners caused a mock riot to draw the 2 guards into the cells. The guards were overpowered and 47 out of the 52 prisoners escaped. Five prisoners were later captured.

Police detective Major Eduardo Reyes remembered that day. “It was like a nightmare. I was about 240 meters from the Colgante bridge riding on the barge carrying the Pena Francia image when the bridge collapsed before my eyes. The next thing I knew, people were bobbing up and down the dark waters of the river clawing one another to stay afloat. It was every man for himself.”
The Colgante bridge was deemed unfit for vehicular traffic after a typhoon hit the region on June 1972 that weakened the bridge’s foundation. This was the second time the bridge collapse. The first one was just a suspension-type bridge made with steel matting and cables. During the fluvial procession on September 1948, the old Colgante bridge broke killing 30 people.

Emmanuel Enalpe, a roving correspondent of the Philippine ABS-CBN network said he was monitoring live coverage of the two reporters on the bridge when all of a sudden the coverage went off the air. One of the reporters who died was Mila Obias. Before Obias fell to her death, the last things that she said in the Bicol dialect was, (translated) “Here is our beloved Lady. Let us rejoice and give thanks to the kind Lady for her blessings…” The coverage was cut after that.

Parts of a Naga city newspaper article published on September 20, 2000 entitled “The colgante tragedy and Ina’s tender mercies” by Jose Fernando P. Obias.

Then Naga City police chief Pama appointed Patrolman Ernesto Idian as an investigating officer in the Colgante tragedy. Patrolman Idian recalled his observations.

“Corroded iron barrel bolts were what was then found and salvaged from the pile and tumble of timber—the remnants of what was once a wooden bridged called Colgante. The barrel bolts appeared still whole in the inside but their shaft embedded in the wood has tapered and corroded. I would say that the tragedy of the Colgate bridge did not strike on September 1972. It actually happened a long time prior to the collapse of the bridge.

I spent many days scouring the area on a boat trying to understand through the maze of broken tattered timber and broken wood how the bridge collapsed in seconds. Every night for a month between 8 to 9 in the evening, people claimed to hear groans and moans from the collapsed bridge.”

When Colgante bridge collapsed, the voyadores realized that it was useless to proceed by boat. Msgr. Salvador Naz and Msgr. Domingo Nebres instructed the image be removed from her andas. The image was then carried ashore by passing it from one voyadores onto another. The house near the river shore where the image was carried to is owned by Francisco C. Asetre, who is a dispatcher of Pantranco (now Philtranco). During that time, Mr. Asetre was building his house and he had piles of lumber stacked up near the river bank. Asetre said that he bought the high quality lumber in Tamban, Tinambac, Camarines Sur. The voyadores then asked Astre if

they could use his lumber because the path up the river bank was slippery. Astre gave permission and so the lumber were piled up on the river bank and banana trees were cut to clear a path going up the hill from the river bank. This path is known by the residents in surrounding barangays as “Hinawasan”—A Bicol word that referenced the point where the image disembarked. One witness claims that the Ina image was transported through Dayangdang and Magsaysay avenues and reached its final destination at Pena Francia church.

Some people blamed Imelda Marcos for the accident because she boarded the barge carrying the venerated image of the Blessed Mother and as per tradition no other female is supposed to be in it, except for the Pena Francia image.

The girl at the gas station.

2011-08-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Very early this morning, my wife and I drove to the car rental store to return the SUV that we rented. Before dropping the vehicle, we stopped by a gas station to put in gas. While pumping gas, a young girl approached us and asked if we can spare some money for her to buy food. I noticed that the girl was purposely hiding part of her face with her hair. My wife handed me a few dollars to give to this young girl whom I think is between 18-20 years old. When I gave the money to the young girl, I noticed that she had a wound on her forehead and it was bleeding. Feeling embarrazed that I noticed her wound, she hurriedly took the money and humbly thanked me.

As the young girl walked away, I wondered where her parents are. Don’t they know that their young daughter is hurt and is begging for money from strangers at a gas station? What really saddened me was this girl looked like she did not have a hard life during her early years because she looked like a typical college student. She did not appear to have any other physical signs of neglect or gang-type tattoos on her body. As I got back inside the cozy comfort of the SUV, I wondered why that girl slid down in life. I will never know…

When I came home this afternoon and saw my beautiful daughter, I gave her a hug and asked her if she needed anything. She looked at me with her smiling eyes and said, “I am ok, dad”.

My daughter is fortunate to have a secured and safe home. But out there is a lonely girl that has a bleeding wound on both her head and also her heart...

Dr. Jose Rizal's travel across United States of America

2011-07-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

I felt a bit uncomfortable while writing this article because I have only limited access to research materials. This is one of those days where I wish I was back in the Philippines where credible research materials are within reach. With very little material that I have to work with, hopefully this article has some value to an amateur historian. Today, I would like to write a short article about Dr. Jose Rizal’s travel to America.

About a decade ago, my wife & I plus our children traveled to Seattle, Washington to visit my good friend, Peter Ivan Guballa. During the first day of our visit, Peter invited me to go for a fast walk at a scenic trail. After walking about a mile we came to a park that is named, to my surprise, Dr. Jose Rizal Park! In the middle of the park is a statue of Dr. Rizal with a bronze plaque below it containing a short inscription about the Philippine national hero.

I was in disbelief at first because I never expected to find a small memorial park honoring Dr. Rizal in a place that is half a world away from the Philippines. The park sits on a hill that offers a panoramic view of downtown Seattle. Still feeling bewildered, I asked Peter if the Philippine national hero ever visited Seattle. Peter said that Dr. Rizal never step foot in Seattle. The place where Dr. Rizal landed during his visit to America was San Francisco, which is 800 miles south of Seattle, Washington. The Dr. J. Rizal memorial in Seattle was built to honor the Filipino martyrs who were executed in 1896 by the Spaniards. It also recognized the Filipinos who migrated to Seattle in the early 1900s.

Dr. Rizal’s journey to America started at Yokohama, Japan on April 13, 1888. He boarded an English steamer named The Belgic. His heart felt pain while boarding the steamer because he knew that he will never be able to see the beautiful country of Japan again. He also felt sad because he will be leaving a Japanese girl he fell in loved with named Seiko Usui, whom he affectionately call O-Sei-San.

During the trans-Pacific voyage, Rizal met a semi-Filipino family. The mother of the family is the daughter of an Englishman whose last name is Jackson. The family brought with them a servant from Pangasinan. The child of the family asked Dr. Rizal if he knew a man in Manila named “Richal”, the author of Noli me tangere. Dr. Rizal told the child that he was the “Richal”. Upon hearing this, the mother was delighted to learn that there is a celebrity on board the ship.

One of the passengers in the ship was a Japanese national named Tetcho Suehiro (1849-1896). Tetcho is a journalist, novelist, professor and a statesman in Japan. He was imprisoned for criticizing the press ordinances in 1875 in Japan. According to one account, Suehiro was branded as a radical and was forced to leave Japan by the Government. Early during the voyage, Suehiro was mostly alone thinking that he was the only one in the ship who spoke Japanese. Dr. Rizal learned about this and befriended Suehiro and acted as his interpreter during their train trip from San Francisco to New York and their voyage from New York to London where they parted ways on December 1, 1888.

During the eight months that they were traveling together, Dr. Rizal told Suehiro about his life and his personal crusade against the oppressive Spanish rule in the Philippines.

Suehiro later wrote a remark about his impression on Dr. Rizal:

“Mr. Rizal….young as he was, he was proficient in seven languages. Rizal was an open-hearted man…He was an accomplished, good at picture, skillful in exquisite wax work, especially. …frank and daring fellow, fond of various arts, especially good at dearing…”

After traveling fifteen days across the Pacific Ocean, the steamer Belgic finally reached San Francisco in April 28, 1888. Upon learning that the ship carried Chinese nationals, the health officials at the dock immediately place the ship under quarantine. What disturbed Rizal is the clear act of discrimination done against the Asian passengers. When Rizal wrote a letter to Mariano Ponce in July 1888, he mentioned this incident. Rizal wrote:

“They placed us under quarantine, in spite of the clearance given by the American Consul, of not having had a single case of illness aboard, and of the telegram of the governor of Hong Kong declaring that port free from epidemic. We were quarantined because there were on board 800 Chinese and, as elections were being held in San Francisco, the government wanted to boast that it was taking strict measures against the Chinese to win votes and the people’s sympathy. We were informed of the quarantine verbally, without specific duration. However, on the same day of our arrival, they unloaded bales of silk without fumigating them; the ship’s doctor went ashore; many customs employees and an American doctor from the hospital for cholera victims came on board. Afterwards only the passengers of the first class were allowed to land; those of the 2nd and 3rd classes – Japanese and Chinese -- remained for an indefinite period. It is said that in that way they got rid of about 300 Chinese, letting them gradually die on board. I don’t know if it is true.”

Rizal also wrote that the health officials were not afraid of the cargo of silk being contaminated (each bale cost $700) and these officials even ate their lunch on board the ship. It appears here that the merchandise cargo got more respect than the human cargo.

Six years prior to the arrival of Rizal in San Francisco, The Chinese Exclusion act was signed into law on May 8, 1882. This law banned Chinese nationals from migrating to the United States. The Chinese exclusion act was made permanent in 1902 but was repealed in December 17, 1943 because China became an important ally of the U.S. against Japan. It allowed a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year. The Chinese only started migrating to the U.S. in groves after the immigration act of 1965.

Even though that Federal law was repealed in 1943, the laws in California still prevented the Chinese from marrying whites. That California law was eventually repealed in 1948.

On May 4, 1888 at three in the afternoon the quarantine ended. Dr. Rizal checked in at the Palace hotel which is considered a luxurious hotel in San Francisco. The room rate at the Palace was $4 per day.

(According to one historical article I read about hotels back in 1888, hotel room rates included the meals for the day. Luxury hotel room rates during the late 1800s ranges between $2 to $3 per day in California. Per 1890 census, the average daily income then for a worker was $1.53 a day.)

Dr. Rizal did a lot of strolling around downtown San Francisco visiting places like The Golden Gate, which is a short distance from the Palace hotel. He mentioned that the best street in San Francisco is ‘The Market’ street. He also went to a street near Chinatown.

(note: The Golden Gate that Dr. Rizal visited is not the Golden Gate Bridge for the bridge was not yet built in 1888. Dr. Rizal visited the Golden Gate PARK).

Rizal left San Francisco on May 6, 1888 and boarded a train (possibly a Southern Pacific Railroad train) that was loaded up on a train ferry at Port Costa. The only known train ferry service I know that transported trains from Port Costa to Benicia back in 1888 was the 424 feet long Solano train ferry. Solano was capable of carrying entire passenger trains or a 48-car freight train plus locomotive. It was in service from 1879 to 1930.

Rizal bought a 75-cent dinner at Sacramento, California and slept at the train coach. I wonder what kind of dinner Rizal bought? The cost per pound of round steak back in the late 1800s was 12 cents per pound. Strangely enough, the price for a pound of butter during the same period was 25.5 cents. Rizal also ate a meal at Provo, Utah for the same cost of 75 cents.

While traveling through Utah, Rizal noticed that in spite Mormonism being the dominant religious order in the state, the cities are not thickly populated. I guess Mormons had been to known to have large families. One strange observation that Rizal noted was in Utah, the ones who waited on restaurant tables are women.

Rizal observed that the state of Colorado has more trees than the three previous states they traveled through. In Chicago, he noted that every tobacco shop has a statue of an Indian. (Tobacco was introduced by the American Indians. The Indian statues were used to signal to people, specially the illiterate ones during those early years, that the store sells tobacco and permits smoking inside the establishment.)

The train stopped for a few hours near Niagara Falls where Rizal went down to the foot of the falls. Rizal was amazed by the titanic size of the falls and the thunder that it created as more than 168,000 cubit meters of water poured down from the falls every minute. He called the falls as “The majestic cascade” in his letter to Mariano Ponce.

As they were living Niagara falls in the evening, Rizal described the mysterious sound and echo that he heard coming from the falls. Though Rizal was impressed by Niagara Falls, he noted in his diary that it is not as pretty as the falls in Los Banos. But he added that there is no comparison between the two falls.

When Dr. Rizal arrived in New York, he got a room at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. From the time Rizal arrived in New York on May 13, 1888 at 11:10AM until he left for Europe on May 16th at 9AM, he did not write a lot of details about what he saw and observed in New York. In one of his letters, Rizal wrote that New York is a big city and “everything is new”. Rizal probably wrote this observation because he was used to the aged and antiquity of buildings and other material things that is a common sight in Europe.

Rizal also mentioned in the same letter that he visited “some relics of Washington”. He called Washington as “The great man whom I believe has no second in this century”. It is interesting to me that Rizal praised George Washington because Washington used military means to gain independence from the British. I can’t help but wonder if Dr. Rizal was inspired by Washington’s military achievements and hoped that the same armed struggle for emancipation can be achieved in the Philippines.

Ten years after Rizal visited New York, Dr. Pio A. Valenzuela met with Dr. Rizal at Dapitan in June 21, 1896. Dr. Valenzuela laid out the Katipunan’s plan for an armed revolt against the Spaniards. During this meeting, Rizal shared to Dr. Valenzuela his approval for an armed revolt to gain independence from the Spaniards. But Rizal pointed out the importance of having arms and also the support of the aristocratic Filipinos.

There are historians who claims that Rizal never approved of an armed revolt to gain independence. But in the memoirs written by Dr. Pio A. Valenzuela during the 1920s, he mentioned the details of his meeting with Dr. Rizal where Rizal even shared with Dr. Valenzuela his attempt to borrow money from a rich Filipino so that he can buy arms from Japan. But a school of historians are doubting the accuracy of the memoirs because of the inconsistencies that had been found in it.

Even though Rizal was repulsed by the mistreatment of the Chinese nationals on the Belgic steamer, Rizal never mentioned being personally discriminated while traveling across America. Though he never experience discrimination, he wrote this observation:

“I visited the largest cities of America with their big buildings, electric lights, and magnificent conceptions. Undoubtedly America is a great country, but it still has many defects. There is no real civil liberty. In some states a Negro cannot marry a white woman, nor can a Negress marry a white man. Because of the hatred of the Chinese, other Asiatics, like the Japanese, being confused with them, are likewise disliked by the ignorant Americans. These customs are excessively strict."

Though Rizal wrote about the social ills of America, he also added this statement:

“However, as they say rightly, America offers a home to the poor who like to work.”

I wonder if Rizal saw the very first vending machine ever installed in America. The first vending machine was placed at the elevated New York train station in 1888 and it dispensed Tutti-Fruitti gum.

Remembering the honor & tragedy of my Boy Scout years.

2011-06-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

June 6, 2011

During my elementary days, I remember feeling so excited when I finally stepped into the third grade because that grade made me eligible to sign up for membership with the Boy Scout of the Philippines.

Our scout master then was Mr. Besenio who, for many years, handled the boy scout program of the parochial school where I attended. Once in a while, Mr. Besenio would organize a weekend camping at the school yard. One of the highlight of the camping is the traditional bonfire. During these bonfires, Mr. Besenio would tell us interesting stories about his experiences during his younger days as a boy scout. I think he mentioned that he was a member of a Boy Scout troop that attended a jamboree in Mount Makiling. I don’t know if the jamboree that he attended was the 10th world jamboree held in Mt. Makiling back in 1959.

During that time, it seemed like every scout’s dream was to join the world jamboree. When I became a 6th grader, there was a huge buzz among the boy scout community in the Philippines because there was news that the Boy Scout of the Philippines national council was searching for qualified scouts to send to the 14th World Scout Jamboree in Norway. That jamboree was held in Lillehammer, Norway on July 29 thru August 7, 1975. The Norway jamboree was popularly called, “Nordjamb 75”. The world Jamboree in Mt. Makiling in 1959 was called “Bamboo Jamboree”.

I can no longer remember who got selected to attend the Norway jamboree but the troops in our school were disappointed when none of us were selected. There was a rumor that went around saying that for a scout to qualify as a member of the Philippine delegation to Norway, the parents of that scout has to afford the expensive round trip plane fare to Norway. I don’t know if this is really true.

To bring up the spirit of all Boys & Girls Scouts that were not able to attend the jamboree in Greece, camping jamborees were held in different parts of the Philippines. One of these jamborees was held at Cadlan, Camarines sur, which I was fortunate to attend along with a few boy scouts from our school. The jamboree was attended by scouts from different parts of the Bicol Region. I think this is the jamboree where we ate “Tocino” (sweetened cured pork) and rice for five days. I got tired of eating tocino after that.

It was during this Jamboree that I met my high school classmate, Ricky “Guitarman” Sadiosa. Ricky’s tent was set up a few tents down from where our troops had ours.

During the jamboree, I noticed that the girl scouts were assigned in an area that had large trees that offered the girls good shade from the afternoon sun. They also had a restroom structure in the middle of their camp which they call Girls Latrines. I guess they wanted it to sound more sanitary. The boy scouts had to do our “business” in places like fields with tall wild grasses, along the river banks or behind bushes. For those scouts that are shy and wants some privacy, these brave scouts would enthusiastically build a “kaybo” (outhouse). The only disadvantage when using the kaybo is when you had to “go” during the middle of the night and you don’t have a candle, a misstep inside the kaybo could bring your whole leg down the hole where the sun don’t shine. That’ll ruin your day for sure because every scout in the camp would learn about it making your misfortune the joke of the day!

Weeks after the jamboree that we attended, I heard the vegetation around the Boy Scout camping grounds we used in the town of Cadlan grew vigorously because of the massive “fertilization” the scouts did around the grounds.

While the Boy Scout council was trying to select the members of the Philippine delegate to Norway, I learned from the radio or newspaper that some parents were not very keen on letting their children attend the world jamboree because of a tragedy that happened back in 1963 that took the lives of a group of young Philippine boy scouts. Below is the information that I was able to gather without doing an in-depth research on the whole incident.

On July 25, 1963, then Philippine president Diosdado Macapagal received at the Malacanang palace a courtesy call from 24 scouts and scouting officials which will represent the Philippine delegation to the world scout jamboree in Norway. The members of the delegation were:
Dr. Florante L. Ojeda (Delegation head, Agusan council)
Fr. Jose Ma. Martinez, SJ (A faculty member of Ateneo De Naga & delegate chaplain).
Dr. Bonifacio V. Lascano (group physician)

The following are the scout members of the delegation

Manila Boy Scout council members:
Ramon V. Albano
Henry Chuatoco
Jose Antonio Delgado
Pedro Gandia
Wilfredo Santiago
Ascario Tuason Jr.

Quezon City Boy Scout Council:
Roberto Castor
Romeo R. Rallos
Rogelio Ybardolaza

Manila and Goa, Camarines Sur Boy Scout council:
Felix Fuentebella Jr.

Other Scout delegates:
Victor De Guia Jr (Baguio City)
Antonio Limbaga (Zamboanga City)
Roberto Lozano (Dagupan City)
Paulo Madrinan (Pasay City)
Jose Fermin Magbanua (Negros Oriental)
Filamor Reyes (Cavite)
Antonio Torillo (Cavite)
Bencio S. Tobias (Tarlac)
Gabriel Borromeo (Pasay)
Patricio Bayaran (Pasay)
.
Four BSP (Boy Scout of the Philippines) officials departed for Marathon, Greece ahead of the main group. These ‘lucky’ officials were: Gabriel Daza (BSP president), H. B. Reyes (BSP deputy national scout commissioner), J. Plaridel Silvestre (BSP Vice President), Godofredo Neri (BSP executive).

On July 28, 1963, the boy scouts boarded a KLM plane bound for Hong Kong, which was the first leg of their trip to Greece. During a stop over in Bangkok, Thailand, one of the scouts nicknamed Chito wrote a post card to his parents. He did not know that the note he wrote on the card would be his last. He wrote these words on the card:

Dearest Pa, Ma, Brothers, Sister and Everybody:

We arrived in Bangkok at 10:25 PM (Manila Time) safe and in good condition. We departed Hong Kong at 8:45 p.m. (Manila Time). I already sent to Pati a postcard. Please pray for me. Thank you.

Love, Kisses and prayers, Chito

From Bangkok, they boarded another plane bound for Bombay, India and had a scheduled transfer flight to Greece. The plane that they boarded was United Arab Airlines (now called Egypt Airlines) flight 869. There were 52 passengers and 8 crew members in that flight. The plane’s pilot was Mohammad Shoura, a former pilot of Egyptian president Nasser. His co-pilot was Ibrahim Rustom, a veteran pilot. According to one crash report, this is what happened when they were approaching their destination in India.

At 20:16 (8:16pm) the plane reported being overhead the Santa Cruz VOR beacon at 7,000 feet and it was cleared to descend to 4,000 feet. The crew requested an instrument landing system approach to runway 09 and that they would follow the back beam procedure. The control advised them the procedure was not available and they should carry out an approach using the VOR beacon. The crew agreed to use the procedure and reported leaving 7,000 feet in the descent on the 272 degree radial from the VOR. The controller advised them that they may encounter heavy turbulence if they go more than six or seven miles west of the airport. The crew requested a left-hand procedure rather than the more normal right-hand one because of the weather. Permission was granted. The aircraft, already in severe turbulence, entered a left hand turn and then crashed into the sea nine nautical miles from Madh Island.

Only the bodies of Jose Delgado, Henry Chuatoco, Roberto Castor, Ascario Tuason Jr & Librado Fernandez were positively identified. Because no wreckage was salvaged and the crew did not report any problems, it was concluded that the aircraft was probably lost due to loss of control while turning in severe turbulence and heavy rain. But without the wreckage, the report remained inconclusive.

On the August 3, 1963, the Philippines decided to send a small group to represent the country. The new delegates were: Scouts Nicasio Fernandez (Far Eastern University), Guillermo Flores (Mapua Institute of Technology) and Luis Santiago (San Beda College). San Beda was the school where scouts Delgado & Fuentebella attended.

During the jamboree in Greece, the flag of the Philippines flew half-mast at a sub-camp called Antiochis, where the fallen Filipino scouts would have stayed had they made it.
On August 4, 1963, the frigate Kirpan of the Indian Navy steamed to the crash site. Indian consul general to the Philippines K.M. Modi and Commander J.D. Cooper of the Indian Navy laid a giant wreath on the waters to honor the dead.

Streets in Quezon City were renamed to honor the fallen scouts. Each of them were conferred a special medal of honor award. In 1988, then President Corazon C. Aquino, chief scout of the Boy Scout of the Philippines declared the 28th of July of every year as Scout Memorial Day.

Remembering the Philippine Scouts’ moto,

“Laging Handa!”

I read this editor’s note from one of my sources and I just wanted to share it with you:

Bobby M. Reyes wanted to join the Philippine delegation to the 11th World Jamboree. Reyes was a scout of the BSP Sorsogon council and he attended the 10th world jamboree in Mt. Makiling, Laguna, Philippines in July 1959. When he returned to Sorsogon after the world jamboree in August 1959, he asked his father to help him participate at the 11th World Jamboree in Greece. His father, Dominador S. Reyes, was then a candidate for provincial governor in the November 1959 elections. His father promised Bobby that he would help him attend the next world jamboree if he wins the elections. The father explained that he won’t be able to afford Bobby’s expenses to attend the world jamboree if he loses the election. Fortunately for Bobby, his father lost the election.

Filipinos in the American Civil War

2011-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through a number of U.S. civil war historical pictures in the internet showing Union and Confederate soldiers when a picture suddenly caught my attention. Most of the soldiers in the previous pictures were Caucasians and African-Americans but the soldier in this particular picture is obviously Asian.

I found out that the name of the soldier in the picture is Felix Cornelius Balderry—A Filipino! He belonged to Company A, 11th Michigan Volunteers.

Before the civil war, Balderry worked for a certain sea farer named Joseph Foster of Leonidas, Michigan. Balderry moved to the state of Michigan and worked as a farmhand before enlisting in the union army in December 7, 1863 at Kalamazzo. He served in the western theater and was sent to the hospital at Nashville in June 1864 or 1865.

After Balderry was discharged from the army in September of that year, he returned to Michigan and worked as a tailor. In September 1, 1885, he married 16 years old Ada May Bars at Constantine, Michigan. Balderry passed away on August 18, 1895 of tuberculosis at the age of 49.

Basing from what I know, the first recorded history of Filipinos fighting as soldiers in the U.S. army was recorded back in 1815 when General Andrew Jackson mentioned of “Manila Men” that had fought alongside his defense of New Orleans under the command of Jean Baptise Lafitte.

The Good ol' Gas Days

2011-04-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

A visit to the gas station nowadays feels like going to a dentist for tooth extraction—both are painful. Every time I drive by the gas station near our house, the posted gas prices seemed to be a million dollars more than the previous day. Every person that visits the pump grumbles and feels that they are being robbed clean. Though there are a lot of wise ways to save fuel, many still miss the most effective way to save fuel and that is to ease on the gas pedal while driving. A few minutes of delay getting to one’s destination could save a substantial amount of fuel.

Back in 1963, the price of gasoline for Philippine government vehicles is 18 centavos per liter while a private vehicle pays an additional 3 centavos per liter gasoline tax making the total price of fuel to 21 centavos per liter.

During the Pacific war in the 1940s, lots of cars and buses in Manila used charcoal as fuel because of the shortage of gasoline supply. The Japanese military mostly controlled the fuel supply of the Philippines.

In Manila during the Japanese occupation, the best known transportation was the streetcar or tranvia which was operated by Meralco. Horse drawn caretela and calesa were also the popular mode of transportation. The well-to-do residents of Manila use the docar which was built like a car but pulled by a horse. There were also the caretela bus that had open sides for passengers to board and were pulled by two horses

A Manila resident named Larry Henares claims that during World War II, his father invented a contraption called IPOPI Charcomobile. This clever invention contained a large barrel size gas generator that is usually installed on the back of a car or bus and it uses coconut charcoal as fuel. The furnace inside the barrel would generate carbon monoxide which is flammable. Carbon monoxide would then be filtered and directed by a large tube to the carburetor which would fuel the engine. IPOPI stands for Industrial Products of the Philippines Incorporated. But many Filipinos jokingly gave it another name which was: “Itulak Para Omandar Pag ‘Into” (Push to start when it stops). IPOPI vehicles were also known to be underpowered. Every time it reaches an uphill road or an arced shaped bridge, all its passengers had to get off the vehicle and push it up the hill or over the bridge.

The idea of retrofitting vehicles to run on charcoal was resurrected in the later part of the1970s and early 1980s in the Philippines. I remember seeing a number of Philippine government pickup trucks that were fitted with two small charcoal burning barrels behind the cab of government owned pickups. Before the driver is able to drive these fuel saving vehicles, he/she has to first light the charcoal inside the barrel and wait for the charcoal to burn and produce carbon monoxide (not dioxide) before the driver is able to drive the vehicle. Since the vehicle was a bit cumbersome to operate, when the gas crisis eased out a bit, all of the charcoal vehicles were converted back to using regular gasoline.

The world wide gas crises back in 1973 created quite a scare among motorist because nobody ever expected to see a gas shortage on a world wide scale. I was an elementary school student when the gas shortage happened and I remember seeing signs being put up by gas station owners saying that they can only sell a few liters per car. Gas stations would sometimes sell gasoline to the first 50 cars then announce that they are out of gas. Enterprising people would line up at gasoline stations with containers to fill up which they would in turn resell to other motorists desperate enough to pay their exuberant prices.

During the gas crisis, my father never lined up at the gas station to buy gasoline for his Mazda car. One of his close friends owned a Shell gas station near the San Francisco Church in downtown Naga city. An hour after the gas station put up their “WE ARE OUT OF GAS” sign and the crowd of motorists had left to search for gas scalpers, my dad would quietly drive to the gas station and the owner would fill my dad’s car with gas. I guess it always pays to know people in gas places.

Twenty years ago here in California, the average gas price at the pump was $1.16 per gallon. I owned a small Toyota Corolla and $12 would normally fill my gas tank. There was even an outrage among gas consumers during the early 1990s when the prices went up to $1.27 per gallon causing people to cut back on gas consumption. If my memory serves me right, I think it was in 2000 when the prices of gas dove down to an all time low of $0.89 per gallon. It became so low that everybody was filling up their gas tanks and gas guzzling SUVs were flying off the car lots of car dealerships. One day while I was filling our van with gas, I decided to take a picture of myself with a gas price sign behind me showing the gasoline price of $0.97 per gallon. I took the picture because I knew that the low priced gasoline is just temporary and will shoot up again after a while. As expected, it went up days after that picture was taken and it rarely went down again.

Though pain is felt on every visit to the pump, we can ease the sting of the experience by using alternative or traditional ways of getting to other places. Walking or riding a bicycle are the best known ways to travel to other places and the effort will only costs you a small bundle of calories. This spring and summer seasons, try saving a few gallons of gasoline by leaving your car in your garage. Go around your city the way our parents and grand parents used to do it during their time—by walking. You will be surprised to discover that the old ways are sometimes the better way.

Riding through the good ol’ times.

Prayers Down the Road.

2011-04-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, I decided to walk around the neighborhood everyday from 6:30pm-7:30pm just to settle down my tired nerves after spending a long day at the office. During weekends, I use the same routine just to ease myself before eating dinner.

I am fortunate to be surrounded by friendly next door neighbors whom my family has developed a close relationship with. Though we love our immediate neighbors, the residents on other blocks remain strangers to all of us. It is during my two mile walks around our neighborhood that I get a brief glimpse of the lives of the other people who are still strangers to me. I would see some of them happy and looking forward to enjoying dinner. There would also be ones that exhibit gloom and sadness as they prepare for dinner. I have seen fathers sitting on stools or chairs inside their garages with their heads bowed down staring on the ground contemplating a solution to their painful predicament. I would always keep it a point to look straight ahead to respect the privacy of the people who are hurting and does not want to be bothered or noticed.

During my walks, questions would post in my mind asking me things like, “Are their problems worse than mine? Am I capable of assisting them solve or relieve some, if not all, their problems? “Did they just lose their jobs? Are their problems about their health, family or finances?” “Have they asked the Lord for help?”

Last night during my daily walk, I saw the wife of my Filipino neighbor who lives three blocks away from my house. She was watering her plants and I stopped to talk to her. She is now about 65 years old. During our brief conversation, she told me that her prodigal son has returned to live with them again. Her son has given her family so much grief starting from his teenage years. The son had been sent to jail a few times because he mingled with the wrong crowd. He got into drugs and had strings of failed relationships and a broken marriage. When he came home recently, he sadly told his mother that he has a heart ailment. Since the son did not have any health insurance, the mother patiently endure the lengthy processing of obtaining health coverage for her son through a government sponsored health program.

The son was eventually diagnosed by a heart specialist and the result of his exam was not good. Due to the severity of his heart condition, the son was given only a year to live by his doctors. Though the news was devastating to the family, the mother said that she is relieved that her prodigal son finally came home and is spending his remaining months with the only people in the world that loves him. She told me, “I am fortunate that God gave me back my son and I am going to celebrate his life until God takes him to His fold”.

My daily walks had turned from a simple way of unwinding my tired nerves into an opportunity to pray for strangers that reside down the road. Most of the time I do not have the means nor the wisdom to relieve my neighbors with their misfortunes. The only thing I have is abundance of prayer where I ask God to bless the strangers with rest from the burden of their trial. Though relief might not come immediately, I trust God that he is in control of the whole situation and is drawing the stranger to the realization that he/she needs a Savior.

Walking through life with Prayer.

The Iron Age

2011-04-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

During our family trip to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona during the mid-1990s, I remember sitting on a rock near the edge of a cliff watching the sunset on the horizon. Near where I was sitting was a dusty hiking trail that snaked down all the way to the bottom of the canyon. I could see hikers laboring up the trail with some carrying heavy packs on their backs. The hikers that reached the end of the trail were all extremely worn out. Many of them told me that they never expected the hike to be that hard. They all started their hike from Colorado River which is on the bottom of the canyon at five in the morning. When I saw them at the end of the trail, the time was already four in the afternoon. Though majority of them were hikers, a few “cheated” by riding on rented mules. These were the only ones that reached the top of the cliff with smiles on their faces.

While I was watching a steady stream of tired trail warriors, I noticed this thin frail looking old guy walk up to the end of the trail without exhibiting any fatigue. He had a camel back water canteen, wore simple light clothes and a cheap looking generic backpack. I spark a conversation with this man asking him how come he does not seem to be too exhausted. He told me that once a year on his birthday, he would hike up the same trail at Grand Canyon to celebrate of his birth. He said that he had been doing this for many years. I asked him if he hiked alone and he said that there was a young man who decided to join him but the young lad was too slow that he ended up leaving him behind the trail.

What puzzled me about this old man was that even though he is a veteran hiker, his equipment did not reflect his level of skill. Almost all of his camping and hiking gear seemed to have been bought from a cheap swap meet (flea market). What surprised me the most is his choice of shoes. He had on a pair of these white unmarked rubber shoes that resembled the cheap Bata rubber shoes that used to be produced back in the 1970s. I jokingly told him that he was wearing high tech hiking shoes. He had a good sense of humor and replied, “It is not what you wear….it is more on WHO wears them” Pointing down the trail, the man said, “That young guy had fancy equipment”.

With a few exceptions, I think it is safe to say that most of us in our batch are now on our late 40s. The above experience I had at Grand Canyon proves that aging is not a reason for us to slow down. Though many of us are now grandfathers, (congratulations to those who are) we need to break the belief that aging people need to preserve whatever functionality our bodies still have by swaying away from strenuous activities.

Have you experience looking at a mirror and the person looking back at you is a middle aged unhappy person? Has years of stress, improper diet, lack of sleep and no exercise taken a toll on your body? Does it feel like each year that goes by, your energy level seemed to slide down the hill? When you come home from work and sit on your favorite couch, turn the TV on (thank goodness for remote control!!), you watch the news while waiting for that steak and eggs dinner with butter cake for dessert. Before bedtime, you down a bottle of Budweizer beer to ease yourself to sleep. Does this routine sound familiar to you? Some experts claim that this a common routine of middle aged people who resides in large cities.

Since all of the members in our batch are now middle aged people (boy, that sounds so ancient), I believe this is a great opportunity in our lives to be more involved with activities that would enhance our physical being. With our children already young adults, we need to grease up our joints to keep up with them.

It is now summer season in the Philippines and here in California, spring began a few weeks ago. The weather is clearing up with the snow clouds slowly dissipating. Have you decided what hobby to take this season? Want to explore a hiking trail? Swim laps off a beach or pier? Climb a mountain peak and take pictures during the sunrise? Race through the winding path of a forest on your bike? Conquer the distance between cities with your running shoes? Whatever you decided to do, do it for your heart and family.

A happy person brings blessings to his/her family.

Let’s hit the trail!

Pride, Pain & Forgiveness.

2011-04-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

When faced with injustice, face God and ask for wisdom. Pray that the transgressor be enlightened.

Smile, forgive and move on...This is not a demonstration of weakness but rather it is an evidence of strength. Your strength comes from God.

If you trust God then you will Forgive even though you face ridicule and other humans discounts your character. Be more concerned on how God sees you and not how other people grade you. Forgive even though it hurts.

Souls with pride are fried in hell.

Always, Primum Regnum Dei.

My 13 1/2 minutes with THE Elizabeth Taylor (True Story)

2011-03-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

This morning while I was checking the news in the internet, I was surprised to see on the headline that the famous Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Taylor, had died at age 79. I felt sad upon learning about her death. It made me recall a moment in my life many years ago when I had a chance encounter with Elizabeth Taylor. Yes, I know this is hard to believe but let me tell you the story about my encounter with Miss Taylor.

During the 1990s, I used to work for a large telecommunication company in California and I was assigned at our corporate accounts department. We mostly handled accounts belonging to company executives, millionaires and also famous people.

One day, I got a call from one of our key accounts representatives telling me that she is transferring a call to me because the customer would like to be coached on how to operate the special functions of her phone. When I asked the rep what is the name of the customer, she responded, “This is your lucky day because I am transferring to you Miss Elizabeth Taylor”. I chuckled a bit and said, “Sure, there are a thousand Elizabeth Taylors out there”. With a friendly but serious voice, the rep said, “This is not just any Elizabeth Taylor. This is THE Elizabeth Taylor”. All of a sudden I experienced a brief panic and excitement but immediately composed myself. I quickly calm myself to receive probably the only time in my life that I will speak to a legendary Hollywood superstar.

Ever since I was a young boy, I was mesmerized by the beauty and talent of Miss Taylor. When I saw her pictures when she was still a young lady, I have to admit that I developed a crush on her. Her eyes are very captivating along with her smile which are both very warm and mysterious.

When the call from Elizabeth Taylor finally came through to my line, I introduced myself professionally (trying to keep myself very calm) and I heard the familiar voice of Miss Taylor greeting me with, “Oh, hello darling. How are you?” I was smiling from ear to ear after hearing those lovely words. I very patiently walked her through the functions of her expensive phone. Fortunately, I knew the functions of her phone or else it would have been very embarrassing for me. After finally walking her through key functions of her phone, I told Miss Taylor that if she ever needed help, she can call me and I gave her my cell phone number. To my surprise, she too gave me her other cell phone number (I guess she had two cell phones). She politely asked me to keep the cell phone number that she gave me confidential since she does not want to receive calls from people she does not know.

Our conversation lasted for about 13.5 minutes but the memory of that conversation created in me a lovely memory whom I will treasure throughout the remaining days of my life. I can’t believe that I became part of Elizabeth Taylor’s life…well, for 13.5 minutes, that is.

I grieved, in my own small way, the departure of Elizabeth Taylor whom I found to be very nice and polite. Though she was a world renowned actress and businesswoman, she never made me feel that she was all that during our brief conversation. I found her to be very charming and humorous. I will miss her.

“You find out who your real friends are when you are involved in a scandal”—Elizabeth Taylor.

Ramon Magsaysay's integrity and legacy

2011-03-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2011

Last night while I was checking the Philippine news on the internet, the date marked on the news caught my attention—March 17th. I started wondering why this date seemed to ring a soft bell in my brain. Then I remembered back in December 18, 2010 when I started scribbling notes for an article that I wanted to write. The subject that I selected then for my article was the former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay. When I checked the date of his death in my notes, I was surprised to discover that it was March 17, 1957.

I have read about Pres. Magsaysay’s life ever since I was an elementary student. I remember back in high school, I used to go to the Ateneo De Naga library Filipiniana section and read old newspaper clippings about his life and achievements as a politician. There was also a comic booklet that told about his life. Though some of the sections in the comics were not accurate, most of the stories pictured a man who is honest and was dedicating his life to serve the Filipino people in the most honest way.

I do not want to write about the whole life of Pres. Magsaysay because it would take me many weeks or even months to do that. To avoid ending up with a book-length article, I decided to just feature some interesting facts about the late president and also devote the ending part of the article narrating the events that led to the tragic plane crash which took the life of President Magsaysay.

President Magsaysay was born in Iba, Zambales on August 31, 1907 to Exequiel Magsaysay, a blacksmith and Perfecta Del Fierro, a school teacher. In 1927, he took a course in engineering at the University of the Philippines. While studying, he worked as a chauffeur to support himself. He later transferred to Jose Rizal College and graduated with a baccalaureate in commerce. He then worked as a mechanic and later became a shop supervisor. During World War 2, he joined the Philippine Army 31st Infantry division’s motor pool. When the combined American and Filipino troops of Bataan surrended, Magsaysay escaped to the hills and later organized a guerilla movement. He was commission on April 5, 1942 as a captain. For three years, Capt. Magsaysay led troops under Colonel Gyle Merrill’s guerilla outfit in Zambales. Capt. Magsaysay assisted in clearing the Zambales coast of the Japanese prior to the American and Filipino commonwealth troops on January 29, 1945.

One of the known events in Magsaysay’s political career is the Moises Padilla incident. In the 1949, the governor of Negros Occidental named Rafael Lacson ruled the province with an iron fist. He had ties with the wealthy sugar cane owners, formed his own private armies and had a tight grip on the local constabulary. In the 1951 local elections, a former guerilla fighter named Moises Padilla bravely declared his candidacy for mayor in the town of Magallon (now Moises Padilla). The opponent of Moises was a political ally of Lacson. It did not take long before a message was handed to Padilla asking him to withdraw his candidacy or else he will be killed. Padilla continued his campaign but sought military protection from then defense secretary Ramon Magsaysay. After the election, Padilla lost the mayoral race. The following day, Padilla was picked up by Lacson’s men and was beaten and tortured. Lacson’s men went to the town plaza and declared to the people “This is what will happen to people who oppose us”. News about the Padilla’s torture reached Magsaysay who decided to go to Negros Occidental. But before Magsaysay arrived at the province, Padilla had already died. Padilla was shot 14 times and his body was placed on a police bench at the town plaza. When Magsaysay arrived at the town, he personally carried the body of Padilla to the morgue. The media showed news clips the following day showing Magsaysay carrying the body. This event enhanced greatly the political career of Magsaysay. The pictures were used during the presidential campaign of Magsaysay in 1953.

Magsaysay gathered enough evidence to convict Lacson and his 26 men for murder. The trial started on January 1952 and it concluded on August 1954 when Judge Eduardo Enriquez sentence Lacson, his 22 men and three mayors and two police chiefs of Negros Occidental municipalities where charge with murder. Below was the news posted by the Time Magazine on September 6, 1954:

One morning last week, in the social hall of ex-Governor Lacson's own office building in Bacolod, the longest trial in the history of the province came to an end. As 2,000 Negrenses jammed the corridors, Judge Eduardo Enriquez rendered his verdict. He traced Lacson's rise to power, his private army, his perfect and coordinated system of political murder. Then the judge faltered. He recalled that he himself and Lacson had been college classmates: they had been "more than friends—like brothers." The judge began to tremble but managed to say: "However, circumstances arise when the loyalty of friendship must give way . . ." Tears streaking his cheeks. Judge Enriquez then handed the decision to the clerks to continue reading and sat back in his chair, sobbing. The clerk faltered over the sentence; the judge shouted for him to continue, and the clerk went on: for 22 defendants, including three mayors, three police chiefs and Lacson, death in the electric chair.

In the 1953 presidential elections, Magsaysay defeated incumbent Elpidio Quirino. President Magsaysay became known as the first president to wear a barong Tagalog when he took his oath as the seventh president of the Philippines (third as president of the republic) on December 30, 1953. He became known as “Mambo Magsaysay”.

During his term as president, Magsaysay opened the doors of Malacanang to the public. He demonstrated his integrity when he rode a plane of the Philippine Air Force during a demonstration flight. He later asked the operating cost of the plane per hour. After being told of the cost, Magsaysay issued a personal check covering the cost of his flight on the plane.

Below is the article written Leon O. Ty as it was narrated to him by veteran journalist Nestor Mata who was the lone survivor of the crash that killed President Magsaysay on March 17, 1957.

Nestor Mata’s story
April 6, 1957
by Leon O. Ty

The lone survivor of the Mt. Pinatubo airplane crash in which President Magsaysay and 25 other persons perished gives his version of the tragedy. Newsman has second and third degree burns on thighs, arms and legs

PHILIPPINES Herald Reporter Nestor Mata, the lone survivor in the Mt. Pinatubo airplane crash in which President Magsaysay and 25 other persons perished, is still confined in the Veterans Memorial Hospital. He is fast recovering from second and third degree burns all over his body. We visited him last Saturday afternoon. As soon as he saw us, he said in a low voice:

“You are lucky you were not with us.”

Mata said these words because he personally knew that this writer had always been with him and the rest of the Malacañang newspapermen who used to accompany the late President on nearly all his trips to Mindanao and Visayas.

“You are the real lucky one,” we replied.

“Yes,” he said, “but I still do not know what God wants me to do. He spared my life because he wants me to do something. And I don’t know what it is.”

Asked how he got out of the ill-fated plane alive, Mata related the following story:
“The crash occurred between one and two o’clock Sunday morning, March 17…. All I remember was that there was a blinding flash for a moment. Then I fell unconscious.”
We inquired if it was true that he was seated at the tail end of the plane.

“No,” he answered, “I sat in the second seat next to the President’s compartment…. As I was about to board the Mt. Pinatubo at the Cebu airport, Mayor Sergio Osmeña Jr., asked me to spend the rest of the night in the city.”

Said Serging:

“Stay behind, little one.”

“No, I’m returning to cover the President,” were Mata’s exact words.

Relating the rest of the story, the Herald Malacañang reporter stated:

“President Magsaysay was standing on the side of the plane when I started to board it. ‘Let’s go!’ said RM and I immediately boarded the aircraft. I was the first to get inside… That was the last time I saw the President smile.

“As soon as I was seated, I fell asleep at once. I did not have the slightest premonition of what was to happen. I had full confidence in our pilot. I felt that if the President was safe in his hands, I, too, was safe. I had no reason to feel otherwise.”

Mata reiterated that after the momentary blinding flash, he fell unconscious.

“At about three o’clock that same morning, I regained consciousness.”

“But how did you know it was three o’clock?” we asked.

“My Longines watch was still running,” he replied with assurance. “There was a very bright moon and when I looked at my watch, it was about three….

“I found myself on the side of a steep cliff among dried bushes…. Agonizing with pain, I was completely at a loss what to do. About three meters away from me were parts of the plane. They were still burning. Meanwhile, I heard the distant howling of a dog. It was only then that I felt hopeful of being rescued. Thinking that there were probably people living not far away from where I lay moaning with pain, I made an effort to shout. I noticed that my voice echoed in the nearby mountains.

“After that, I began shouting, ‘Mr. President! Mr. President! Mr. President!’ When no answer came, I shouted for Pablo Bautista, the reporter of the Liwayway magazine. ‘Pabling! Pabling!’ Still no answer. It began to dawn on me that there was no other survivor except me.”

Mata remembered that it was about eight o’clock in the morning when the rescuers found him.

“After finding me,” he recalled, “the farmers had to return to the village to get a hammock on which they loaded and carried me to the barrio. It was a heroic undertaking because the descent from the mountainside was dangerous. One misstep on the part of the rescuers would have mean death to all of us.”

For 18 hours, twelve barrio men took turns in carrying Mata on a hammock. It was a hot day and blisters developed where the raw burns had rubbed against the old hammock.
As soon as Mata reached the Southern Island Hospital in Cebu City, Dr. Jose V. Agustines, hospital chief treated him for severe shock and pain from second and third degree burn on his thighs, arms and legs.

“But although I was suffering from intense pain,” Mata said. “I did not lose consciousness in the hospital. As a matter of fact, I was able to dictate to a nurse a press dispatch to my paper. I began that dispatch with ‘President Magsaysay is dead.’”
“When a physician saw what I had just done, he remarked: ‘You are newsman to the end.’”

At the close of our brief conversation, Mata repeated the question.

“What does God want me to do?”

On March 17, 1957 before midnight, A US Marine helicopter carrying six crew members departed from Sangley Point Naval Station on a mission to recover the body of President Magsaysay. They landed on a beach south of Luzon to refuel then landed again at Legaspi City for a brief stop. They flew over Masbate, Visayan sea and finally arriving at their destination in Cebu.

Valeriano Avila, a columnist for the Star Newspaper wrote:
I will never forget the day when they brought the charred remains of the President as it was the first time I ever saw a helicopter, a Sikorsky S-55 “Chickasaw” that landed at the old Lahug Airport. For a six-year-old kid, seeing a whirlybird (this is what they used to call a helicopter in those days) amazed me so much, it really didn’t dawn on me that my father was there to mourn the death of his friend, the President of the Philippines.

Vice President Carlos Garcia, who was then in Australia on an official visit, assumed the presidential post and served out the remaining eight months of Magsaysay’s term.
About 5 millions people attended the burial of Magsaysay on March 31,

The galant stand of a woman against crime.

2011-02-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

February 24, 2011

I had been following the news about the three Filipinos in China that had been condemned to death by lethal injection for committing the crime of transporting drugs in China. This story occupies the front pages of newspapers and prime time news telecasts around the Philippines. Millions are praying for hope that the lives of the condemned will be spared.

This case reminded me of a sensational case that happened when I was a young child back in 1967.The young and beautiful actress, Maggie De La Riva was abducted and raped by four men. These men were Jaime Jose, Basilio “Boy” Pineda Jr., Eduardo Aquino and Rogelio Canal.

Magdalena “Maggie” De La Riva was born in 1942 and graduated high school at Maryknoll College (now Miriam college) in 1958. She obtained a secretarial degree in 1960 at Saint Theresa’s college. She became a finalist at the 1962 Miss Caltex beauty contest. Maggie first appeared as a background extra in the 1963 TV show, “The Big Show” where she was serenaded by Ruben Tagalog. She later became the lead actress in the stage play “Cat on a Tin Roof in 1964 and also had a radio program at DZRC Manila called “Pakikipagtipan Kay Maggie Dela Riva”. In 1964, she became Miss Lucky Centavo.

In 1964, Maggie’s father, Juan De La Riva, died at age 58. This made Maggie the breadwinner of the family. Her mother, Pilar Torrente De La Riva, managed their house and supported the needs of her daughter.

Maggie Dela Riva was then doing very well in her career as a movie actress. She was being paid P8,000 Philippine pesos per movie, P800 per month on permanent radio and television performances, P300 per month on live promotional shows and P100 to P200 per guest appearance on other shows. During the 1960’s, these amounts were considered quite hefty and so Miss Dela Riva was earning quite well.

Eduardo Aquino is the son of a lawyer-accountant from Calaca, Batangas and was a second year journalism student. He resided at 172 Mayon street in Quezon city. Rogelio Canal is the son of a retired school principal, a native of Bacolod city and resided at Palanan street, Santa Mesa, Manila. Jaime Jose is the son of physician from Guagua, Pampanga. He was a combo player and resided at 21 Kalatagan, Makati, Rizal. Basilio Pineda is a son of a former Pasay City police chief. Basilio has two children and resided at Makati, Rizal.

(In writing this article, I elected to omit the details of the crime that was committed against Miss De La Riva to avoid reliving the horrors of that horrible event)

According to the statement given by Jaime Jose to the police, Boy Pineda, Eddie Aquino and Rogelio Canal went to his house in Makati to borrow his red Pontiac convertible car at around 11am on June 25, 1967. Jaime did not want to lend his car without him being in the group and so he decided to tag along.

The group went to Ulog Cocktail lounge located along A. Mabini street in Ermita where they had several rounds of drinks until 3:30am the following day. While they were drinking, Pineda shared to the group that he was in love with the movie actress, Maggie De La Riva. According to Jose, Pineda knew that Miss De La Riva has a video taping session that morning at ABS Studio.

From Ulog, the group went to ABS studio located at Roxas boulevard in Pasay City where Pineda and Rogelio tried to talk to Miss De La Riva. Not knowing the group of men, Miss De La Riva ignored them and drove off in her car along with her maid, Elena Calderon. The four men decided to follow Miss De La Riva’s car which was heading to her house located at no. 48 12th street in New Manila. The time then was around 4:30am. Miss De La Riva was about to reach her house when the car being driven by the four men drove next to her car and tried to bump it. She stepped on her brakes and swerved to avoid collision. When Miss De La Riva stopped her car, she was already in front of the gate of her house. Being annoyed, she shouted, “Ano ba?!”

Pineda jumped out of their car, opened the door of Maggie’s car and pulled her left arm. Maggie tried to held on to the steering wheel but Pineda was able to pull her out of her car. The maid went out of the car and grabbed Maggie’s right arm and tried to pull her off from Pineda. The three other men inside the Pontiac assisted Pineda in getting Maggie inside the Pontiac and they sped off towards Broadway Street. The maid was left behind.

Pineda and his group took Maggie to Swanky Hotel in Pasay City and committed the atrocious crime of rape. The four men then drove in front of the Free Press building not far from EDSA near channel 5. They wanted to make it appear that Maggie just came from the studio. They also decided to flag down a taxi from a less known company called UBL Taxicab so that they could load Maggie in it. The driver of the cab that the men flagged down was Miguel F. Campos. When Maggie finally got inside the cab, she broke down and kept on asking the driver if there is a car following them. The driver told her that there was none. At 6:30am that day, the cab reach Maggie’s residence and several PC, police officers and reporters were there.

On June 29, 1967, Miss De La Riva, along with her lawyer, Regina O. Benitez and members of her family, went to Quezon City police headquarters and filed a complain.

At around 2pm that day, Jose was spotted walking along Buendia avenue while reading a Daily Mirror newspaper that had the headline about the rape of Miss De La Riva. Jose was nabbed by detectives Pablo Pascual and Ricardo Aniceto who were disguised as ice cream vendors. Jose tried to escape by running away but another detective named Reynaldo Roldan, who was armed with a Thompson submachinegun, blocked Jose’s escape.

While Maggie was at the police headquarters, she heard about Jaime Jose’s arrest. That evening, Maggie returned to the police headquarters. When Jose saw Maggie, he stood up and said, “Maggie, Maggie, please…..Hindi ako kasama. Magsabi ka nang tutuo” (I am not one of them. Tell the truth). Maggie just stonily stared at Jose, sat down and cried. After a while, Maggie stood up and tried to scratch Jose’s face but failed. She then said, “You, you were one of the boys that pulled my legs and raped me!” Jose’s face went pale. He turned to the wall and cried.

After learning that Jose had been arrested, Aquino, Pineda and Canial became frantic and met together somewhere in Pasay city. They drove Jose’s Mercedez Benz to San Miguel, Bulacan to loose any law enforcement that were tracking them down. From Bulacan, the three men drove back to Manila, passing through Pasay City and then drove to Batangas. They checked-in at the Samson Ponti rest house in Lipa city using fictitious names. When the men had their supper at a restaurant in Lipa City, they were recognized by a waitress who had read about the De La Riva case in the newspaper. The waitress notified the local police. The following day, the three men transferred to another house owned by a Manila City official located in Katipunan street in Lipa city. A team of law enforcement officers lead by Detective Restituto Vinas joined up with members of the Lipa Police department and surrounded the house where the fugitives were hiding. The combined police force slipped into the backyard of the house and entered through the kitchen door. They arrested Canial and Pineda in the living room.

Aquino was able to escape by driving their Mercedez Benz to barrio Santa Rita in Taal. Law Enforcement tried to track down Aquino in Taal but was not able to locate him. Aquino later surrendered to Mrs. Aurelia Leviste, the wife of the governor of Batangas.

The four men were sent to Muntinlupa National Penitentiary while their appeals were being heard. While in prison, they met an American missionary named Olga Robertson. She resided outside the Muntinlupa jail and devoted most of her time in prison ministry. Olga visited the three condemned men and request that they memorized the bible verse John 14:6 in which Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. Three months later, she visited the men again but she discovered that they were no longer interested in spiritual things. But Olga was determined to save the souls of the men. She returned the day before their scheduled execution. Aquino quickly recited John 14:6. Jaime Jose was faint with grief and fear. On execution day, Olga brought other inmates who sang hymns of praise to encourage the three condemned men. Olga believes that the three men went from the executioners chair into the arms of their Savior. Aquino triumphantly said, “Lord Jesus, I give you my life and no one can take it from me”.

In December 28, 1970, Rogelio Canal , died from overdose of drugs while still in prison. On February 6, 1971, the supreme court found the remaining three men guilty and sentence to death by electric chair. Each of them were also ordered to pay P10,000 plus each has to pay ¼ of the cost. (I am assuming that the cost here refers to the court cost).

The following are the memoirs written by Basil Carating who was one of the news photographers of Philippines Herald newspaper in 1972. I decided to keep the structure of Mr. Carating’s narrative close to its original form to show respect to the writer. The changes that I made were very minimal which, in my opinion, did not alter the style of the writer.

A BROTHER'S FAREWELL (MY OWN PERSONAL PULITZER)
One Photographer, One Camera, One Lens, One Last Frame, One Last Chance.

The year was 1972. I was walking on air..., actually I was walking along Plaza Lawton. I bounced up and down the yellow brick road with my NIKON FTN hanging around my neck and holding a still warm laminated card that boldly said PRESS. I felt like this was the culmination of a dream! Yes, I just came from the editorial offices of the Philippines Herald where 30 minutes earlier, the editor, Oscar Villadolid, offered me his hand and said "Welcome aboard kiddo". I am a freshly minted photojournalist! I felt invincible! First priority was to let my dad know and my new girlfriend Connie know-in which order I didn't really care.

I ended up catching a bus to Muntinlupa where I lived inside the bilibid prisons reservation where my dad was the head honcho. My dad greeted me with "I know, I know, they just called. They want you back in there" he gave me a congratulatory hug and said" Go on son, you promised me a Pulitzer" In a meeting with the editorial board I was told that I will be part of the herald team that will cover the execution of the three remaining convicted rapists of actress Maggie dela Riva. The Herald is sending 4 veteran reporters and 5 veteran photographers plus myself. I was told that, as a resident of the new Bilibid prisons reservation and the fact that my dad was the NBP superintendent, my job was to guide these guys to the best vantage points and use my dad's position to gain access to areas where other reporters will not be able to go. I said to myself "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence”. I never felt so inadequate and wretched in my life, I will be a tour guide in this first biggest gig of my budding career. I started wondering if they hired me for the fact that could I offer The Herald an unfair advantage over the other dailies.

A day before the actual execution, hundreds of reporters, TV people and photographers descended upon that quaint little place with all their equipment ready for the next day's "event" (if you can call executing 3 people that). They were camped out on the golf course in front of the main building. It was a spectacle, a fiesta!. I said to myself I can't be part of this- I am going for the “kill”. I am going for "THE" shot! At 9 pm I made myself disappear without telling anybody. I walked 2 kilometers to the back of the prison-to the actual death chamber. I knew that the three convicts were being held in the holding cells attached to the death chamber and I snuck up behind the guard and settled in a recessed 2 ft x 2 ft area behind some wooden pallets in what I thought was total darkness. About two minutes had passed when I realized that I was about 6 ft directly across a cell and a figure moved inside. He stood behind and held the bars and OUR EYES MET!! It was BASILIO PINEDA!! I almost wet my pants!! Here I was in the middle of the night, in the death chamber where hundreds of people had been executed had just locked eyes with one who will be executed in the next few hours! Added to that is a giant monitor lizard (a good 4 feet) pacing up and down like an expectant father 3 inches from my nose. I WANTED TO DIE!!

Basilio Pineda did not attempt to make conversation and I was debating if I should. I just kept quiet. I checked my Nikon-meter if it was working. I blew a breathed on my lens (a 50mm 1.4) and wiped the moist off with my shirt. I checked the film counter and it read 35. (There are only 36 shots per film) I reached for my camera bag to grab a fresh roll of film and to my horror, I found nothing! I forgot to bring an extra roll of film! Now I really wanted to slit my wrist! How could I go through all this trouble with one frame left in my camera?

I spent the next 6 or 7 hours hating and cursing myself and rubbing my eyes with calamansi so I wouldn't doze off and miss "THE SHOT" at daybreak, I heard the guard talking to a female- I aimed my camera at the blank wall and engaged my built in light meter. I was using a notoriously slow plus x pan 100 ASA. My light meter gave me a reading of 1.4 at 15th of a second. I thought that the reading was too slow and so I decided to go for 125th of a second and just get the darkroom technician to push the process. I cannot blow this one because I have only one chance. But before I could touch the speed dial, I looked up and right before my eyes is THE MOST INTENSE, MOST GUT-WRENCHING SCENE THAT I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED!! Basilio Pineda's sister just walked up to the front of the bars and brother and sister hugged and both wailed. I was shaking and for a split second could not react. I was crying too and by some stroke of luck, pressed the shutter button. Several days after this photograph which was captioned “ A BROTHER'S FAREWELL”, appeared on the front page of the Philippines Herald, I was still receiving heaps and heaps of accolades and commendations from press associations around the world. The international press institute called it TREMENDOUS!!. THE HERALD gave it such prominence that it almost occupied the whole page of the broadsheet and one of the editors told me that the only other photograph that he remembered occupying such prominence on the herald's front page was a picture of the allied forces liberation of Manila.

More narratives regarding: A Brother's Farewell My Own Personal Pulitzer Prize

I omitted a lot of interesting details to shorten the backgrounder. I must have stayed near Basilio’s cell for a good 7 hours. Basilio Pineda did motion to me once asking if I had some cigarettes. I just shook my head. Then at one instance, the guard walked by and pulled out a pack of smokes and handed a stick to Pineda. As he was walking away, he called the guard and asked for another stick. The guard silently obliged. What beats me though to this very day is why he didn't tell the guard that there was someone hiding right in front of his holding cell.

In all of those seven hours, Basilio was standing right close to the bars trying to make eye contact with me. This was the part that scared the daylights out of me and I just about gave up. I was cold, nauseous, hungry, thirsty and everything around me felt surreal. Then came the embrace. I thought I was just going to pass out. As they hugged, they both at the same time let out a loud wail. Not just a cry but a very loud wail that echoed through the early morning calm. surreal..

In a separate narrative, Basil Caranting wrote:

Probably because of excitement and inexperience, I went on a "predictive mode" when I settled in that little hiding place of mine. I scripted out different scenarios in my mind, i.e. a guy cracking and screaming not wanting to go with guards at the last minute, a guy literally being carried and restrained, with hands flailing, a guy looking up crying and tearfully asking for forgiveness, a guy's reaction after receiving the last call of reprieve from the president etc. etc. but never this most touching and most gut-wrenching scene that suddenly played out right in front of me. Like I said, I froze when confronted with this scene that was so surreal for one single photographer standing right in front of it. It's not like I was jockeying for position with a hundred other photographers-then it would have been more realistic!

When brother and sister hugged, they let out the loudest wail that to me, almost sounded like pigs being slaughtered. I found myself crying too, a situation that my mother cautioned me about. She said there will be moments that would attach me to my subject involuntarily because I am human first and photojournalist second. Did I press that button to capture the decisive moment? Having one last frame ( I found out later that I actually had two) did not help my situation. I will confess right now that after that scene, there were a couple of other scenes that was as touching or maybe more touching than this one- Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk!

In the actual chamber about 4 hours later, where the electric chair was, reporters piled in. I was wondering why everybody was allowed in. I guess I can't complain now because I stood there too and, listen to this, I stood about 4 feet away from the chair. I swear I saw someone with a camera and he snapped a shot while one of the three condemned men (I couldn't remember which) was being electrocuted. When Basilio Pineda was ushered in by four guards and the priest, Father Dacuycuy, our eyes met again. I knew in an instant that he recognized me as the idiot who kept him company before this moment. I gently bowed my head and clasped my hands in a sign almost saying to him "be brave". I expected him to smile at least but he didn't. I guess he had more important things in his mind at that juncture.

When Jaime Jose, the most famous among the four men, was strapped on to the chair and his face was covered with a leather mask and his bare feet made to rest on a wet block of quarry stone (adobe), he looked very scared, the only one of the 3. After the director of prisons read the sentence and the chief engineer confirmed that everything was in order, three guards pulled down three switches of which only one is the live switch. Everybody in that chamber witnessed how a human body contorts when 2000 volts of electricity is coursed through it. There was smell of burning flesh. When the initial shock was over, the duty doctor approached the chair and with his sphygmomanometer examined the body. He shook his head and in a loud voice proclaimed “SIR, THE CONDEMNED MAN IS STILL ALIVE!" There was silent mumbling from the crowd of reporters right away. I knew that some were whispering that Jaime Jose should be let go if he didn't die from the initial shock. I knew that some of them were discussing this scenario the previous night. But simply, the sentence was by electric chair-UNTIL DEAD. So I heard the director of prisons say “CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, GIVE THE CONDEMNED MAN ANOTHER SHOCK”

Manila Times newspaper published this report on their May 18, 1972 edition:

Three anesthesiologists--- Drs. Ricardo de Vera, Leonida Panopio and Bautista Placino--- administered to the three doomed men. The three convicts were transferred from the prison hospital to the anteroom of the death chamber at midnight yesterday. There they were kept company by weeping relatives. At 7 a.m., the death sentence was read to them, after which they had breakfast of fried chicken, bread and coffee. Except for the request that their heads be shaven at 10 a.m. instead of the usual right after breakfast, the prisoners’ only other request was for some friends in the death row to be brought to them. This request, however, was not granted, because of a near-riot earlier in the day.

For lunch, their last meal, the prisoners had kare-kare, chicken tinola, lobsters, crispy pata, lechon, fried lapu-lapu, and ice cream. Jose hardly touched the food, although a sister dutifully spoon-fed him. Pineda ate his meal with his estranged wife, sisters and other relatives Aquino tried to cheer up his mother by offering her food and hugging her. While the convicts and their relatives prayed at about 1 p.m., inmates in the nearby cells started singing Cursillo songs and praying aloud.

Then, at about 3 p.m., silence descended on the whole prison compound and nothing was heard except the plaintive song from a convict in some cell. “Mama, I’ll miss the days when you were here beside me…” Inside the execution chamber, the death sentence handed by then Judge Lourdes San Diego of the Quezon City court of first instance, the Supreme Court decision and the final presidential reprieve for 60 days was read in succession by General Raval. The general then turned to the justice department’s representative in the room to ask if there was any word from the President. Told that there was none, he ordered the first prisoner to be brought in.

A pale and dazed Jose was the first to walk the final steps to the execution chamber. He had just recovered from shock and had to be placed under sedation. His eyes stared blankly and unseeing as he walked between two priests with lips repeating their prayers. Among those who witnessed his final moments was his father, Dr. Jose Jose. The doctor, who had promised his son that he would be there, stood beside Brig. Gen. Vicente Raval, the prisons director, during the execution. He stepped out of the execution chamber when his son was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m. Following the order set down in the Supreme Court decision, Pineda came next. He had a minor hassle with prison guards when, owing to a slight confusion, they started to lead Aquino to the death chamber ahead of him. He was strapped into the chair at 3:40 p.m. and pronounced dead at 3:55.Aquino came last. He died at 4:10 p.m. While he was in the death chamber his mother, who had been keeping him company since morning fainted into the arms of her eight other children Doctors who attended to the three doomed men were Drs. Gervacia Mata, Zoraida Ocampo and Aurelio Alcantara for Jose; Avelina Alcantara, Ester Cordero and Luz Alma Santos for Pineda; and Argente Alejandrino, Luz Enriquez and Avelina Alacantara forAquino.

Other Manila Times News articles:

Fr. Hermenegildo Angeles told news reporters that the last message that Aquino wanted to tell the youth was, “Avoid bad companions and obey your parents”. Fr. Angeles said that Aquino appeared to be repentant and resigned to die in the electric chair.....

Jose’s mother, Maria Dolores Gomez, was not able be with her son during the last few hours of his life because she was at Malacanang hoping to talk to President Marcos. The mother waited at the Malacanang reception hall for five hours starting from 9:30am hoping to get clemency for her son from President Marcos. She waited along with a nun who is the aunt of her son. Fifteen minutes before 3pm, which is the scheduled execution of the three condemned men, Mrs. Jose was informed by assistant executive secretary Roberto Reyes and Presidential assistant Juan Tavera that the president had already left Malacanang and is presumed to have returned to the presidential yacht. Mrs. Jose broke down and told the officials that she went to Malacanang because she was advised by one of the prison officials. The Malacanang officials told her that the president had been busy meeting with congressmen because the palace celebrated Congressman’s day the previous day. They also added that Mrs. Jose did not have any appointment with the president and so he was not able to accommodate her. According to some reports, President Marcos was never told that Mrs. Jose was waiting for him at Malacanang.....

The execution of the three men was originally scheduled for March 17, 1972 but it was suspended when Marcos ordered a 60-day reprieve......

On May 17, 1972 at 1:45pm, (75 minutes before the execution), Pineda received an overseas call from his sister Lucille who is in Oakland, California. It is assumed that the sister wanted to be with her brother but Pineda was heard saying, “Huwag na. Huli na, huli na" (No more. It is too late)......

About the judge:

Near Kamias street in Cubao, Quezon city, there is a street named Justice Lourdes Paredes San Diego. The current generation does not recognize the name but Justice San Diego was a well known judge back in her day. Justice San Diego was known to handle tough decisions on prominent court cases. When Maggie De La Riva filed a case against her rapists, Justice San Diego handed down the death penalty to the men.

Justice San Diego never believed in the death penalty. But when she was asked by her daughter, radio icon Jo San Diego, why she meted it out to the rapists of Miss De La Riva, Justice San Diego answered, “Hija, in the Philippine law, rape is punishable by death”.

Decades after the incident, Maggie De La Riva was asked about her ordeal. She answered:

“When that misfortune happened to me, I realized that although my body was raped, my true self was never defiled and that there is another person in me that is beautiful, strong and true. The old Maggie has faded away. I look at my experience as something that happened to someone else who is no longer the person I am today”.

The Colonel's Corner--The memoirs of Col. Nestor Monte Sr.

2011-01-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

My name is Nestor V. Monte Sr. and I was born in the City of Iriga , Camarines Sur , Philippines in 1944. My father’s name is Eleno Monte and is the second child from the youngest in his family. My mother’s name is Marciana Vargas-Monte and she is the oldest among her siblings. Both my parents were born during the 1920’s and, as far as I know, their bloodline can be traced to the original habitants of Iriga.

My father worked as a rice farmer and my mother was a full time housewife. Farm work is hard and my mother would sometimes go to our farm to give my father a helping hand especially during harvest time. Work was back breaking at my parent’s farm because everything is done manually.

When I was born in 1944, the war between the American liberators and the Japanese Imperial forces were raging all around the Philippines . There were times when my parents and their relatives would hurriedly pack their belongings and run to Mount Iriga to hide from the Japanese soldiers. I was a baby then and so whenever we had to evacuate to the hills, my mother would just wrapped me in simple cloth and bring me with them to the hills and mountains around Iriga City .

My father was a member of the guerilla movement fighting the Japanese in the Bicol Region. When my father died in 1985, the Philippine Veteran’s Affairs Office shouldered his burial expenses when he was laid to rest in a cemetery in Iriga City.

Elementary Years

I was only six years old when my mother enrolled me as a first grader in La Consolacion Academy in Iriga City . Back in the 1940’s and 50’s, Filipino children were enrolled by their parents to school as first graders once their children reaches the age of five or six. This is in contrast to the current Philippine school guidelines where children have to wait until they reach the age of seven before they are allowed to enroll in the first grade.

I stayed with my aunt at her house which was located near La Consolacion Academy. The name of my aunt is Isabelita “Isabel” Vargas, and she is the younger sister of my mother. Aunt Isabel did not have any children of her own and so she asked my mother if I could stay with her at her residence. My aunt, being financially blessed, paid for my tuition and personal expenses.

I remember the old La Consolacion as being very primitive then and the buildings were built mostly of bricks. Religious nuns belonging to the Augustinian sisters managed the operations of the school. We had a mixture of Augustinian nuns and lay people as our teachers.

I studied in La Consolacion from 1950 thru 1952 and later transferred to Santo Domingo Elementary School, which is a public school located in Iriga City. I studied at the public school from third until fifth grade.

In 1955, my aunt Isabel and I moved to Naga City and lived in a house located at Naga City Subdivision along Mayon Avenue . When we moved to Naga, it was during the middle of the school year and so when my aunt enrolled me in Naga Parochial School, I had to adjust myself to my new surroundings. The school director then was Monsignor Nicanor C. Belleza and our principal was Mr. Buenaventura C. Parco. One of my teachers then was Mrs. Remedios Ariola, who became a long time mentor of the NPS students. Parochial did not have any extension buildings then and there were just a few classes. Our school canteen was a tiny setup that sold just basic goods like soda pops, bread and candies. My allowance was just a few centavos and that was all I needed to buy myself simple snacks. I think baduya (sliced bananas coated with brown sugar and fried) were being sold then for a few centavos each.

In 1956, I graduated from NPS and our elementary graduation ceremony was held at the Virgin Mary grotto situated behind the Naga Cathedral. The guest of honor during our graduation was Archbishop Pedro P. Santos D.D.

High school at Ateneo De Naga

Like many Parochial boys, I enrolled in Ateneo De Naga as a high school student in June of 1956. The only buildings that stood back then in the campus were the main building with the four pillars and the right and left wing wooden buildings standing behind it. Near the right wing building was the wooden Jesuit residence which used to be called The Faculty House. The gymnasium was already there because it was built right after the Pacific war using reparation funds given to Ateneo De Naga to repair the damage caused by the war.

Our high school principal was Fr. Francis C. Bowler S.J. who used to be a USAFFE Captain. A few of our teachers that I could remember back in the 1950’s were Mr. & Mrs. Nicolas Acosta, Mr. Sixto Berina, Mr. Augusto Destura who taught Pilipino subject, the two Dy brothers - Temporo & Abraham. Temporo taught math while Abraham taught Pilipino.

Our prefect of discipline was Fr. Alinea S.J. The standard punishment for student misconduct was the “JUG and Post”. JUG is an old Jesuit form of punishment to erring students and the acronym JUG stands for Justice Under God (I don’t know if this is really accurate). When your punishment included doing “Post”, you were required to report to Ateneo on a Saturday to cut grass and clear other unwanted plants that abundantly grew all over the swampy areas of Queborac. Students were required to do JUG & POST when they are late in going to school in the morning or returning to class after recess. I remember doing POST about a dozen times during my high school years.

During my junior and senior years in Ateneo De Naga from 1958 thru 1960, one of our subjects was PMT (Preparatory Military Training). PMT was later changed to CAT (Citizen’s Military Training) in 1972. The person in charge of our PMT course was Mr. Salvador “Kadi” Calandria Sr. During the early stage of the course, we have learned one important lesson and that is, you don’t mess around with Mr. Kadi. He was one mean disciplinarian! Mr. Calandria would shout his lungs out to reprimand his PMT cadets and officers whenever his instructions were not precisely followed during field formation. We considered Mr. Calandria and Fr. Bowler to be in good vibe with each other because they both like barking and shouting at us PMT cadets whenever we make mistakes. Their temper fuses seemed to always be in short supply but they sure have an ample supply of harsh reprimands stored in them whenever things does not go their way.

(Mr. Calandria served as the property custodian of Ateneo until his retirement. He passed away on May 22, 2006 at the age of 86.)

Most of the teachers when I entered Ateneo De Naga were Jesuit foreigners. Our school rector from 1959 thru 1960 was Fr. Vincent P. Towers S.J. After Fr. Towers left in 1960, he was replaced by Fr. Robert A. Rice S.J. Both of these Jesuits were strict. The Jesuit that is a long time resident of Ateneo De Naga then was Bro. Sergio Adriatico.

In March 1960, our high school batch graduated from Ateneo de Naga and our graduation guest speaker was Mr. Maximo Villaflor Soliven.

Mr. Max V. Soliven was a prominent Filipino journalist and newspaper publisher who graduated from Ateneo De Manila University. When martial law was declared in the Philippines in 1972, he was arrested and jailed for three months. After his release from jail, he was banned from writing for seven years. During the last years of the Marcos rule, Mr. Soliven co-founded the Philippine Daily Inquirer which he later left and co-founded another newspaper named Philippine Star.

For years I followed and read Mr. Soliven’s daily newspaper article in the Philippine Star entitled, “By the way”. His insights on many issues in the Philippines were always full of substance.

College Years

I entered college in June of 1960 and took up a course in accounting. My aunt Isabel moved to a house in Bagumbayan Avenue but later moved to City Heights Subdivision. The area in Mayon Avenue all the way to the City Hall used to be called City Heights Subdivision and my aunt Isabel is one of the pioneering residents in that area to build a house. She had a business then of constructing houses and reselling them for profit.

During the 1960’s and 70’s, there was a practice of laminating diplomas. My aunt Isabel brought my diplomas to a laminating store which was located near the old Alex Theater next to the Paquito’s grocery in downtown Naga City. Because all my diplomas were laminated, all of those are still with me.

Military career

My interest in the military started when I was still an elementary student. When I became a Boy Scout member, I felt very comfortable and proud to be in uniform. My interest towards the military profession was enhanced when I became a PMT cadet back in high school.

While I was in college, I tried to qualify for the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) but the screening process was really tough back then. During the early 1960s, PMA only took in one applicant per district. Back then, there were only two districts in Camarines Sur. To be chosen as the sole applicant to qualify for the military academy in the whole district was a huge accomplishment. Though I tried my very best, I was not able to snatch the highly coveted spot.

Though this career setback was a bit disappointing to me, I did not allow it to dampen my spirit. I continued my quest for a career in the military. The lure of the uniform just kept on burning inside me.

During college, I signed up for the ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Course). Our ROTC corps commander back then was Armando Pural and I believe Pural became the chief accountant of DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) after he graduated from college. Two of his junior officers were Jess Fusana and Primo Poloyapoy, Jr. I spent my first year in the ROTC as a regular cadet because we were only allowed to join the COCC (Cadet Officers Candidate Course) on the second year.

When I moved up to my sophomore year in college, I signed up for COCC. One of the prerequisites in joining the COCC was to join a fraternity called Xavier’s Cross and Saber (XCS) Fraternity. The initiation rites of the COCC was used by the officers as a means to test the trainee’s character as only those candidates who have the mental toughness to bear the difficulties of this rite of passage is given the responsibility to lead other ROTC cadets. I remember one day my superior officer commanded me to push a 10 centavo coin through the four pillars of Ateneo using the tip of my nose. By the time I completed the task, the tip of my nose was already scarred.

Our ROTC troops competed at the annual Penafrancia military parade and we always won first place. We dominated the top spot for a long time during these annual competition.

I rose through the ranks during my years in the ROTC. I started as a Second Lieutenant with the designation as a platoon leader in 1961, promoted as company Ex-O, then company commander. On my senior year, I had a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Our battalion commander then was Gabriel Centenera. From ROTC, Narciso Moralde, Emmanuel Jarcia and I pursued military careers as army officers.

I graduated in Ateneo De Naga College in 1966 with a major in accounting. It took me five years to finish college because of the ROTC program that I had to complete. After college, I went to Camp Vicente Lim, which is an army training camp located in Canlubang, Laguna for an 8-month military training as a probationary lieutenant. It was during this training where I learned the functions and use of the weapons of war, battle tactics, military leadership styles, survival skills, counter insurgency strategies to mention a few. On the last two months of my training, I was sent to Iriga City to handle the ROTC program of most schools in the city. This assignment was my on-the-job-training (OJT) required by the army.

In 1968, I began working for my application for commissionship in the Armed Forces of the Philippines . It was a long and tedious process that really tested any applicant’s patience and perseverance. Then in 1969, I was able to get my officer’s commission with the Philippine Army and in April 1971, I was finally able to serve in active service in the AFP.

I believe that the processing of my application for active duty as an officer was expedited in 1971 because of the numerous unrests that were going on around the Philippine Islands during that time with the formation of the Hukbalahap (HMB) rebellion and later the New People’s Army (NPA). In Mindanao, the military troops were clashing constantly with the Muslim rebels and in many parts of Luzon our forces seemed to have an endless gun battles and deadly encounters with the communist rebels.

My first assignment was at Camp Cacutud in Arayat, Pampanga. The camp is located at the foot Mt. Arayat and the area is infested with rebels and sympathizers. During that time, there was a rebel named Faustino Del Mundo who was commonly known as “Kumander Sumulong”. The followers of Kumander Sumulong operated around the areas of Angeles City due to its proximity to the U.S. Clark Air Force Military Base. The rebel movement obtained their logistics from the citizens and business establishments around the base by collecting revolutionary taxes.

My fellow soldiers had a popular and accurate belief that the people we regularly see working at the farm and rice fields were “farmers by day and fighters by night”. Most of the farm fields in the area where we operated were sugarcane farms. It was a difficult and challenging place to be at because the weather was always hot, humid and the plantation had lots of pesky mosquitoes. Walking through sugarcane plantations during patrol was something all of us soldiers truly dislike. Whenever we are on field patrol, we would hear civilians give out warning signals (pasa bilis) to announce our presence. Some of them would act as if they were calling their cow and some would hit a metal tube that is used as a bell.

First encounter

I never liked riding a military vehicle while on patrol because the odds of surviving an ambush while riding a vehicle is slimmer compared to being attacked while on foot patrol. Besides, jumping off from a moving vehicle to seek cover during an ambush is dangerous and a number of soldiers have sustained fatal injuries this way.

It was in the sugarcane fields of Pampanga where I experienced my first encounter with the rebels. During one of our foot patrols in the area, the rebels caught us in an ambush. I was scared out of my soul during the firefight. We returned fire and fought the rebels back. When the smoke cleared, three of my men were wounded. The veteran soldiers who were with us told me that it is normal to be scared out of one’s skin during their first encounter. As I got into more gun fights with the rebels, things became easier for me to react while bullets were zooming all around me.

The life of a soldier is hard because we feel like half of our body is already in our grave every time we go out on an operation or patrol. Problems and frustration are always present when it comes to building a good relationship with the civilian populace. During operations, some of the members of the, now defunct, Philippine Constabulary (PC) would sometimes join our troops to gain experience on the field. It is my observation that some of the members of the PC who are not used to army operations, does not know how to treat the civilians that they encounter in the field. Some of them were abusive to the civilians and because of the misguided acts of a few PC personnel, the image and reputation of the regular army troops were badly smeared.

In 1986, I was stationed in Baguio City and handled the CMT programs of all the colleges and universities there except for St. Louis University . In 1990, I commanded the battle seasoned 1st Philippine Scout Ranger Battalion. I have always been proud of these men.

Primum Regnum Dei before combat

I served in the Philippine Army for three decades. Twenty of those years were spent in combat. During all those years, I always prayed to God for guidance and protection. Before I went out on patrols, I would pray to God to protect the soldiers that I am leading so that we can all return back home to our families alive and safe. During the whole duration of my military service, God always protected me from harm even during the midst of a stormy gun battle with the rebels.

When I received my commission as an army officer, the serial number that was given to me was 099939. The officers that were issued the serial numbers 099938 and 099940 both became casualties of war. One of them was sent to Mindanao and was killed before receiving his first paycheck as a commissioned officer. Life as a soldier is not easy because life can end at any moment. You never know if tomorrow is the day your life will end in this world. You can only make the best of it while you are still alive.

As an army officer, I found it very hard to take a vacation from my work to go home to visit my family. Many times my family would be the one to travel to the camp that I was stationed at so that we can all be together. I was lucky to have a loving, understanding and capable spouse who surpassed with flying colors the challenges faced by an Army officer’s wife.

Retirement

In 1997, I had a total of 30 years of military service. Under the rules of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines ), a military personnel who reaches the age of 57 or has served a total of 30 years is required to retire from active duty. I ended my career with the military and decided to enjoy my retirement quietly at our house in Naga City . Shortly after I retired, my wife also retired from her profession as a high school principal of Bicol College of Arts and Trades (BCAT), whose name was later changed to Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges (CSPC) in Naga City.

While enjoying our retirement, my son Hector called and asked my wife and me if we could visit them in San Francisco Bay Area. Back in 1992, Hector married his long time girlfriend Angie who was also an Atenean. Both of them moved to California and settled in Vallejo , California .

My wife and I applied for a tourist visa in 1998 but our application was denied. I was a little bit surprised because my wife and I just wanted to visit our son and we did not have any plans of overstaying in the U.S. When Hector heard the news about what happened to us at the American Embassy, he decided to just file a petition to bring my wife and I to the U.S. as legal immigrants. After slightly more than a year after filing our petition, we finally arrived at San Francisco International Airport in 1999.

Life and career in America .

Life in California is different to what I was used to in the Philippines . For one thing, it is cold here. During the first month of our stay at our son’s house in Vallejo, I decided to look for a job because I felt that I was still strong and healthy to work. I quickly found a job working as a security guard for an amusement park called Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo . The place later changed its name to Discovery Kingdom .

After less than a year, my wife and I decided to return to the Philippines. The following year in 2000, both of us returned to California but we stayed in an apartment in Union City which is about 60 miles south from our son’s house in Vallejo.

My wife was able to get a job as a teacher with a public school and taught there until she retired in 2010. She is now a retired public school teacher of the Philippine and California public schools.

When my wife and I got our apartment, I realized that the life of a retired person is boring. I told myself, “I cannot stand sitting around the whole day. I better find myself a job!” And so I did. I got a job as a security officer with an agency that has a contract with the federal government. I am now working at a federal building in the City of Richmond where the Social Security Administration offices are located.

Federal buildings all around the country had been known to be a valued target of terrorists and so the security in these government buildings is very tight. All of us working as security officers in the federal building are required to always carry a loaded firearm and body protection. Many of the security officers that are my colleagues are former police officers, CHP (California Highway Patrol) and ex-military men and women. I even have a co-worker who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy.

The personnel from our agency continues to receive training from the Federal Homeland Security Agency and they have a standard that all of us have to attain and maintain in order for us to continue working as security officers at the federal buildings. The type of training that we receive from the federal police is tougher than the training that is given to regular police officers. Twice a year, we have to meet a qualifying score firearm shooting. I have to constantly practice to prepare for these difficult exams.

Thinking of retirement?

At age 67, I am beginning to find it difficult to keep up with my colleagues that are still on their 30’s. Temperature around the San Francisco Bay Area is very cold and my arthritis constantly bothers me especially when the weather is freezing. I have to admit that my legs are not what they used to be and the years of combat in the Philippines has taken its toll on my overall physique.

My colleagues at the agency had asked me numerous times before why I have not retired yet. I told them that I still have the strength to continue working and will do so until I feel that my body can no longer take the stress of working.

Looking back at my life, I am satisfied with what I have achieved with my family and career. All my children have successful careers of their own and they keep a close contact with my wife and I via the telephone and email. Life for me is beginning to tone down now. I prefer to go home to a simple but peaceful dwelling.

Once in a while, I would remember those years when I was still a combat soldier praying for survival in the jungles of the Philippines . That responsibility now rests on the younger and able-bodied men and women soldiers to continue the vigilance of protecting the freedom of the nation and its citizens.

I have done my time in combat and now it is time to rest…..

In God, family and country I trust.

Col. Nestor V. Monte Sr. (Ret.)
Philippine Army

I remember one time I heard my father narrate a story to one of my uncles about an encounter he had with the NPA rebels. During the encounter, my father’s troops where outnumbered by the rebels. With God's help, I heard that they were able to capture the leader by the name of, ironically, "Ka Nestor” The rebels sustained a number of casualties while my father’s troops had none.

When I graduated from Ateneo de Naga University in 1984, my father brought our family to Baguio for a vacation. He was the commanding officer (CO) of the entire ROTC/CMT of Baguio City. When we got to Baguio, my father received an order from higher command informing him that he was being assigned as the Training Director of the Summer Camp Military Science (MS) 43. This course is for advance graduate ROTC officers, just like what I took in Ateneo de Naga. The summer camp course was held at Camp Upi, Gamu in Isabela which is about eight hours road trip from Baguio. Long story short, we had to pack our bags and move our family vacation from the cool weather of Baguio to the sizzling hot weather of Isabela.

Since I was qualified to join the 45-day rigid classroom and military type training, he suggested that I join the class of 96 OCS trainees to make the most of my vacation. I was number 96 because I joined the training class a couple of days late. All those who graduated, including myself were awarded the rank of Probationary Second Lieutenant in the Philippine Army.

The only demerits that I received during the whole duration of the training was from my father when he called for an emergency "fall-in" and I was not around. Because of this infraction, I received 10 demerits. I had no other demerits except those I got on that incident. Though I got the number one spot in the order of merit upon graduation, I would have gotten a perfect record had it not been for those demerits which to me were "unreasonable" because the “fall-in” order was not really on the order of the day…………Nestor Monte Jr.

I am the apple of my father's eyes being the only girl in the family. When I had a fight with any of my five brothers, he would always side with me. I am not spoiled but when I ask something, he would always deliver. That’s the advantage of being an unica hija.

I have a lot of fond memories of my father. I remember that I always missed him being away from home because of his work. We always had a grand time celebrating, like a feast, every time he came home from his station after 2-3 months of deployment.

Everyone in our family is glad whenever our father is around. However, because he is indeed a disciplinarian, we sometimes fail him and it always breaks his heart. But he never gets tired of reminding us the right way – his way. And I could attribute the success and closeness of our family to this because I always believe that my father would never lead us to harm. He looked good in a military uniform and I remember my friends and other people would be “kinikilig” every time they see him. Some say he looked like Charlie Davao or Eddie Garcia when he was in uniform.

I remember when my hubby, Arnel, was still courting me. Being a junior officer in the Philippine Army, Arnel would always feel hesitant whenever he would ask permission from my Dad to invite me to go out on a date. The permission was always granted though. My mom reminded me many times that it is not easy to be a military man’s wife. I did not listen to her.

I inherited my being a "neat freak" from my father. He likes everything to be in its proper place. A single grain of rice spilled on the table would demand an explanation. When we eat, everybody must be in proper posture. When we disturb the peace of the neighborhood, he would stop us. But when any of us needs help, Dad is always there as our knight in shining armor.

My dad is a responsible family man. Being a father at the age of 19, I believe he was able to perform his responsibilities efficiently. Despite his young age, he tried his best to support our family and be a good role model to us. Even now that we are already married and have our own families, my dad is always there to support us. He is very fond of his grandchildren and will never fail to call us everyday and ask how we are doing. For whatever I am now, I owe a lot to my father.

Belle Monte-Cervantes

Ateneo De Naga High School 1980 reunion 2010

2011-01-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Lest We Forget: Memoirs of the date that lives in infamy.

2010-12-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

Every December 7th, I made it my personal mission to write and publish an article about the event that had been marked by the late U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt as “The date that will live in infamy”, when he addressed the nation on December 8, 1941 the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.

This year, I would like to share the memoirs of military personnels, civilians and also Filipinos when they learned or witnessed the attack at Pearl Harbor sixty nine years ago.

May the memories of that fateful event that opened the war gates of hell bring us to the realization that freedom constantly rests on an uneasy ground. There will always be evil minded people in the world who will seek to deprive and destroy righteous human liberty.

Lt. Yoshio Shiga
Squadron Commander
Japanese Imperial Navy

Lt. Yoshio Shiga, an ace pilot and a Zero fighter squadron commander that attacked Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, wrote on his memoir that while he and his nine zero fighters where attacking the Ewa Airbase, he saw a U.S. Marine soldier standing on an open field unmindful of the machine gun fire striking all around him. This brave marine drew his side arm and emptied an ammunition clip towards Shiga’s plane as it roared past him. Shiga described that soldier as “The bravest American he had ever met.”

Pat Kirita
Kirita Nomura
Kamekichi Kirita
Japanese-Americans residents of Hawaii 1941.

The moment the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Pat Kirita Nomura's life changed forever. That day, her father was taken to jail.

"We heard the sheriff come and took my father and I remember my mother crying," said Kirita Nomura.

Kamekichi Kirita owned a store in Kohala on the Big Island. He would then be imprisoned at the Sand Island internment camp on Oahu.

Ralph Jeffers, USN Ret.
Crew member, USS Curtis
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

I was enjoying my breakfast when suddenly we heard explosions. Instantly, the loud speakers blared the dread words, “Attention! Attention! This is no drill! All hands to battle stations!”

The harbor was filled with bursting shells, machine gun fire, ships aflame and smoke rising everywhere. Planes overhead were clearly not ours but were Japanese with the distinctive Rising Sun emblem on their wings.

I ran down to the chief’s quarters and turned on the water that is used to cool the barrels of the guns. I returned to the gun and two other sailors brought ammunition and after loading the gun, we started firing.

The following action was witnessed by our gun crew from back of the fantail of our ship. I felt the three of us had a ring side seat witnessing the havoc that was happening all around our ship and the fleet assembled in the harbor.

The Japanese had already bombed the seaplane hangars at Ford Island. Many ships in the dry dock and in the channel had also been hit. Within minutes a submarine periscope was sighted on the starboard side of the ship. The Curtiss opened fire with main guns and machine guns. The Curtiss ceased firing when the U.S.S. Monaghan steamed alongside the submarine dropping depth charges. The submarine, while sinking, fired a torpedo at the Curtiss, missing it and the torpedo ran up into the Pearl City channel. During this period the Curtiss was being attacked by enemy planes and our ship responded with its anti-aircraft guns. A Japanese dive bomber was hit while making a diving pass at the ship's starboard side. The aircraft burst into flames and crashed in the No. 1 crane on the ships starboard side where it burned completely. The blast knocked the ship's No. 3 main gun out of commission and its crew was forced to abandon the gun temporarily.

Sometime after 9:00 AM, an enemy plane came in low over the bow of the Curtiss passing from starboard to port. This plane was hit by our forward gun crews. It crashed immediately. Shortly after, another enemy plane made a steep diving attack on the starboard side, releasing a bomb. The bomb hit in the vicinity of the same crane that was damaged previously, exploding below decks. The attacking plane was hit and crashed about 1,000 yards on the port side. The bomb set the hangar, main deck aft, and the No.4 ammunition handling room on fire. This fire put No.4 gun out of action and caused many casualties.

Francis L. Emond
Band Member US Navy
USS Pennsylvania

I was born on May 21, 1918 in Pawtucket Rhode Island. I graduated from high school in May 1935. In February of 1938, I joined the U.S. Navy as a musician. I had played the French Horn in the high school band.

In the summer of 1941, our band transferred to the battleship Pennsylvania with Admiral Kimmel, (Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet) and remained on this ship until May 1943.

On December 7, 1941, ten minutes before eight in the morning, our band prepared to play the morning colors at the fantail of our ship. At five minutes before eight in the morning, I looked up and saw a line of dive bombers coming in over the harbor. The lead plane dropped something and I watched it fall. It hit a hanger on Ford Island and exploded. I looked back at the planes and could see the big red spot on their sides and knew they were Japanese. We were under attack!

We left our position and started for our battle stations. At this time the alarm, “General Quarters, No Drill!” started ringing throughout the ship. As I was running down the starboard side of the ship, I saw a torpedo plane racing down the harbor entrance. He dropped his torpedo and I watched it explode in the ship at the dock behind us.

That evening we were issued rifles and ammo in case there was an invasion. I had the 12am to 4am watch patrolling the dock side of the ship. I walked with the rifle loaded and with my finger on the trigger.

Barbara Norek
Berkeley, California

Every Sunday our family went to the movies. Abbott and Costello was my father's favorite. I never could stand them but nevertheless we would all go. On December 7th my mother, father, two younger sisters and I were all in the car on our way to the movies when the announcement came over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

“Oh, my God, we've got to go home”, my dad said.

On the back seat of our car there was an uproar of protests from all of us kids. “We want to see Abbott and Costello!!!!.”

“We can't," my father said. “Pearl Harbor has been bombed.”

“What's a Pearl Harbor?” we all asked.

“When we get home I'll take out the atlas and see if I can tell you about it.”

The following week they closed down the schools in Berkeley and everybody rushed around and bought blackout paper to glue over the windows to keep the light from shining through them. It was all very exciting because it was something different than what had been a sort of dull existence. Suddenly things were happening. People were in panic and my mother was crying worried that the end of the world was coming. It was exhilarating.

Rachel Wray
Oklahoma

In August 1941, I had come out to Whittier, California, from Oklahoma to join my boyfriend George, who was in the Navy. In December George was going to take a thirty-day leave and we were going to make arrangements to get married. The day that he left San Francisco to hitchhike down to Whittier, Pearl Harbor was attacked. When George and his buddy arrived at seven o'clock that night, there was a telegram waiting for them asking them to return to their base. They left at seven the next morning. I saw him again for three days in June when the ship took on provisions in San Diego. I didn't see George until June of 1944.

Margaret Takahashi:
Los Angeles, California

It was Sunday morning in Los Angeles when we heard the news about the Pearl Harbor attack. We were too shocked to go to mass. At first we just didn't believe it. It was one of those things that was beyond belief. It was only when we heard other people talking about it that we realized that the news was true. We became upset, angry and outraged.

Later we started to feel worried and uneasy. Initially, I thought that the war would be over in a couple of weeks and everything would be all right again. I just couldn't believe that dragged on for years. In fact, Japan seemed to be winning and that was hard to believe. We had this feeling that America was so invincible. Compared to the United States, Japan was like an appendix which suddenly burst.

Henry Murakami
Los Angeles, California

On December 7th, I was umpiring a baseball game for the younger boys on the playground on Terminal Island and we got through late. We were the last boat to go out fishing that afternoon. When we reached the lighthouse in San Pedro, we were met by the Coast Guard. They came up to us and said, "Go back to the port and stay there until further notice."

We didn't know what was happening. We hadn't done anything wrong. But they wouldn't tell us anything. So we came back to the fish harbor. It wasn't until we got off the dock and heard all the radios that we understood why the Coast Guard had sent us back.

Dellie Hahne
Santa Barbara, California

At the time of Pearl Harbor I was twenty one, a music major at Santa Barbara State College. That Sunday I was having breakfast with friends. Somebody turned on the radio and flipped through the dial. We didn't catch the actual words that the announcer said but the voice was so tense and so full of emotion that we all froze.

I was absolutely stunned. My mother had told me how she had felt when war was declared in 1917. I thought, “My God, it's happening to me”. I felt the fear that enemy bombers would come and we would all he killed. It was a horrible moment.

In an incredibly short time, a wave of patriotism swept through the country. Everybody started saying, “This is our country, and we're going to fight to defend it!” When we got home that evening, we were glued to the radio. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played and everyone in the room automatically rose. The outward show of patriotism was something that I had always sneered at but we all stood and we all tingled. So the fervor started right off the bat. It was like a disease and we all caught it.

The next day we all returned to classes but there was a Japanese student in my art class who stayed in her room and was afraid to leave because of the attack. The art teacher mentioned this to us and we all thought, “Well, she should. We had no understanding, no pity, no tolerance. She was a Jap and that was that.”

Jorge Torralba
Manila, Philippines

I was almost 19 years old when I went to Manila as a first year college student in June 1941. I enrolled at the Philippines Normal School (now Philippine Normal University) with a two-year General Course in teaching. I also enrolled in the ROTC department.

On the morning of December 8, 1941, the residents of Manila heard the news from an announcer at DZRH radio that Pearl Harbor was attacked and the Pacific war has started.

I still went to school at 7am that day but when I got to school, the students that were not from Manila were told to return to their respective provinces. Our ROTC commandant gave a stern order to all ROTC cadets to report to the military drill grounds. Before lunch that day, we were issued World War 1 era M1 Springfield rifles.

Our Commanding Officer, a certain Romei Atienza, briefed us about our mission. He told us that as soon as we were issued arms and ammunition, we would be sent to Atimonan, Tayabas on January 1, 1942 to defend the shores of that province from the Japanese invaders.

The news headline on that day December 8th was scary. It said “PACIFIC WAR IS ON” in 2 inches tall letters.

On December 27, 1941 our commanding officer again called us for a briefing and tearfully told us that there were no ammunition and additional firearms that were found for us to use. That day we were disbanded as a unit and were told to return home to our provinces.

I went immediately to the Tutuban railroad station and bought a ticket for Mangaldan. While waiting at the train station, three waves of Japanese bombers appeared and bombed the military installations in Camp Murphy and Nichols Airbase. I got so scared that I ran away from the railroad station thinking that the station would be the next target. After thirty minutes, the bombing stopped and everything went back to normal again.

Cery S. Abad
Manila, Philippines

World War two started when I was only six years old. I was sitting on a barber's chair when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. My brothers and I were having our haircuts in preparation for my first communion. My father, a pediatrician, called from the Philippine General Hospital with an urgent instruction to our maid to bring us home immediately. Punk haircuts were not yet in style then and so I remember feeling mortified walking home with my head half shaved. The plan for my first communion was cancelled.

Corporal Al Beralas
Filipino civilian resident Oahu

On Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, Al Beralas of Lihu‘e Camp, Kaua‘i, was a civilian worker building a fuel-storage tank with coworkers on Red Hill overlooking the harbor.

From the heights of Red Hill, Al and his co-workers watched in astonishment as Japanese aircraft zoomed overhead to bomb, strafe and torpedo the ships and shore facilities at Pearl Harbor.

Suddenly, one aircraft veered off and dived toward Al’s position. Instantly, he and his coworkers scrambled for cover beneath their rock-hauling truck. Their truck was hit by bullets fired by the attacking Japanese plane but the truck’s metal bed shielded Al and his companions. Their quick reaction to seek cover saved their lives.

Yvonne L. Boucher
11 years old in December 7, 1941.
Military housing resident
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

On the morning of December 7, 1941 I was living with my mother, sister and stepfather in the military housing just outside Pearl Harbor. I was only eleven at that time. After the attack, a ship convoy was organized to transport military dependents to San Francisco, California. My mother, sister and I were boarded a ship named USS Grant.

While we were inside the ship, we noticed that two cabins down from us was Lt. Sakamaki, the Japanese submarine commander that was captured when his mini sub ran aground near Kanohe, Oahu, Hawaii. Lt. Sakamaki was being taken back to California for interrogation. As the cabins faced on to the deck, everyone left their doors open during the day. I saw the prisoner several times. He was guarded around the clock. He was very aware of his dishonor. Each day he was allowed to walk on the deck surrounded by many guards. It seems the guards were afraid that Lt. Sakamaki would jump overboard and commit suicide. While the prisoner was in his cabin, the guards stayed outside his door. One day, Lt. Sakamaki burned his cheeks with a cigarette, which was then the only means for him to punish himself due to shame.

There was a little girl aboard that somehow became acquainted with the prisoner. The guards allowed her to visit him once in awhile. He wrote her name for her in Japanese, which suggests that he knew at least a little English.

Sionil Jose
Rosales Town, Philippines

I was 17, a student in Manila, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 8, 1941. That same day, the airfield in Manila and other military installations in the Philippines were also bombed. Schools were immediately closed and I returned to my hometown of Rosales which was located about 30 miles from Lingayen. On December 25, 1941, Japanese troops landed at Lingayen and soon after came to the town of Rosales.

In the first month of occupation, the Japanese troops behaved and one can say that they were even cordial. But two months into the occupation, the Japanese sentries started slapping people for no apparent reason. It did not take long before terrible stories about the Death March reach us.

In July 1942, I went to the prison camp at Capas to look for a cousin, Raymundo Alberto, who had not returned from Bataan. All of the horror stories we had heard were confirmed on that trip. I saw hundreds of Filipino prisoners sick and dying. My cousin was not there.

During the occupation, food, medicine, clothing, and other basic necessities like soap and matches became very scarce. I would sometimes travel to Manila just to bring rice to my relatives there.

On one such trip I was stopped in Moncada, in Tarlac Province. My half sack of rice was confiscated by the Japanese and they beaten me up also.

I was in Manila during the first American air raid in September 1944. By that November, people in the city were starving. Some were forced to eat rats just to survive.

My mother, my cousin and I decided to return to the town of Rosales. We walked from Manila all the way back to the Rosales passing through empty towns. In the daytime, the skies were full of American planes flying so low that we could see the pilots. At night, the Japanese marched. We could hear them as we camped in the abandoned houses along the highway.

It took about a week of walking before we reach the town of Rosales. Shortly after our return to Rosales, American troops landed in Lingayen. I immediately joined the U.S. Army as a civilian medical technician.

Since our unit was with the combat engineers, we were often the first to reach liberated towns and villages. We would be met by grateful and starving Filipinos as we offered gifts of fresh eggs and live chickens.

Lt. Philip Rasmussen
Fighter Pilot, Wheeler Air Field
Honolulu, Hawaii

2nd Lt. Philip M. Rasmussen, a young American pilot stationed at Wheeler Field, was wearing purple pajamas when he awoke to hear the attack beginning.

“I saw our planes burning at Wheeler Field,” Rasmussen said in a 2002 interview. “But I also saw several P-36s that were intact.”

Rasmussen, still wearing his pajamas, managed to get airborne in a clunky, obsolete P-36. “We climbed to 9,000 feet and spotted Japanese ‘Val’ dive bombers,” Rasmussen said. “We dived to attack them.”

Rasmussen and three other P-36 pilots tore into a Japanese formation. Though his P-36 was slower than any of the Japanese aircraft, 1st Lt. Lewis M. Sanders got behind one of the raiders and shot it down. Second Lt. Gordon H. Sterling Jr. also shot down a Japanese aircraft but was shot down over water and drowned after getting out of his aircraft.
In his cockpit, Rasmussen charged his guns only to have the machine guns start firing on their own. While he struggled to stop them, a Japanese aircraft passed directly in front of him, flew into his bursts of gunfire and exploded.

Shaking off two Zeros on his tail, Rasmussen got his guns under control, raked another Japanese aircraft with gunfire, then felt himself taking hits from a Japanese fighter. “There was a lot of noise. He shot my canopy off,” Rasmussen said. He lost control of the P-36 as it tumbled into clouds, its hydraulic lines severed and tail wheel shot off.

Rasmussen did not know it yet, but two cannon shells had buried themselves in a radio behind his pilot’s seat. The bulky radio saved his life.

He landed his badly damaged aircraft without brakes, rudder or tail wheel.
Rasmussen was one of eight fighter pilots who got aloft at Pearl Harbor to mount an impromptu defense against the surprise assault. They shot down 10 of the 29 aircraft the Japanese conceded losing.

Awarded a Silver Star for his courage at Pearl Harbor, Rasmussen pursued a career in the Air Force and retired as a colonel in 1965.

He died in 2005, but his feat lives on at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where a pajama-clad mannequin scrambles into a P-36 cockpit at a display detailing his story

General Ludovico Arejola

2010-11-15T10:22:00.001-08:00

In January 1900, American troops landed in Legaspi city to set up a hemp port so that abaca harvest can be shipped to the American market where the demand is high.

A Naga resident named Ludovico Arejola organized a large guerilla army and fought the Americans at Agdangan, Baao. Afterwards he set up a camp in the mountains of Minalabac and held out for more than a year.

The resistance also included an eight-woman group, called the Damas Benemeritas de la Patria (Ladies Benemeritas of the Mother country), that tended to the injured and the sick, and brought clothes and provisions to the Bicolano guerillas.

Arejola was appointed as Coronel de la Milicia Territorial by President Emilio Aguinaldo. He was tasked with organizing the milicias (militias) in Ambos Camarines and Catanduanes. He later rose to the rank of General

Additional American troops disembarked in Calabanga, Camarines Sur, on Feb. 19, 1900.

Relentless American operations, battle casualties, illness among the troops, lack of firearms, low on ammunition and atrocities perpetrated by US soldiers on innocent civilians weighed heavily in the decision of General Arejola to give up the fight.

On March 31, 1901, General Ludovico Arejola surrendered his forces to1Lt. George Curry, 11th Cavalry USV, and 2Lt. George V.H. Mosely, 9th Cavalry.

The two American officers went unescorted to Arejola's encampment at Bulawag, which was about six miles up the river from Minalabac, and negotiated his surrender. They escorted general Arejola to Nueva Caceres (now Naga City) where the general formally gave up to Col. Edward Moale, CO of the 15th US Infantry.

General Arejola surrendered along with of his 30 officers (1 Colonel, 3 Lt. Colonels, 5 Majors, 21 junior officers) and 800 men. They turned over 43 rifles, 12 revolvers and hundreds of bolos (machetes)

(Teatro Aguinaldo was named in honor of General Aguinaldo at Nueva Caceres (now Naga). The picture was taken in 1901.)

Civil government was finally established in Ambos Camarines in April 1901.

A simple story about a Strong Filipina

2010-10-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed reading this article about the life of a simple but brave woman named Maria Magdalena Vidal-Strong who struggled to sustain the needs of her family under difficult circumstances. Alice Strong, who is the daughter of Magdalena, decided to write her memoirs about her mother’s life. This memoir was read by Alice’s daughter (Elena Maria Vidal) and Elena decided to honor her mother and grand parents by posting their memoirs in her blog.

Maria Magdalena Vidal was born on May 25, 1904 on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. Her great- grandfather, Kiamko, was a Chinese national. She always told us that he was a merchant from Shanghai but we found out many years later that he was actually a notorious pirate.

After amassing a fortune through pillage, Kiamko eventually settled down on vast estates in the Philippines. He married a lady of Spanish-Malaysian blood, descended from one of Magellan's comrades who had settled in the islands in the sixteenth century. Kiamko's son, Alejandro Arnibal, inherited what had become an empire of fishing and sugar cane which he ruled like an oriental despot. His daughter, my grandmother's mother, was Mamerta Philomena Arnibal, an exotic beauty with dark skin and chiseled features.

Mamerta and her sisters assisted during mass in their floor-length mantillas made of pineapple fiber. During the period in the Philippines, the women sat on one side of the church and the men on the other. In spite of the segregation, Mamerta caught the glance of a poor young Spaniard named Jaime Vidal.

Jaime was from Barcelona in Catalonia and was working as an accountant in his uncle's cigarette factory. He was a descendant of the Sephardic Jews of Aragon, the conversos. When his eyes met Mamerta's, they both fell in love. Jaime came to her home and serenaded her under her window with his guitar. Alejandro disapproved of him as a suitor due to his lack of fortune. To show of Alejandro’s disapproval, he and his sons would pour buckets of water on Jaime while he was serenading Mamerta.One day, Jaime and Mamerta eloped. This made Mamerta’s father furious. The father disowned Mamerta and crossed her off the family tree as if she was never born. The father’s wrath never diminished even though Jaime and Mamerta were married and their union is no longer an issue to be ashamed of. Years later when Mamerta became a widow and needed of assistance, her family refused to extend any help to her. They really treated her as if she had died.Mamerta and Jaime had a son named Francisco. When Mamerta became pregnant a second time, there were political problems in the islands and they decided to relocate to Spain. Jaime went first to Spain to prepare a home for them. While Jaime was in Spain, he was killed in a riding accident.

Abandoned by her own family, Mamerta was at a total loss. She gave birth to my grandmother in May 1904. Unprotected, she was kidnapped and forced to marry a Filipino man whose name we do not know. He was cruel and beat Mamerta and baby Magdalena as well. By the time Magdalena was three years old, Mamerta feared for her life. She heard of an orphanage for mixed race children called the House of the Holy Child run by American missionaries. She took her little girl there and begged them to take care of her.

The House of the Holy Child was operated by the Anglican Church under the auspices of a former Boston socialite, Frances Crosby. She was a maiden-lady with no children of her own. She was enchanted by Magdalena and raised her as her own daughter, giving her the last name of "Crosby." Magdalena was baptized a Catholic but her "godmother," as she called Miss Frances, raised her as a high Anglican. Frances later married an Anglican clergyman, Father Barter. They were both devoted to my grandmother raising her as a proper young lady.

Magdalena was a bright and precocious child and wanted to be a teacher. She began teaching as early as age fourteen and by age twenty had her teaching certificate. It was then she met my grandfather, Herman Strong, from Alabama. He had a fiancée back in the States but when he became enamored of my grandmother he broke his engagement. Her foster mother did not approve of Herman because he was a Baptist. Wanting to be united as husband and wife, Herman and Magdalena eloped. They had four children and the youngest was my mother, Alice Strong, who was born in Baguio city in 1939.

Below are recollections taken directly from Alice Strong’s memoir notes:

When WW II broke out we were living in a beautiful, what would these days be called a subdivision, of 6 houses each one walled in for privacy and safety from robbers. House robberies were common in Manila, thus most houses had iron grills on the windows and these had the added safety of walls. I remember the street we lived on was named Colorado Street. I believe my father was doing well as an accountant because my recollections are that it was a fine house.

My mother had two servants who would cook and house clean, and my brother had a 'house boy' whose sole job was to take care of him. His name was Felix. When my father was taken off to Santo Tomas prison camp, Felix would ride his bicycle many miles across the city of Manila taking food my mother had prepared in order to keep my father from starvation. He remained part of our household during most of the war, as did the 2 servants. One was especially close to us, her name was Nena, and I cannot be certain if the spelling of her name is correct. The family photo of all of us standing in a doorway with my father holding me was taken at that location.

When the war broke out everyone in the neighborhood pitched in and built a community air raid shelter where we would all go during an air attack. The house had a beautiful garden with Banana Trees and other lush tropical plants. There were trees with wild orchids hanging from them. I believe it was told to me that orchids are a parasitic plant, the same as mistletoe, and would grow from the bark of trees. My mother loved flowers and had hanging baskets of orchids that had been cut from the bark and placed bark and all in hanging baskets.

It was at this location that my mother had a 'school' for her children and any neighborhood children who wanted to attend. In this way she helped the young people maintain their educational level and earned an income at the same time. She also tutored children of wealthy families in their home. I recall a car being sent for her and I would get to go along as well. I was in awe of the furnishings and size of the rooms of the large mansions we would go to for my mother's tutoring sessions. After the war started and gasoline was no longer available to private citizens, the car would appear being drawn by horses.

The school even had a theater arts program in which the students would perform in plays. I specifically recall the Christmas re-enactment of Dickens's Christmas Carol. I believe my sister, Floy, was Marley's ghost, and my brother, David, played the boy who fetches the Christmas Goose. A real goose was used, and a large bow had been tied around its neck. The scenes in my mind of the fun during rehearsals and the final performance of this play are still vivid to me.

I do not remember how frequently the Japanese soldiers would make their rounds, but my mother had prepared the students by teaching them Japanese songs which they would sing in case of such visits. She had been warned not to teach anything related to the USA, but US History and Geography were part of the curriculum along with the history and geography of South East Asia, and Japan. My mother was quite proud of the fact that after the war every one of these students was able to enter school at their grade level, and the parents were quite pleased about this as well.

Another way my mother earned income after my father was taken to prison camp was by renting the upstairs of the house to a Spanish family consisting of a mother and two sons. The sons were in their late teens or early twenties. Their names were Jorge and Miguel. I remember they were quite handsome and flirtatious. Jorge was my favorite and would take me on outings to the Zoo and other places. Nowadays with the fear of pedophiles this would be unheard of, but Jorge was like a big brother to me.

It was at this time that the whole city of Manila was flooded by the Japanese. I remember wading around in about two feet of water while everyone carried furniture upstairs. I do not know what caused the flood, but my mother said it was because the Japanese did not know how to manage the city water works having come from a rather primitive culture which did not consist of such advances. My son, Pat, who is well versed on WWII History, said the Japanese flooded the city in anticipation of the U.S. invasion.

As the war progressed we had to abandon the area and moved to a smaller house in a safer part of town, however the house consisted of two stories. In this house the air raid shelter was built under the stairway. I believe we spent most of the remainder of the war at this location. While at this location we were robbed by a person who climbed up the side of the house and entered one of the windows (no bars) and stole a bag full of electric light bulbs, which were a valuable commodity. The next day I remember seeing his muddy footprints up the side of the house. The Filipinos were quite adept at climbing. After that my mother slept with a 'bolo', which was a large machete type knife, under her pillow. We slept under mosquito nets and my brother was always getting tangled up in them during the night. It was quite comical, although he did not think so.

It was also at this house that we had a vegetable garden on top of the other air raid shelter built off the back of the house. A wall separated our house from the back yard of the other houses. We had a live chicken at the time that would peck bugs in the garden my mother planted on top of the air raid shelter. I do not know where my mother got the chicken, but she was very resourceful, and also made friends with the local Filipinos who were always helpful. The chicken was being fattened for my father, and we were greatly saddened when my mother cooked it and Felix took it to my father at the POW camp. Not only were we sad to see the chicken go, but we were sad to miss out on a tasty morsel. My mother also hid guerrilla fighters from whom we would receive vital information about future events of the war. If the Japanese soldiers came to search the house, the guerrilla could climb the wall and escape into the neighboring yard.

When the Japanese soldiers went from house to house confiscating cars, radios and other valuables, one of the neighbors slaughtered his horse rather than aid the Japanese with the use of the horse. Food of any kind was scarce at this time so he shared the horse meat with everyone in the neighborhood. My sister refused to eat any of it, but I was hungry enough that I ate it. Getting protein from Mung Beans and Sprouts did not quite satisfy my hunger.

In my brother David's notes of the war he mentions the Japanese Officer, Peco, who befriended us and would visit and bring canned goods and sugar. From my recollection we met Peco when he and another officer were in a truck that had broken down in front of our house. I recall the weather was rainy and the road was muddy. They either came to the door or my mother invited them in for coffee. Even though she had white sugar, which she had obtained on the 'Black Market', she served them brown sugar because she did not want to arouse suspicion by having white sugar. It was after this that he appeared one day with canned milk and white sugar. As my brother mentions in his notes, we knew it was confiscated canned milk. He visited several more times after that and had long conversations with my mother. We grew quite fond of him and loved his visits. He told us that when he was twelve he was taken away from his family and trained for war along with many many other young men, indicating that Japan was preparing for conquest years and years before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

My mother said Peco told her he was a Christian, and was opposed to the war but had no option but to fight. He showed her photos of his wife and baby. The last we saw of Peco was when he came and told us of the impending US invasion. He said that he was being transferred and did not know whether he would survive the coming battle. In his broken English he told my mother, "Americano coming, Boom Boom!" My mother already knew this based on information from her guerrilla friends.

One needs to know that after the Japanese invasion and destruction of the American military facilities in Manila, life went on as usual and the Japanese wanted to be known as beneficent conquerors. It should be mentioned that the Japanese were not at war with the Filipinos, but the USA. In spite of this there was limited food and other resources, and many people had fled Manila into the outlying areas. We, of course, remained in order to aide my father in prison camp. The monetary system was in shambles and the Japanese printed Philippine bills that were worthless. When my mother would go to try and buy food, she carried a bag full of this currency in order to purchase even a small item. During this time she sold or bartered most of our valuables in order to get food. In spite of this we were malnourished, but fared better than most because of my mother's, and I might add, my sister Floy's, ingenuity. After the war my mother weighed eighty-five pounds, and even though she was not a tall woman, at eighty-five pounds she was quite underweight. I would see her take food off her plate and give it to my brother, who was constantly hungry. He did not want to take her food but she would insist that she had had enough to eat.

My last memory of the war years was when the Americans invaded and we had to go into hiding for three weeks. We hid in the crawl space of a three story house along with many, many other people crammed into the space. My mother had been told about that this house, and that it was relatively safe during the bombing because three stories would deflect the worst effects of a bomb. It had already been shelled at an earlier time because I remember seeing a long crack in the roof.As I mentioned, the space was crammed with families, mostly women and children, and many injured people. My mother always carried first aid supplies with her and would nurse as many of the injured people as she could. I specifically recall a man on whom she had applied a tourniquet which we took turns holding in order to stop the loss of blood. I believe she saved his life. The only antibiotic available in those days was sulfonamide. My mother always had some with her. She was quite resourceful in obtaining first aid supplies.

In getting to this house we had to escape our neighborhood in the early morning hours while it was still dark. This turned out to be a dangerous procedure because the Japanese had planted explosive mines in the muddy road in order to blow up the American tanks that were to come through. My sister had watched through the night as the soldiers were planting the mines and memorized where all of them were. After the soldiers left we crept from our house and had to cling to the side of the house in order not to slip in the mud and be blown up. It was to this house that my brother and sister would return to get food and my sister would cook food and bring it back to the place where we were in hiding.

By then the Japanese were not so 'benevolent' and had established a curfew. Anyone seen out past the curfew would be machined gunned. If the person was a young woman she would be taken to go into sexual service for the Japanese soldiers. Little boys my brother’s age would be taken to pull the Japanese caissons because by then oil for motorized vehicles was almost unobtainable. In my brother's notes he tells of the time he was snatched off the street and hidden during one of the Japanese soldiers’ sweeps of the city. Many children became separated from their family, and I recall seeing children wandering around alone and crying.

My mother had given me and my brother strict instructions as to how to avoid being separated from her. I was to hang onto her hand no matter what, and my brother was to stay by my sister. My mother had prepared a bag which we were instructed to take when we had to move from place to place. It contained some food, clothing and first aid supplies.

After about three weeks of hiding under the house the final ordeal ended when we experienced an unnatural silence and assumed the fighting had ended. We did not know, however, whether it was the Japanese or the American army that had prevailed. Finally we heard tanks rumbling past and someone called out, "Is anybody there?" It was an American soldier. My mother said it was a welcome relief to see those blue eyes. The soldiers handed out chocolates, cigarettes, and Chiclets chewing gum. We were taken to Santo Tomas where my father had been imprisoned, but it was now an internment camp. Santo Tomas had previously been a University, but the Japanese found the setting a good one to use for prisoners of war.

We were 'interned' here while the Allied forces sorted everyone out with the help of the International Red Cross and arranged for all to be returned to their respective countries. Manila was a cosmopolitan city and its inhabitants were people from all over the world. So it was quite a task and one that took months or organizing in order to achieve this. My father was quite relieved to be reunited with us. He had not been able to get word of our whereabouts and knew we were trapped in the worst part of Manila where the most vicious fighting was taking place. His worst fear was that he would never see us again. He and his fellow prisoners knew that they were only going to be able to survive another month if the liberation had not taken place. Many of their fellow prisoners had already died of starvation or been bayoneted by the Japanese guards because of some infraction. My father wrote a book titled "A Ringside Seat To War", about his experiences as a prisoner at Santo Tomas.

Upon leaving we could see that the beautiful city of Manila was flattened beyond recognition. This city, known as 'The Pearl of the Orient' situated on the stunning, blue, Manila Bay, would never be the same again. Our lives as well were changed forever. Because there were no longer any harbors or docks, in order to board the ship that was to take us back to the U .S. we had to get into LST's, which were vehicles that operated on land and in the water. We climbed into these with just the clothes on our backs and a small bag of belongings, grateful to be alive, and grateful to the Allied forces who had liberated us at great cost in lives and resources.

The strain of the war had so taken its toll upon my grandparents. Their marriage failed and they divorced in the late forties. My grandmother returned to teaching. She was always a devoted Anglican and never married again. She eventually moved to Seattle, Washington which she said reminded her of Baguio. She would spend the summers with us in Maryland, and as she crocheted, she would tell me about her life. A stroke destroyed her health and she had to move to a nursing home. She died on November 12, 1987. She is one of the most beloved people of my life, whose influence upon me has no measure

Who is your life's Technical Support?

2010-10-23T12:44:00.001-07:00

Two weekends ago, my son handed me his computer notebook and told me that it had crashed. I checked the screen and it just showed a black screen with a bunch of chain-like codes that resembled Egyptian hieroglyphics. I then asked my son what he did that caused the crash. I felt that my question is a dumb one because the typical answer of normal teenagers nowadays when asked with this question is, “I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary when that thing happened”.

I tried to reboot the notebook several times but the same thing just kept on showing on the screen. I finally gave up after half an hour of trying.

My wife then came to the scene and told me that it appears that we might have to buy a new notebook since the cost of the repair might equal to half of the price of a brand new notebook. Though what she said is possible, I told her that I will try to find ways to repair the notebook without costing us an arm and a leg.

I took the notebook to my workplace and showed it to two network programmers who work in our Information Technology (IT) department. The first thing they asked me was if I have a Recovery disc. I told them I do not have one. They told me that whenever I buy a new PC and the PC did not come with a Recovery disc, I need to create one before operating anything in the PC. Well, this is one lesson I sure will remember.

Both of the programmers tried different commands to get the notebook to be in a mode called “safe mode” (Not sure what that means). After numerous tries, they finally told me that my PC is corrupt and I need to buy a Recovery Disc from the PC manufacturer or take it to a PC repair shop so that they can restore my PC.

I called the notebook manufacturer and was told that the Recovery disc will cost $20 plus shipping. The price seemed reasonable but the thing that kept me from purchasing it was I needed to order it via their website using my credit card. With identity fraud so rampant in the internet, I did not feel safe typing in my information in the internet even though I have a fancy anti-virus program in my other PC.

The other option I have, which is to take my notebook to a repair shop, does not appeal to me that much. I view these PC repair shops as dishonest leeches bleeding the bank accounts of every person that brings into their shop a PC for repair. I am sure not all of them are dishonest but the bad apples within their ranks had caused a bad virus to spread in their industry smearing their reputation.

After two weeks of trying to figure out the most cost efficient way to repair our notebook, I decided to seek the help of someone whom I remiss to ask—God. I placed my son’s notebook next to my laptop and prayed. I know that this might look strange to you guys but God has never failed me in the past. I believe that I should have presented my PC problem to God first before doing anything else.

After praying for a minute or so, I turned on both PCs and wondered how I will be able to fix the malfunctioning PC. I went to PC technical websites trying to figure out if there are any instructions that I might be able to spot to help me repair my notebook. While I was doing this, there is this nagging voice in my mind that kept on telling me, “If two PC experts at your office cannot figure out how to repair your notebook, what makes you think you can fix it yourself?”. Though I felt that my efforts could potentially be futile, I just kept on going with the hopes that God is leading me somewhere in the net. I felt so incompetent to fix my PC because I know absolutely zilch (squat, zip, nothing) about PC programming.

After typing into my notebook numerous programming commands which I all found in the internet, I came into a DOS screen containing a list of settings. One of them said something like a factory setting and it was disabled. I changed it to “enable”. I roamed around that window and I pressed something that brought me to another screen and this time it was asking me if I want to restore the PC to factory setting. I was hesitant at first thinking that I might potentially make the problem worse. After thinking for a minute, I took the plunge and just pressed the “OK” command. To my surprise, the PC restored itself to its original factory settings! I was stunned!

After the PC went through 25 minutes of restoration, I finally saw a familiar screen with program icons in it. Though I felt jubilant, I noticed that the MS Word program plus all my son’s school work files were deleted. When I showed this to my son, he scratched his head in disappointment but was relieved that his notebook is working again.

I do not want to credit pure luck as the source of the solution to my computer problem. God is the one that made it all possible. Everytime I am in a tight spot, He has never failed to provide me with the best solution. This is a clear proof that God solves all sorts of problems including PC programming.

Is God your life’s Technical Support?

First in the Philippines

2010-10-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

In the history of the Philippines, there are a lot of “firsts” and I would like to list a few of them in this article because they are hardly mentioned during Philippine historical lectures.

First Landing
In March 16, 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in service of Spain landed at Samar.

First Mass
In March 31, 1521 (Easter Sunday) Spanish friar Pedro Valderama conducted the first Catholic mass in Limasawa, Leyte. Rajah Kolambu, who forged a blood compact of friendship with Magellan two days earlier, attended along with Rajah Siagu.

First Filipino
ChristiansIn April 14, 1521, Rajah Humabon, Rajah Kolambu, and 400 other Filipino natives were baptized into Christianity during a ceremony administered by friar Pedro Valderamma.

First Filipino Priest
In 1590, Martin Lakandula was ordained as an Augustinian priest, becoming the first native Filipino to serve as a friar. In 1906, Jorge Barlin became the first Filipino bishop under the Roman Catholic Church. The first Filipino archbishop was Viviano Gorordo while the first Filipino cardinal was Rufino Cardinal Santos.

First Chair
It was said that Filipinos first used a chair in April 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan gave Rajah Humabon of Cebu a red velvet Spanish chair. According to Halupi, a book of essays on Philippine history, early Filipinos used to sit on the floor.

First Spanish Monument
April 14, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan planted a huge cross in Cebu. It was here where friar Valderama baptized Rajah Humabon, Rajah Kolambu and 400 other Filipinos into Christianity.

First Battle
In April 14, 1521, the first battle between Filipinos and the European conquerors took place in Mactan, Cebu. Filipino chieftain Lapu-lapu defeated Magellan and his men. After Magellan was killed, Sebastian del Cano led his men back to Spain, completing their voyage around the planet.

First Religious Order
The Franciscans were the first Catholic religious order to establish their presence in the Philippines. The Franciscans came here in 1577; Jesuits, 1581; Dominicans, 1587; Recollects, 1606; Paulists, 1862; Sisters of Charity, 1862; Capuchins, 1886; and Benedictines, 1895.

First Spanish-Filipino Marriage
In 1585, Spanish soldier Pablo Alvarez married Nicolasa de Alvarez, a native of Lubao, Pampanga.First MuslimsMakdum, Rajah Baguinda and Abu Bakar propagated Islam in the Philippines in the 15th Century.

First Spanish Governor General
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who founded the first European settlement in Cebu City in 1565, is considered the first Spanish governor general in the Philippines. He founded the city of Manila and declared it the capital of the archipelago on June 3, 1571. The last Spanish governor general in the Philippines was Riego delos Rios in 1898.

First Archbishop
Domingo Salazar was the first archbishop of the Philippines, which was regarded as a single diocese in the 1580s.

First Filipina Directress
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, Sor Candida Ocampo was the first and only Filipino who became a directress of an Spanish institution in the Philippines. In 1594, Ocampo, who was born in Camarines Sur, was appointed as the directress of Colegio de Santa Isabel.

First Cannon Maker
Even before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Filipino natives had already learned the trick of making cannons, perhaps from Chinese traders. Historians claimed that Panday Pira who lived between 1483 and 1576 had devised the cannons which Muslim leader Rajah Sulayman used to protect Manila against the invading Spanish troops. Panday Pira was from Tarlac.

First Chinese Kingdom
After attacking Manila, Chinese conqueror Limahong established a kingdom near the mouth of Agno River in Pangasinan province on December 3, 1574. Agno was the seat of the old civilization. Historians have mentioned one Princess Urduja who ruled Pangasinan before the Spaniards came. In 1660, Filipino leader Malong attempted to establish another kingdom in Pangasinan.

First Revolt
The first attempt to rise against Spanish colonial rule was carried out by chieftains of Bulacan led by Esteban Taes in 1587. On October 26, 1588, Spanish authorities discovered a plot by Magat Salamat of Hagonoy who tried to enlist the support of his relatives in Borneo.

First Filipino in Exile
Felipe Salonga of Polo, Bulacan (now Valenzuela City) became the first Filipino who was put in exile by Spanish authorities for starting a revolt in Bulacan in 1587. He was exiled to Mexico.

First Mention of King of Tagalogs
New historical writings have mentioned the name of one Raha Matanda or Rajah Ache (Lakandula) who ruled over Tondo, a kingdom encompassing an area that now includes Bulacan, Metro Manila, Rizal and Quezon in the 16th Century. Rajah Matanda was the heir to his father's throne and was a grandson of Sultan Siripada I (Bolkeiah I) of Borneo. In 1643, Don Pedro Ladia of Borneo who claimed to be a descendant of Rajah Matanda started a revolt and called himself the king of the Tagalog. He was executed in Manila. Historians said that when the troops of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi attacked Manila in 1571, the men of Rajah Soliman - the king of Manila - rose up in resistance.In 1847, Apolinario dela Cruz of Tayabas was considered king of the Tagalogs. Bernardo Carpio, a mythical giant character, was also regarded as a king of the Tagalogs. In the 1900s, the revolutionary government proclaimed Macario Sakay as the president of the Tagalog Republic.

First Chinese Revolt
In October 3, 1603, the Chinese rose in revolt in Manila and was driven away to San Pablo, Laguna where they made their last stand.

First Juan dela Cruz
A certain Pantaleon Perez led the Pangasinan revolt on November 3, 1762. Perez assumed the name Juan dela Cruz Palaris. It was mentioned that on November 11, 1849, most illiterate Filipinos during the administration of Spanish governor general Narciso Claveria y Zaldua were given the Christian surname dela Cruz. Our great ancestors, who could not read and write, drew a cross as their signature on documents and so were known for their dela Cruz surnames. In contrast, Filipino descendants of rajahs and noble men were given the option to keep their names. Among the clans, who were also exempted from forced labor and paying taxes under the Spanish rule, were the Lakandulas, Solimans, Gatmaitans, Gatbontons, Salongas, Layas, Lapiras, Macapagals, Salamats, Manuguits, Balinguits, Banals, Kalaws, among others.

First Filipino
The first man who used Filipino as a title of citizenship was Luis Rodriguez Varela, a Spaniard who was born in Manila. He preferred to be called El Conde Pilipino in 1795. (Source: Halupi)

First Map
The first Philippine map was drawn in 1734 by Nicolas dela Cruz and Francisco Suarez under the instruction of Jesuit historian Pedro Murillo Velarde. The original map was 27 inches wide and 42 inches long.

First Dutch Presence
In June 10, 1647, a Dutch fleet arrived in Manila Bay and later attacked Cavite province.First British PresenceIn October 4, 1762, British forces invaded Manila. They took possession of Intramuros until May 31, 1764.

First Filipino Printer
The Spaniards introduced the art of printing in the Philippines, almost half a century before the Americans learned how to use it. It is believed that the first book in the country was Doctrina Christiana en letra y lengua China, which was printed in 1593 by Juan de Vera, a Filipino-Chinese. In 1948, Fray Jose Gonzales of the Dominican Order discovered this book in the Vatican Library. Tomas Pinpin is regarded as the first Filipino printer. He was born in Abucay, Bataan but records about his birth were lost after the Dutch invaders destroyed the town of Abucay in 1646. Pinpin learned the art of printing from the Chinese artisans when he worked in the shop of Filipino-Chinese printer, Luis Beltran. Among his works were Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala (1610) and the Librong Pag-aaralan nang mga Tagalog nang Uicang Castila (1610) printed in Bataan. From 1609 to 1639, Pinpin printed more than a dozen titles. Other literary pieces, which appeared during this period were the poems of Pedro Bukaneg (1590-1626), Fernando Bagongbanta (1605), and Pedro Ossorio (1625). The art of modern printing was discovered by German scholar Johannes Gutenberg (1394-1468). The Chinese, however, are credited for having developed their own system of printing, hundreds of years before Gutenberg was born.

First Newspaper
In 1637, Tomas Pinpin published Successos Felices (Fortunate Events), a 14-page newsletter in Spanish that is now widely regarded as the first Philippine newsletter. On December 1, 1846, La Esperanza, the first daily newspaper, was published in the country. Other early newspapers were La Estrella (1847), Diario de Manila (1848) and Boletin Oficial de Filipinas (1852). The first provincial newspaper was El Eco de Vigan (1884), which was issued in Ilocos.

First Magazine and Journal
Seminario Filipino, the first religious magazine in the country, was first issued in 1843. Meanwhile, El Faro Juridico became the first professional journal in the country when it saw print in 1882.

First Guide Book
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the first guidebook in the Philippines (Guia de Forasteros) was printed in 1834.

First Novel
According to literary expert Bievenido Lumbera, the first Filipino novel was Ninay, written by Pedro Paterno and published in 1880. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere was published in 1887 while El Filibusterismo came out of the press in 1891. The first English novel written in English by a Filipino was Zoilo Galang's A Child of Sorrow.

First Woman Writer and Poet
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the first Filipino poetess was Leona Florentino of Ilocos while the first Filipino woman writer was Rosario de Leon of Pampanga. The first Filipino woman novelist, Galang added, was Magalena Jalandoni from Visayas while the first Filipino woman who wrote an English novel was Felicidad Ocampo.

First Non-Catholic Marriage
The first non-Catholic marriage in Manila under the Spanish control took place in the early 19th Century when American Henry Sturgis, who arrived in the country in 1827, married Josephina Borras of Manila. They were wed aboard a British warship at the Manila harbor.

First Bakery
In 1631, the Spanish government established and operated the first bakery in Manila.First DrugstoreBotica Boie is considered the first drugstore in the country, having been established by Dr. Lorenzo Negrao in 1830.

First Lighthouse
In 1846, the Farola was built at the mouth of Pasig River, becoming the first lighthouse in the country.

First Electric Lamp
The first electric lamp in the country is said to be the one designed by Ateneo students in 1878, 12 years before Thomas Houston Electric Co. installed Manila's first electric street lights.

First Botanical Garden
In 1858, Governor General Fernando Norzagaray ordered the establishment of the Botanical Garden. It can now be found beside the Manila City Hall.

First Waterworks
Manila had its first centralized water system in July 1882 following the completion of the Carriedo waterworks, whose reservoir was in Marikina.

First Railroad
In 1892, a railway connecting Manila and Dagupan was completed. It was operated by the Manila Railroad Company.

First Telephone System
The first telegraph line was opened in 1873 while the country's first telephone system was established in Manila in 1890. Electric lines were first installed in 1895.

First Mining Firm
In the early 19th Century, Johann Andreas Zobel founded the first iron and copper mining firm in Bulacan and Baguio. The first Zobel in the country was Jacobo Zobel Hinsch, a German who went to Manila in 1849. One of the Zobels - Jacobo Zobel Zangroniz latter married Trinidad Ayala de Roxas, an heir of the rich Ayala and Roxas families.

First Calendar
The first calendar with a Philippine almanac was first released in 1897. The first issue of the calendar was titled "La Sonrisa".

First Filipino Chemist
Johann Andreas Zobel also founded the first chemical laboratory in the country. Meanwhile, Anacleto del Rosario is considered as the first Filipino chemist.

First Philanthropist
Dona Margarita Roxas de Ayala, a daughter of Domingo Roxas, is considered as the first philanthropist in the country. She assumed the control of the family's Casa Roxas in 1843 and was one of the founders of La Concordia College.

First Social Club
The first social club was established in Manila in 1898. It was the Filipino Independiente, a circle of educated and rich Filipino nationalists. It succeeded Jose Rizal's La Liga Filipina, which was more of a movement.

World's First Steel Church
The steel church of San Sebastian, now Basilica Minore, is considered as the world's first-ever all-steel basilica. Designed by Don Genaro Palacios in 1883, this small, jewel box church was prefabricated in Belgium. The steel plates, weighing about 50,000 tons were brought to the Philippines in six ships. The walls were filled with mixed gravel, sand and cement to fortify the structure. Stained glass windows from France were later installed. The church, an earthquake-proof structure, was completed in 1891. There were arguments that French architect Gustavo Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower of Paris and Statue of Liberty in New York, was also the one who designed the San Sebastian Church.

First Hotel
It is believed that Hotel del Oriente in Binondo, Manila was the first hotel built in the Philippines. The hotel was a two-story building with 83 rooms fronting the Plaza de Carlos III. It was a first-class hotel constructed in the 1850s just beside the famous landmark, La Insular Cigarette and Cigar Factory. The national hero - Jose Rizal - reportedly stayed at Room 22 of that hotel, facing the Binondo Church. Hotel del Oriente was among the crown jewels of the old Binondo (or Minondoc as it was earlier known) which was named after binundok. It was part of the Provincia de Tondo (now Manila) and was declared one of its districts in 1859. Both Hotel del Oriente and La Insular were burned down during the Japanese Occupation. The Metrobank building now occupies the former site of the two buildings. The oldest surviving hotel in the country is the Manila Hotel, which was built in 1912. The world's first hotel was the Tremont, which opened in Boston in 1829. It had a dining room for 200 people, 12 public rooms and 120 bedrooms.

First Republic
Early Philippine republics were Kakarong de Sili republic in Pandi, Bulacan; Tejeros Convention in Malabon; and Biak na Bato republic in San Miguel, Bulacan. Historians, however, wrote that the first real Philippine republic was established in Malolos, Bulacan on January 21, 1899. Two days later, the First Philippine Republic was inaugurated while General Emilio Aguinaldo was declared its first president.

First President of Katipunan
It was Deodato Arellano who became the first president of the Katipunan, a revolutionary movement against Spanish rule in the Philippines.

First Vice President
Mariano Trias is considered as the first Filipino vice-president who assumed the post in 1897.

First Army Chief
General Artemio Ricarte served as the first captain general of the Philippine Army which was established by the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897. Ricarte was replaced by General Antonio Luna on January 22, 1899.

First Calendar
The first calendar with a Philippine almanac was first released in 1897. The first issue of the calendar was titled "La Sonrisa".

First Protestant Mission
The first Presbyterian mission arrived in the country in April 1899. American couple Dr. and Mrs. James Rodgers led the mission.

First Filipino Protestant Minister
Nicolas Zamora, a former Catholic priest, later became the first ordained protestant minister in the Philippines.

First Election
The first municipal election in the Philippines was held in Baliuag, Bulacan under the supervision of American military governor general Arthur MacArthur on May 6, 1899.

First Ice Cream Parlor
In December 1899, Clarke's Ice Cream Parlor became the first ice cream parlor in the Philippines when it opened its store at Plaza Moraga in Binondo, Manila. Metcalf Clarke owned it.

First Autonomous Region
Before the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) were formed in the 1980s, Panay Island used to have "Cantonal Republic of Negros". The Americans, however, abolished the republic and turned Negros into a regular province on April 30, 1901.

First American Civil Governor
The first American civil governor in the Philippines became the 27th president of the United States. William Howard Taft, who served in the Philippines from 1901 to 1903, was also the only man who became a US president (1909-1912) and then a Supreme Court chief justice (1921-1930). Known for his weight of over 300 pounds, Taft became a very notable person in the US and the Philippines. One of the largest road networks in Metro Manila, the Taft Avenue, was named after him. President McKinley sent him to head the Philippine Commission in 1900. His task was to form a civil government in a country disrupted by the Spanish-American War and the rebellion led by General Emilio Aguinaldo, whom local historians called the country's first president.

First Superintendent of Manila Schools
Dr. David Prescott Barrows, one of the passengers of American ship USAT Thomas, was appointed the first superintendent of schools for Manila and later the first director of the Bureau of Education. USAT Thomas was named after General George Henry Thomas, a hero of the Battle of Chickamauga during the American Civil War. American journalist Frederic Marquardt coined the term Thomasites to refer to American teachers who came to the Philippines aboard USAT Thomas in 1901. (Source: Panorama Magazine)

First Filipino Superintendent
Camilo Osias was the first Filipino division superintendent of schools. Osias later became a senator.

First American College
The Philippine Normal School (PNS) was the first college established in the country under the American government. PNS opened its campus to Filipino students in Manila on September 1, 1901. It became the Philippine Normal University on January 11, 1992.

First Concrete Building
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the Kneedler Building was the first concrete office building in the Philippines.

First Filipino Chief Justice
In 1901, Cayetano Arrelano became the first Filipino chief justice of the court.

First Registered Professionals
A friend of Jose Rizal, Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, holds the distinction of being the first doctor to sign in the Book I of Registered Professionals on January 25, 1902. Pardo de Tavera, a scientist, was a part of the first Civil Government in the 1900s. Among the members of the Pharmacy profession, it was Dr. Leon Ma. Guerrero who appeared as the first registrant on the second earliest compiled Book I. The date was May 22, 1903. Guerrero is known in history books as the first among many Filipinos to put the Philippines on the scientific map of the world. In Book I of Dentistry, it was Dr. Wallace G. Skidmore who first registered on September 21, 1903. The Board of Dentistry was the first board of professionals created in 1899. The idea of organizing the boards of professionals came from the Americans who occupied the Philippines in 1899.

First Inventor
In 1853, the Spanish colonial government awarded a gold medal to Candido Lopez Diaz, a Filipino who invented a machine for Manila hemp or abaka.

First Filipino Chemist
Johann Andreas Zobel also founded the first chemical laboratory in the country. Meanwhile, Anacleto del Rosario is considered as the first Filipino chemist.

First Dentist
Bonifacio Arevalo is widely considered as the first Filipino dentist. In 1908, he was the founding president of Sociedad Dental de Filipinas, the first dental organization in the country. In 1912, Colegio Dental del Liceo de Manila became the first dental school. The first woman dentist was Catalina Arevalo.

First Economist
According to Pampango historian Zoilo Galang, the first Filipino economist was Gregorio Sanciangco.

First Pilot
Leoncio Malinas is considered as the first Filipino pilot. He first flew his plane on April 20, 1920.

First Accountants
Vicente Fabella is considered as the first Filipino certified public accountant (CPA) and Belen Enrile Gutierrez, the first woman CPA in the country.

First Cardiologist
The first Filipino cardiologist was Dr. Mariano Alimurung, who became an honorary member of the Mexican Society of Cardiology.

First West Point Graduate
Vicente Lim was the first Filipino who graduated from the prestigious West Point Academy, a military school in the United States.

First Female Professionals
Among Filipino women, it was Maria Francisco de Villacerna who became the first lawyer; Honoria Acosta-Sison, first physician; Catalina Arevalo, first dentist; Encarnacion Alzona, first historian; Celia Castillo, first sociologist; Filomena Francisco, first pharmacist; Belen Enrile Gutierrez, first CPA; Socorro Simuangco, first dermatologist; Carmen Concha, first film director and producer; Criselda J. Garcia-Bausa, first paleontologist; Felipe Landa Jocano, first anthropologist; and Ali Macawaris, first oceanographer. A visitor of this website said that Elena Ruiz Causin of Cebu could be among the first female lawyers in the country.

First Railroad
The Manila-Dagupan Railroad was completed in 1901, becoming the country's first railway system.

First Automobile
In 1900, La Estrella del Norte shipped from France to the Philippines a "George Richard", the first ever automobile to have landed on the native soil. Its owner was one Dr. Miciano, a rich doctor. The first shipment of automobiles for sale in the country was in 1907, with Bachrach Motors, an affiliate of American firm Ford Motor Co. as the importer.

First Labor Union
Isabelo delos Reyes, a writer, established the Union Obrera Democratica, the first organized labor union in the country on February 2, 1902.

First Political Party
In November 6, 1902, Pedro Paterno, a writer, scholar and former prime minister of President Emilio Aguinaldo, founded the Liberal political party.

First Opera
In 1905, Magdapio, the first Filipino opera, was staged at Zorilla Theater. Pedro Paterno wrote the opera, which was set to the music of Bonus.

First Convention of Governors
For the first time on October 2, 1906, the governors of Philippine provinces met in a convention in Manila. Sergio Osmena presided the convention.

First General Elections
The country's first general elections were held on July 30, 1907 under the American government. The people elected the members of the First Philippine Assembly.

First Speaker
The first speaker of the Philippine Assembly, whose members were elected in 1907, was Sergio Osmena.

First Actor in Politics
Before Lito Lapid became governor of Pampanga and Bong Revilla assumed the governorship of Cavite, Jose Padilla Sr., a movie actor in the 1930s, had served as the provincial governor of Bulacan. The first actor who invaded the senate was Rogelio dela Rosa.

First Diplomats
Benito Legarda and Pablo Ocampo were the first Filipino resident commissioners to the Unites States.

First Labor Day
The first Labor Day in the Philippines was celebrated on May 1, 1913 during the first National Labor Congress in Manila.

First Film
The first Filipino-produced film, "La Vida de Rizal" was released in 1912. Jose Nepomuceno produced the first Filipino full-length film "Dalagang Bukid" in 1919.

First Movie Theater
Salon de Pertierra, the country's first movie theater, was built in Escolta, Manila in 1897. A short French film was first shown in the threater.

First Comic Stip
"Kenkoy" is considered as the first comic strip in the Philippines. Cartoonist Tony Velasquez first published the comic strip in 1929.

First TV Station
Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) Channel 3, the first television station in the country, went on the air in 1953.

First Woman Cabinet Officials
Sofira Reyes de Veyra served as "social secretary" under the Quezon and Roxas administrations. In 1941, former President Elpidio Quirino named Asuncion Arriola Perez as the secretary of the Bureau of Public Welfare.

First Woman Senator
Geronima Pecson was elected to senate in 1947, opening the doors for Filipino women who wanted to join national politics.

First Olympian
David Nepomuceno, a Filipino serving in the US Navy, was the first Filipino Olympian. A sprinter, Nepomuceno was the country's sole representative to the 1924 Olympics, which was held in Paris.

First Balagtasan
The first balagtasan, a local term for poetic debate in honor of Francisco Balagtas, took place in Manila on April 6, 1924. The first participants were Jose Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes.

First International Opera Singer
Before Lea Salonga became famous in London, New York and Paris for her portrayal of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, a Filipino woman had long gained international recognition in the world of theater. Jovita Fuentes became famous in Europe for her opera lead roles in Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La Boheme, Iris, Salome and Li Tae Pe in the 1930s.

First Grand Opera
Noli Me Tangere, an adaptation of Jose Rizal's first novel became the first Filipino full-length or grand opera in 1957.

First Woman Barber
In June 1927 issue of Philippine Free Press, Martina Lunud from Olongapo City was featured as "Manila's Lady Barber" who could also be the first professional woman barber. She had to find her niche in the male-dominated profession and worked for La Marina barbershop and People's barbershop in Sta. Cruz, Manila later. "This is not a girl's work, I think, but I have done my best to a certain extent, and my customers like my work," the Free Press quoted Lunud as saying. (Source: Ambeth Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Asia's First Airline
The Philippine Airlines (PAL), which was established in 1941, takes pride in being Asia's oldest commercial airline. However, huge financial losses forced its owner Lucio Tan to close the airline in September 2000. It resumed operations a few months later. The first commercial flight in the country was recorded on March 15, 1941 when a twin-engine Beech Model 18 owned by PAL carried five passengers from Manila to Baguio City in 45 minutes.

First Senate President
The country's first senate president was Manuel Quezon (1917-1935) under the US government. The senate has produced a number of presidents and political luminaries such as Manuel Roxas, Sergio Osmena, Claro M. Recto, Jose Laurel, Camilo Osias, Eulogio Rodriguez, Juan Sumulong, Quintin Paredes, Lorenzo Tanada, Jose Diokno, Benigno Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos, Arturo Tolentino, Gil Puyat, Jovito Salonga, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

First Female Justice
Cecilia Munoz Palma became the first woman to top the bar exam with a score of 92.6 percent in 1935. Palma also became the first female prosecutor in 1947, the first woman judge at the Court of First Instance in the 1950s, first female justice of the Supreme Court in 1973 and first female president of a constitutional commission in 1986.

First House Speaker Under Republic
Eugenio Perez of San Carlos, Pangasinan became the first speaker of the House of Representatives under the Republic in 1946. Among the laws passed during his tenure were the Magna Carta for Labor, the Minimum Wage Law, the Rural Bank Law and the Central Bank charter.

First Woman Cabinet Officials
Sofira Reyes de Veyra served as "social secretary" under the Quezon and Roxas administrations. In 1941, former President Elpidio Quirino named Asuncion Arriola Perez as the secretary of the Bureau of Public Welfare.

First Woman Senator
Geronima Pecson was elected to senate in 1947, opening the doors for Filipino women who wanted to join national politics.

First Woman Battalion Commander
Lt. Col. Ramona Palabrica-Go became the first woman battalion commander in the history of the male-dominated Philippine Army in January 2003. She was appointed as commander of the elite Aviation Battalion under the Light Armor Brigade based at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija province. She was 45 years old and had three children at the time of appointment.

First National Celebration of June 12
The first national celebration of June 12 as Independence Day took place in 1962 under the Macapagal administration. Former President Diosdado Macapagal signed the law moving the celebration of the holiday from July 4 to June 12 on May 12, 1962. Quezon Representative Manuel Enverga was the one who proposed the law.

First US President To Visit Manila
US President Dwight Eisenhower became the first incumbent American president to have visited the Philippines when he arrived in Manila on June 14, 1960.

First National Artist
Fernando Amorsolo, a painter, was the first national artist declared by the Philippine government. The award was conferred on Amorsolo in April 1972, several days after his death.

First American Multinational Firm
Computer chips manufacturer Intel Philippines Mfg. Inc. claimed that it was the first American multinational company that established a branch in the Philippines in 1974. Today, the Philippine branch of Intel is one of the top exporters of semiconductor components in the country and contributes significantly to the cash flow of its mother company in the US, which is said to be the world's largest corporation in terms of gross income.

First Woman President
In February 1986, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, widow of the late Senator Benigno Aquino, became the country's first woman president and the country's 11th president. In January 2001, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, became the 14th president of the Philippines and the second woman to assume the government's highest post.

First President in Prison
Deposed President Joseph Estrada, who lost the presidency to a military-backed people's revolt, was arrested on charges of plunder and corruption in April 2001. His arrest fomented the now infamous May 1 mob revolt that was suppressed by government forces. As this was being written, the trial of Estrada was still ongoing at the Sandiganbayan or the anti-graft court.First Muslim Justice SecretaryIn January 2003, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Simeon Datumanong, a Muslim, as the secretary of the Department of Justice, replacing Hernando Perez, who resigned on corruption charges.

First Award of Ancestral Domain
In what the Arroyo government described as a historic event and the first in the world, it awarded on July 20, 2002 a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) for the town of Bakun in Benguet province where some 17,000 Kankanaey and Bago people live. The title covers some 29,444 hectares of ancestral land.

First McDonalds in the Philippines
The very first McDonalds outlet in the Philippines was opened in September 27, 1981 in Morayta, Manila.

First Jollibee outlet in the Philippines
In 1975, Mr. Tony Tan opened a Magnolia ice cream outlet in Cubao and this outlet later became the first Jollibee outlet.

First hospital in the Philippines
San Juan De Dios along Roxas boulevard in Pasay. The hospital was started when the Franciscan missionaries arrived in the Philippines on June 24, 1578. Among them was a lay brother, Fray Juan Clemente who despite of his difficulty in learning the language of the natives devotedly studied the medicinal value of tropical plants in curing diseases of the sick and the poor. Consequently, the Franciscan porteria in Intramuros was converted into a dispensary. Later that year, Fray Juan Clemente built a nipa hut and bamboo hospital with two wards of 300 square meters each. Another ward was added when Fray Juan Fernandez de Leon arrived in 1590. He became the first hospital chaplain.

First Philippine airlines flight
The first PAL flight happened on March 15, 1941 with a single Beechcraft model 18 and it flew from Manila to Baguio. On July 31, 1946, PAL became the first Asian airline to travel across the Pacific when a chartered Douglas DC-4 ferried 40 American servicemen from Nielsen Airport in Manila to Oakland, California.

First Progressive Academy
A government recognized private school with FAPE accreditation located at the city of San Jose Del Monte. Owned and operated by Bobet Refran.

The first Kikiks (Kataas taasan, Kahuli-hulihan Klase sa Ateneo) batch in the Philippines.
The first Kikiks (KKK) batch was formed in 1979 in the largest classroom in the first floor of Santos hall building in Ateneo De Naga University on the first quarter of the school year 1979-80.

Graceland Restaurant in Naga City

2010-10-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

During my short visit to the Philippines back in the year 2007 and 2008, I dropped by the Graceland food manufacturing building along P. Burgos Street in Naga City to visit our batch mate, Benjamin “Ben” Dy. I found Ben at his office and he greeted me with his usual, “Oh, Ivan. Kumusta ka na padi?”

During our short conversation, I noticed a picture on the wall of what appears to be a class picture. Ben told me that the men and women in the picture are his classmates at the culinary school that he attended in the U.S.

The Dy family is an enterprising family whose tireless efforts built one of the most successful restaurant and bakeshop chains in the Philippines. Like every successful business, it has humble beginnings. Below is an article I spotted written by another blogger who seemed to be familiar with Graceland’s history on how it started from a rented garage and grew into a large restaurant chain whose branches dot many areas in the Bicol region. Here is their story:

In the late 70’s when fast food was virtually unheard of in the provinces, Felipe Dy Eng Chong pioneered the fast food industry with Graceland. Graceland is now a far cry from the original “garage operation” when it started in 1976. Like most local businesses in Naga, it had a very humble beginnings.

Felipe and Felicidad Dy entered the food business with the primary objective of meeting the needs of his growing family. Back then, Tyo Peping (as Mr Felipe prefers to be addressed) was undeterred by his lack of formal education. He knew in his heart that what he wanted was to provide for his family and give his children a better future. He had big dreams for his business and wanted it to grow.

Tyo Peping started earning his keep at a very young age. Born to poor Chinese immigrants, he started working when he was only 11 years old. He did odd jobs around Divisoria working as a kargador, tindero, anything that would earn him a few centavos. Many years later, he moved to Naga city along with his young wife and family. With very limited education, the young couple had very little options to earn a living. Tyo Peping only graduated high school and his wife, Fely, reached only elementary.

Though they had a handicap on education, there was one thing going for them and that was their willingness to try anything. They were instinctively creative. What they lacked in academic knowledge, they more than made up for in resourcefulness and great desire to learn. While Tyo Peping, for instance was working as a sales clerk for a small hardware supply store, Fely taught herself how to make ice candy and ice drops and sold them to augment the family income.

Still, their pooled efforts weren’t enough to support an unusually large family. In 1976, with 10,000 in borrowed money, the Dy couple opened a four-table corner turo-turo in a rented garage. The “garage operation” was the original Graceland.

It was a micro operation. The number of employees can be counted in one hand as the couple could not afford to pay salaries to more employees. The labor supply mostly came from the nine children. The children were assigned to help out in the business doing sorts of work like cashiering, washing dirty dishes, taking orders and assisted in the cooking work. Tyo Peping, himself was washer, cashier and waiter rolled into one, while Fely was the cook. They weren’t even expert cooks, so to remedy that, the couple read cookbooks, sampled other eateries’ fare and even took pictures of actual food samples to teach themselves how to make ice cream, halo-halo, pancit guisado, cakes and sandwiches – whatever their hungry customers asked them to serve. Their improvisatory approach to the menu became the prototype for Graceland which today serves highly diverse product lines that goes beyond the burger-fries-spaghetti staples of other fast food chains. Unstructured, it was easy to act fast to quickly respond to the ever changing tastes and preferences of its customers.

The business grew as a result of the commitment, hard work, cooperation and dynamism of the family. From the four-table small eatery place at Elias Angeles St. (the location where Naga Optical is now), outlets of GFII or Graceland Food Industries Incorporated is now found in 3 of the 6 provinces in Bicol Region. Now, it has 5 kinds of restaurants to suit and cater to the different palates of the marketThe first born, GRACELAND, was the product of the ever changing trend and innovation in the food business during the 70’s and 80’s era. The 4-table eatery which used to serve “made to order” meals like pancit guisado, chopsuey, fried chicken and many similar items later on incorporated the ice cream parlor concept which was the trend in the early 80’s. Soon after, the fast-paced lifestyle of people prompted it to offer the “turo-turo” concept where people can just point the food items they want from a wide array of display of “ready to eat” viands.

The mid to late 80’s was the proliferation of hamburger chains in Naga. Most of the players then were local restaurant. Graceland too joined the bandwagon and opened a hamburger store in 1986 (along General Luna St in Naga City). It became an instant hit as it soon became the favorite hang-out place of teenagers. Even then, the company was into a lot of food introductions. It even introduced pizza way ahead of its time. Variety had always been GRACELAND’s strength.

The bakeshop concept had always been incorporated in Graceland’s operation even when it was just starting. The family used to buy chiffon cakes from a cousin and sell it in the store. Slowly, they learned the trade and started producing their own breads and cakes. Soon after, they gained loyal patronage. The sales of the bakeshop section showed a lot of promise. This encouraged them to innovate and introduce more variety of quality breads and cakes.The bakeshop market was growing and was becoming more discriminating. The family saw a window of opportunity in it. Thus, it gave birth to another baby, Baker’s Plaza. It was the first of its kind in Naga City. Baker’s Plaza introduced and whipped up a delectable array of specialty refrigerated cakes, pastries, croissants, breads which were then only available in Metro Manila. The store lay-out, the lightings, color motif, fixtures, equipments were also comparable to the ones seen in Metro Manila. Many first time buyers even thought that the food stuffs were brought in from Manila. In fact, every single one of them was homemade – a product of the entire Dy family’s endless taste tests and experimentations. But they made sure that the prices of the products were affordable to the Nagueño market.

Opportunities to open Graceland outlets in the neighboring provinces came. Franchising inquiries poured in. Prime properties were offered for possible Graceland location. Graceland became synonymous to quality, variety and affordable foods products.

The stiffest competition came in the 90’s when the big players entered the Bicol Region specifically in Naga City. It shook the local food industry so badly and Graceland was not spared from it. The semi-complacent years of Graceland were over. The company thought it could not compete. However, instead of giving up, it fought. It focused! As a result, Geewan was born.

Graceland and Geewan were separated into two distinct restaurant divisions. Graceland offered the fastfood burger-fries-chicken-spaghetti staples but added distinctively unique products to its menu such as pinangat, pork cordon bleu, sizzling products and other delectable dishes. Later on, true to its thrust of offering variety, meal items were expanded to include Baby Back Ribs, Lechon Bicol Express, Sizzling Sisig to name a few. Merienda items on the other hand include Fresh and Fried Lumpia, Lomi, Pancit and Bihon Guisado.

Graceland also retained the original set up of having a bakeshop section thus, almost all Graceland restaurants have a twin Baker’s Plaza outlet that on its own, sells varied breads, specialty refrigerated cakes, wedding and birthday cakes, pastries and rolls that are certified freshly baked daily.On the other hand, Geewan inherited the old “turo-turo” concept where viands are available for choosing along the counter. Geewan was slowly positioned also as the first Bicolano must-go restaurant for tourists, transients and even Nagueños for a taste of authentic Bicolano cooking. A visit in Bicol and in Naga City in particular is not complete without a taste of Geewan’s sumptuous dishes. It even offers Bicolano “pasalubong” food items such as (frozen) pinangat and Bicol express.

With the refocusing, it was able to analyze and understand its problems better. Specific solutions on products, manpower, marketing, store lay-out and motif, packaging, and other major concerns were made.The competition also compelled the company to look for other profitable avenues. It challenged the company to move beyond its comfort zone and explore uncharted territories. Thus, in 1996, two Graceland outlets were opened one after another in the city of Legazpi. Sorsogon was next to be explored in 1998 while Tabaco in 2001. With the opening of Pacific Mall in Legazpi City, Graceland also opened its very first outlet inside a mall in 2002.Rather than view competition negatively, the entry of the giants paved the way for the company to use them as benchmarks. Instead of looking at competitors as rivals, they saw them as mentors and they learned a lot from them. The excellent service, superb food and the cheery ambiance they provide are now within their arms reach for studying and learning.

Another unexplored area was a pizza parlor. In an area where pizza was an exotic novelty, Benjamin Dy has dreamt of offering light, fancy and affordable pizza to the Bicolanos. In 1999, the dream became a reality. It was aptly named Benjo’s (after Ben’s name). This baby came as a response to the growing pizza and pasta market. It was the first of its kind to be opened in the region and it offered diverse but complementary menu, including chicken (long before the competitor of its kind did). Benjo’s offers a different twist in pizza, pasta and chicken dining experience, something really deliciously different. Benjo’s caters to the hip group who was fast developing a fancy taste for affordable and flavorful pizza.

Lastly, the youngest baby born to GFII was in March 2004 right in the heart of Naga. The Naguenos have now acquired a taste for fine foods. Steaks, chops and ribs were now becoming a byword. More and more people were becoming coffee drinkers! However, most of the restaurants who offer these menu lines are located in Magsaysay Ave and can only be reached by cars. The company thought of bringing the same concept to Centro. As they say, “If Mohammad cannot go to the mountain, then let’s bring the mountain to Mohammad”. Thus, Red Platter was born.

Red Platter is another breakthrough in the established menu, a fusion of the best Asian and western dishes. It is a haven that will stimulate not just the sense of taste but all the other senses for a complete and satisfactory dining experience. The original idea for the concept of Red Platter was to “experience the delectable difference”.

These days, visiting Naga’s centro is being witness to the remarkable business ascendancy of the Dy family. Along P Burgos St., at the back of Plaza Quezon, one can easily find Red Platter, Geewan and Baker’s Plaza all in the same row. A stone throw away, along Barlin St., is the huge spic-and-span bakehouse and commissary where restaurant and bakeshop supplies and food products are prepared round the clock.

With the 10 different outlets and still expanding, one would think that the unassuming family patriarch would already take it easy. But Tyo Peping will have none of that. He still visits his stores everyday or when he can. His always word of advice “Don’t lose hope and you have to know what you want. You cannot reach your destination if you don’t know where you want to go’.

Truly remarkable of a man who have already received the prestigious Rokyaw award by the Ibalong committee (1998) where he was honored for – as Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Josephine Darang write it – (having) moved from being a vendor, waiter and sales clerk to owning the famous Graceland Food Industries. Numerous citations for Graceland Food Industries, Inc include the Model Establishment Award (1992) accorded by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Consumer Council of Naga City, Outstanding SME Entrepreneur for Services handed out by the DTI Cam Sur and PSMEDC in 2003 and the Special Mayoral Award 2005 from the Naga City Government in June 2005. The Graceland Central Processing Area, garnered Regional 1st Place “AA” Meat Processing Plant (commissary group category) by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) for 2 straight years (2005 & 2006)In February 2006, the prestigious Philippine Marketing Excellence Awards Institute has accorded Graceland the Best Food Chain (Luzon Category).

I would like to give credit for majority of the information in this article to a blog website entitled, "Bicol's Finest Food".

Sarong Banggi remembered

2010-07-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

July 2, 2010

After working through two and a half grueling days at the office, I was finally able to finish all the work that had piled on my desk. To ease the discomfort of stress, I decided to just stare at the open window and watch the flower garden outside our building that had been kept immaculate by a team of landscapers.

Summer just started here in California and the weather outside is just gorgeous. While staring at the flowers of the Day Lily plants that were swaying from the afternoon breeze, I remembered the humid and lazy afternoons at our farm in the town of Sagrada, Pili, Camarines Sur during my childhood days.

Our family owned a rice farm and I remember that when summer season begins, the rice plants would fully mature transforming the fields into a golden carpet. After the harvest, our tired workers would go home to their small “bahay Kubos” to enjoy simple pleasures in life.

After dinner, a few of them would pull out aging guitars and one of the common song that I would hear them sing in a very slow tempo is the native Bicolano song, “Sarong Banggi”.

The song, “Sarong Banggi”, is deeply marked in the Bicolano heritage, just like the national anthem, “Lupang Hinirang” to all Filipinos. Though the song is familiar to Bicolanos, only a handful nowadays remember the history behind the song. I am writing this article to revive the story of the birth of “Sarong Banggi” and its rise to popularity among Bicolanos.

The song was composed by Potenciano “Polin” V. Gregorio. The parish records of Libog (now called Santo Domingo, Albay) indicated that Potenciano was born on May 19, 1880 and was baptized on May 22nd that same year. Potenciano was the second child of Narciso Gregorio and Canuta Valladolid. The young Potenciano was a child prodigy and played violin at age three. His first teacher was Fr. Jorge I. Barlin, who was the curate of Libog town from 1883 to 1885.

As Potenciano grew older, he wrote music for the town church and also collaborated with his elder brother, Bernardo in composing songs. Potenciano lead the town band named “Banda de Libog”.

Some historical accounts claimed that Potenciano composed the Sarong Banggi song on 1897 and another one claimed it was composed on 1910. Below are narratives from two of Potenciano’s relatives who were interviewed a few decades ago.

In 1962, the nephew of Potenciano named Justo B. Gregorio recalled that when his uncle Polin was only 17 years old, he woke up one evening after hearing the noise coming from the chirping of the birds and rustling of the leaves outside their house. According to Juston, it was that evening when his uncle wrote the first lyrics of the song.

Resurrecion Gregoria, who is the great grandson of Potenciano said that his Lolo Poten wrote the song because he wanted to dedicate it to a local Bicolana girl named Dominga Duran who later became his wife. Resuccecion also claimed that his grandfather wrote the song during the Mayon eruption in 1897 when his lolo Poten’s family evacuated to their farm at Barangay Salvacion. His lolo was inspired to write the song after hearing the rumbling of Mayon volcano.

The original copy of the composition was destroyed when the ancestral house of the Gregorios in Libog (Santo Domingo, Albay), burned down during a fire that hit the town on January 19, 1961.

The song Sarong Banggi was first played in public on August 15, 1910 during the Guinobatan fiesta. It took another seven years before the folks living at Libog town were able to hear the song when it was played in the Libog town Fiesta on the first Sunday of October 1917.

One of Potenciano’s friend was Judge Albert Somerselle of Daraga, Albay. Judge Somerselle encouraged Potenciano to join the Philippine Constabulary band which was then being led by an African-American US army officer named Colonel Walter H. Loving.

Potenciano traveled to Manila for a job interview with Col. Loving. During the interview, Col. Loving asked Potenciano to demonstrate his musical ability. Potenciano played “Sarong Banggi” on banduria then on piano. Upon discovering that Potenciano is a composer and also is able to play many different types of musical instruments, Col. Loving immediately made Potenciano a member of his band.

The Philippine Constabulary band under Lt. Col. Loving became renowned world wide during the early 1900’s. During the band’s performance at Luneta park, Potenciano played Banduriya or piano to the delight of the park visitors.

In 1938, Potenciano was chosen to compete against other musicians at the Golden Gate International Exposition in the United States. While on board the S.S. President Pierce, he contracted pneumonia. He was rushed to Fort Shatter Hospital in Honolulu where he died shortly thereafter. He died with a rank of corporal.

Potenciano’s remains were brought back to the Philippines and buried with honors at the La Loma cemetery in Quezon City. In 2005, his remains were exhumed from La Loma Cemetery and were flown to Legaspi City on May 18, 2005.He was survived then by his wife, Dominga Martinez Duran and his children, Salvador, Victoria, Narciso, Eriberto, Monico and Potenciano. There is only one surviving child of Potenciano who currently resides in Pasay City.

Sarung Banggi was acclaimed not only in the Philippines but internationally as well. Bicol’s immortal love song was sang during the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in Flushing Meadow in New York. USA in June of 1951. The late Philippine Ambassador Carlos P. Romulo was then the president of the UN General Assembly.

Potenciano Gregorio was honored through the executive Proclamation No. 1s. 2002, signed by Honorable Mayor Herbie Aguas on January 8, 2002. This proclamation gave birth to the Sarung Banggi festival.

The soothing tune of Sarong Banggi song has eased the tired nerves of hard working Bicolanos for decades. It has also been used by budding Bicolano bachelors to serenaded pretty Bicolanas that had smitten their hearts. Personally, I think the song is more than just a song to croon out during courtship. It is a song that brings pride to the heritage of the Bicolano spirit and brings us back to the roots of our proud ancestors.

Author's note:
The town of Santo Domingo was originally named Libog. Albay historians say that there are a number of stories regarding the origin of the name Libog. One version is that libog was derived from the Bikol word “labog” meaning unclear water for there was a time when there was no potable water anywhere in the locality. Another has it that the town might have been called after “labog” (jellyfish) which abound in its coastal water. “Libod” (behind) is another version because the town is located behind the straight road from Legazpi city to Tabaco town.Still another version is the corrupted form of the word “libot” which means round about or winding way. In the early days of Spanish invasion, there were two routes passing through the town of Libog on the way to the town of Tabaco. One trail was straight which is considered as the shorter route. The other one goes around in circle (Libot) and this route passes through the center of the town via the town of Poblacion. When the time came to classify and arrange the town of Libog, the town’s name became corrupted. Libog became Libot. As a result, this town was named “El Pueblo de Liboug” by the Spanish conquerors.

Memories of the Cony car

2010-06-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Written by Teody Laquindanum

If I am not mistaken, I believe that my late father-in-law owned the last running Cony car in Naga city. My in-law owned a red Cony until it was sold in the early 1990’s for the amount of P15,000. I heard that the buyer was only interested with its engine which he wanted to use in his farm.

My personal memories of my in-law’s Cony car dates back to the beginning of my elementary days when I used to get free rides in it. The Bonifacio family used to be our neighbors at Bulusan street near the Civic Center and NBI building. The late Jabords also lived in the same street near our house. Mr. Bonifacio allowed me to ride his Cony car whenever he brings his children, William and Beth, to their respective schools. William Bonifacio was my classmate at Naga Parochial School while Beth attended school at Colegio De Santa Isabel. A decade after those free rides at Mr. Bonifacio’s Cony car, Beth and I decided to get married and we have been married now for 23 years.

I also remember when I was in 5th grade, my older brother and I would help Beth’s older brothers push the Cony car stealthily out of their garage at night while their parents were asleep. We would only start the car’s engine after we had pushed it to a distance that is safe enough not to awaken Beth’s parents. All of us would spend the evening joy riding around Naga. During the ride, we would pick up friends of Beth’s brothers and one of their friends were the famous Guadalupe sisters (Garry’s siblings) that lived along Dayangdang street. We would continually pick up friends until the small Cony car is packed with Atenistas and Colegialas. Those memorable rides made me realize that I need to become an Atenean so that I can have the privilege of also enjoying the company of beautiful Colegialas.

Even after Beth and I were already married, I was not immediately permitted to drive the red Cony car. My father-in-law finally gave me his permission to drive the Cony when I brought home Beth with our first child fresh from the nursery of the old Mother Seton Hospital in Panganiban Drive.

I remember that the Cony car's stick shift (kambiyo) is at the right-side of the dashboard besides the signal light lever and the gear goes only up to the 3rd . Sayang, if I had the money I would have bought it myself. My monthly salary then was P1,120.00 and it would have taken me more than a year to pay it off.

I will post its pictures on my next e-mail once I get hold of them.

Mighty 80, 30th year graduation anniversary na baga!

Written by Gerard Zantua

The Cony was also the major mode of transportation that plied the Centro-Concepcion route. It even passed through Mayon Avenue then entered Naga City subd up to Jose Rizal Elem school, passed through the provincial hospital road then cruised to the diversion road (sa may nyog) and all the way to Coca cola plant. We were fond of riding the yellow Cony driven by Mang Ter with an adult fare of 10 centavos and child fare of 5 centavos (libre pag kulkul). I really don't know that the demise of Cony was due to its obsolesence or the retirement of Mang Ter or the emergence of Pinoy (not spelled as P-Noy nor PenoyP).

Written by Ricky "Guitarman" Sadiosa

Iyu daw ano? haha pero nagirumduman ko kaidto na puro kariela lang ang sakay ko ta mayung biyahe ining Cony pabagumbayan sur or norte. pero kalesa igwa asin P0.10 lang pamasahe haha.. sana ibalik ining Cony ta daug pa kaini maski mga minicab sa Naga sa patiripidan sa gasolina... hay maray pa kadto ta simple lang ang buhay haha pwede pang magkakan nin banana Q sa kalesa... Si Perdon palan nagirumduman nindo?!?!?!

restoring an old cony seems a cool thing to do for our 30th! why not?!?sain daw sa naga igwa pang nakapreserved na cony?

Written by Cezar Bagadion

pinkamaurag na baduya baga ang luto ng Perdon sisters.... igwa man kami kaidto ning duwang Cony pero by the time grade two or three na ako garo pigbabakal mi na. Nahulog pa ngani ako sa samuyang Cony habang nagaandar pasiring Parochial. It was the late Ms Mia Espinas (?) who helped me and brought me to the clinic. hehehe...those were the days....

Written By Edong Rendor

We are from Oas, Albay but my Dad bought 1 unit of Cony from Naga City and it was a fun car. It used to run on mixed fuel of gasoline and motor oil kasi 1 cylinder cycle lang ata ang makina.Guys, why dont we look for one unit and have it restored . Its an ICON of Naga City , just like the TAS tricycles of Tabaco City, yung parang motorized bicycle na may side car. WHAT DO YOU THINK GUYS? We will celebrate our 30th year, GIMIKAN natin ulit silang lahat sa December with a restored CONY....Yung amin na CONY pinabakal na sa bakal bote at dyaryo, matagal na kasi binaha.

A father's flight stories

2010-06-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

As a young child, I have been fascinated by planes and dreamt that one day I hope to pilot a plane myself. Though the open skies seemed to still wave its welcoming arms at me to come and experience how it is to fly amongst its clouds, my fear of heights has kept me grounded.

I have read warm stories narrated by flyers in the past. Recently, I spotted a story written by a Filipino flyer who wrote about the memories of his late father who used to be an airplane mechanic during World War 2 in Manila. Below is his memoir.

My father was a high school student when World War 2 broke out in the Philippines. He used to live in Paco, Manila. One day, the Japanese shanghaied my father into working at their airbase at Nielson airfield. The runway of Nielson airfield later became Paseo De Roxas Avenue. The large ramp became Ayala Avenue.

Nielson airfield was then a staging base for the Japanese war planes being ferried to the battlefields of South Pacific.

Dad was put to work helping overhaul Mitsubishi engines of the Japanese A6M Zero fighter aircraft. Whenever the big Japanese bombers would come in, my Dad would sneak into the airplanes and forage among the lunch boxes that the crew left behind. My dad would find lunch boxes containing pickled rice and fish.

Every morning, the Japanese would line up all the Filipino airplane maintenance personnel and they would be made to bow toward Tokyo where the emperor resides. They were also ordered to sing the official Japanese navy hymn. In spite of their displeasure, the Filipinos would just obediently go through the ritual with their fingers crossed behind them. Years later after the war, I would sometimes hear my father sing the Japanese navy hymn while taking a bath.

As a form of propaganda, local newspapers in Manila would print stories about Japanese victories all around the Pacific. It would feature scores of American ships and hundreds of American airplanes being destroyed by the mighty Japanese armed forces. But the Filipinos noticed that the locations where these “Victories” occurred were coming closer and closer to the Philippines. It mentioned places like Guadalcanal, New Guinea, then Marianas, then Palau…the location of where the battles were occuring seemed to be moving closer to the main islands of the Philippines.

When American forces headed by Gen. MacArthur landed in Leyte in 1944, my father began to notice that the Japanese soldiers who were on sentry duty at the Nielson airbase always looked fearful while scanning the sky above their airbase.

Shortly after the Leyte landing, the American air raids to Manila began. My father remembered that every time an air raid began, he would hear a deep thrum of many airplane engines. Then one airplane would appear out of the clouds, and before long there would be a swarm of them. The squadrons would circle Manila Bay while its flight leaders assigned targets. Then all of a sudden, all the planes would attack at the same time. They do this so that the anti-aircraft guns on the ground would not be able to concentrate their fire on a particular attacking plane.

During the attack, a few American airplanes were hit and fell like leaves, fluttering back and forth. The scene was not like the dramatic, flaming power dives in the movies, my Dad said. Whenever a plane is hit, “it fell like a dead leaf”.

During one of the air raids, my father was upstairs at their family home in Paco, located along San Marcelino street. My father was beside his dad (my grandfather) and both of them watched F4U Corsairs planes strafed the Paco railroad station near what is now Quirino Avenue and South Super Highway. His three sisters and his mother (my grandmother) were downstairs praying the rosary. My grandmother was seated on a rocking chair holding his baby brother, my Uncle Carlos, in her arms. All of a sudden my Dad heard a loud crash. He and his Dad went downstairs. An American 50 caliber bullet from a Corsair went through the wall of the house and killed our grandmother. Though my grandmother was killed, my Uncle Carlos was not hurt. The Corsair missed its target by more than a mile.

When the American forces landed at Lingayen and began the drive towards Manila, my grandfather evacuated his whole family to Pagbilao, Quezon. After the devastating Battle of Manila, my Dad and my grandfather hitchhiked on an American Army trucks back to Manila. Manila was almost totally destroyed! From San Marcelino street, they could see all the way to Manila Bay. Every building between our street to Manila bay was flattened by the bombs. Their house was hit by an artillery shell and neighbors tried to put the fire out but the house was doomed. The place where our house stood became a car repair shop for a while. I don’t know what it is now because I cannot locate its exact spot.

My Dad also told me stories about how he sneaked out of their house when everybody is asleep and he would buy a can of spicy Spanish sardine and a loaf of bread. He always shared the sardines but took all the spicy pickles for himself. He loved using the last pieces of the bread to mop up all the olive oil in the can because the oil mixed with the bread was very tasty.

One of my Dad’s best airplane stories was about a P-38 Lightning. He was walking along a rice field at Pagbilao, Quezon when he heard a deep rumbling sound which closely resembled the sound of several empty 55-gallon drums being rolled on the ground. Then he saw a P-38 lightening with its distinct twin engine and fork-tailed design. The P-38 was flying no more than 20 feet from the ground and was searching for Japanese soldiers. The pilot saw my father and waved as he passed above where my father stood.

I asked my father how low 20 feet was. He pointed to a Royal Tru-Orange billboard, which was then the only one on Highway 54 (now EDSA). “That low”, he said. I was astonished on how low the P-38 flew when my father saw it.

My Dad bought me a scale model of the P-38 Lightning. While playing with it, I would hold the P-38 model and let my imagination create a thrilling scene in my mind where my P-38 would skim above rice fields, making tight turns following river paths, constantly on the hunt for enemy soldiers.

In 1977, there was a drought and a severe shortage of water in Manila. My father spent an entire evening hauling water in drums by himself from my grandfather’s house to our house using his ancient 1948 Chevrolet car. After he was done, he decided to drive to Baguio to meet his sister, who is an American citizen and was then visiting the Philippines. When he reached Santo Tomas, Pampanga, he pulled over to park because he felt a terrible headache. While he was resting, he fell unconscious and never woke up. He had a cerebral hemorrhage. He was only 50 years old.

I am now a pilot and I believe that my father would have gotten a tremendous kick from flying with me, if he were alive today. I could have showed to him what it was like flying 20 feet from the ground.

I certainly miss his airplane stories.

The little car that used to dominate the Iriga-Nabua route

2010-06-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

During the 1960’s, the Cony was a popular mode of transportation for the Iriga-Nabua route. The miniature cars were manufactured by a Japanese company named Aichi Machine Industry that was founded in 1943 and was based in Nagoya, Japan.

In 1965, the company became part of the Nissan group. Its 360 model, which was the one converted as a passenger car, was powered by a 354cc 18hp 2 cylinder engine, making it more fuel-efficient. The small engine also meant the company paid lower taxes.

The rise of the Philippine-manufactured jeeps like the very colorful Sarao and its competitor, the Francisco Motors spelled the eventual demise of this once Little Prince of the Iriga-Nabua Road in the early 1970's.

Unwavering Loyalty

2010-06-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Back in 1924, there was a Japanese gentleman who lived in Tokyo named Hidesabura Ueno. He worked as a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. One day he brought to his house a pure breed Akita dog named Hachiko.

Hachiko seemed very close to his owner because he always waited for him at the front door of their house when Mr. Ueno is leaving for work. At the end of the day, Hachiko would wait for his owner to return from work at the nearby Shibuya train station.

The pair continued this routine until one day in May 1925. While giving a lecture in a class at the University, Mr. Ueno suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. His relatives buried Mr. Ueno at a cemetery at Minami-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo.

Unaware of his master’s demise, Hachiko waited at the Shibuya train station. Hachiko continually waited everyday for his dead master’s return for the next nine years. It is an amazing sight to see Hachiko appear at the station precisely when the train is due to arrive.

Hachiko was given away after his master’s death but he would routinely escape, showing up time and again at his old master’s house. Eventually, Hachiko realized that his master does not live at the old house anymore and so he waited for him everyday at the Shibuya train station hoping for his return.

Hachiko presence at the Shibuya station became a permanent sight to the people who ride the train. Some commuters, who have seen Hachiko and his master at the station before, brought food to Hachiko to nourish him during his wait.

One of Mr. Ueno’s student, who happened to be an expert on the Akita breed dogs, saw Hachiko at the station and followed him back to a house owned by the Kobayashi family. Mr. Kikuzaboro Kobayashi was the former gardener of Mr. Ueno. During his brief visit to the Kobayashi residence, the student was able to learn about Hachiko’s life. The student did a research on the number of Akitas and found that there are only 30 remaining pure bred Akita dogs and one of them is Hachiko.

Over the years, the student visited Hachiko and he eventually wrote several articles about the remarkable loyalty of Hachiko. In 1932, one of the articles was published in Tokyo’s largest newspaper which transformed Hachiko into a national sensation. His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachiko’s vigil as an example for children to follow. A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew.

Hachiko died on March 8, 1935. He was found on a street in Shibuya. His heart was infected with filarial worms and 3-4 yakitori sticks were found in his stomach. His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.

Attorney Arecio "Edong" Rendor for Provincial Board member 3rd district of Albay

2010-05-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

As the Philippine 2010 elections looms before us, it is important that we reflect on the choices that we will make at the polls. Be always aware that the leaders that will be elected will influence the direction and development of our country.

In the incoming elections, there is a candidate that is known to have the interest and welfare of the people in his heart. His name is Attorney Arecio “Edong” Relato Rendor Jr., and he is running for Provincial Board member in the third district of Albay.

Edong Rendor was born in Ilaor Sur, Oas Albay. He studied in St. Peter’s Academy in Polangui, Albay and later transferred to St. Benedict’s Academy in Guinobatan, Albay where he graduated with honors. He continued his studies in Ateneo De Naga high school and was awarded a first honorable mention for academic excellence when he graduated in 1980.

Mr. Rendor moved to Manila and enrolled in De La Salle University where he majored in two courses which are AB History and Political science. Because of his personal drive to excel academically, his name was consistently included in the university's deans list. Mr. Rendor became part of the accelerated class of his course because he surpassed the expectations of his professors . He graduated in 1983 and was awarded second honor for academic excellence. He pursued a course in Law in the University of Santo Tomas and graduated in 1987. He was admitted to the Philippine BAR in 1989.

During the next decade after he became a lawyer, he worked as a Legislative Liaison Officer for the following government institutions:

*Department of National Defense

*Office of Undersecretary Leonardo Quisumbing

*Undersecretary for Civilian Relations
(Assigned to The House of Representatives, October 1988 to October 30, 1989)

*Acted as Legislative Assistant to Undersecretary Quisumbing

*Acted as Liaison Officer to fastrack the passage of the AFP-DND-PNP Legislative Agenda of then Secretary of National Defense, later President of the Republic of the Philippines, Fidel V. Ramos.

Attorney Edong Rendor became a municipal councilor for Oas, Albay in 2001 and has held the position to the present day. He has also been a partner in law firm of Quiason Makalintal Barot Torres Ibarra & Sison law office in Manila since 2001.

From 2004 to 2007, Attorney Rendor became the Ex-Oficio member for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Albay. He was the provincial Federation President of the Philippine Councilors League.

From June 2007 through March 2008, Attorney Rendor was the Interim National President of the Philippine Councilor’s League (PCL). He also became the Interim Secretary General for the Union of Local Authorities Of the Philippines from October 2007 through March 2008.

Below are just a few of his important achievements during his political career:

1. Authored the plan for the comprehensive land use plan of the municipality of Oas, Albay

2. Authored the plan for the Provincial Ordinance Against Trafficking of Women and children in the province of Albay.

3. Conducted Medical Missions in the various barangays of Oas, Albay with medicines donated by Senator Juan Flavier and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office through the help of Senator Loren Legarda.

4. Distributed books to the different elementary and high schools in the same municipality, with said books being donated by the city of Makati. All these were at no expense on the part of the Municipality of Oas.

Attorney Edong Rendor’s extensive experience in serving the people of Albay places him as the people’s choice in serving as a Provincial Board member of the third district of Albay.

On the polls on May 10, 2010, please vote for Attorney “Edong” Rendor for Provincial Board Member of the 3rd district of Albay because a vote for Edong is a vote for progress and change.

Game three analysis

2010-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Our high school basketball team had a tough game 3. Our opponent was high school Batch 86 and they have towering players that played a fast game and dominated most of the rebounds. During the first two minutes of the game, our opponents took a large leap on the scoreboard and had our team trailing behind by 10 points. Batch 86 kept a 2-digit score lead on our team through out the game. On the last stretch, their lead widened even more. When the game ended, the final score was 40-56 with batch 86 bagging the game.

Despite the wide gap in score, our team spirit was high. Our team players battled it out with our opponents in an effort to defend our team’s honor! Though we lost the game, we made our opponents work hard to earn every point in their scoreboard. Everybody did their best and were happy to share their post game review. Here are a few post game 3 analysis coming from our players that identifies our game handicaps:

Francis Alarkon - “Our coach was not present during the game which caused us to lose track of our game plan . Everything was fluid and the team play was a bit chaotic.”

Jun Imperial - “Our team is accustomed to playing basketball late in the afternoon because our players had been used to our normal basketball practice that is scheduled at 7pm. Had game 3 been scheduled late in the afternoon, our team would have performed much better.“

Albert Villafuerte - “Our opponent’s flashy pink uniforms was a pesky distraction to our players! Our players did not apply brute force during the game and were careful not to injure any of the pink players. Everybody in our team transformed into a well behaved gentlemen and softened up when releasing a shot or while defending our basket.”

There you are, my gentle batchmates! Our loss to batch 86 was attributed to these 3 main factors: Absentee coach, Game schedule and Opponent’s fancy colored uniform.

We await our next basketball game and we invite available batchmates to join and cheer us up . Your presence will add energy to our team.

Come on guys , let us rally Mighty 80 and make us all proud of our team! It is not winning the game that counts. It is the camaraderie that these games produces that matters! (And also equally important is the main attaction—Hot food available to our team after every game.)