My friend, Lance

When I arrived at work this morning, I opened up my email to check for important messages. I opened one email that was broadcast to the whole department and it indicated that my friend and colleague, Lance, had died. The injuries that he sustained when he got into an accident last week while riding his scooter were so graved that his doctors were not able to save him.

I felt numbed while I was trying to let the bad news sink in me. It seemed surreal that my very good friend Lance is now gone. Lance seemed to always be around and I felt he will be around forever. I spoke to him last Tuesday morning at 8am. Late in the afternoon that same day, Lance boarded his scooter and took his usual route heading home. I don’t know yet the exact story but what I heard was a truck cut in front of Lance and he either hit the truck or was hit by the truck. He broke his arm(s) and also had severe chest injuries.

The memories of my conversations with Lance seemed like it just happened a minute ago. I can still hear his voice in the hallway whenever he comes to deliver us the supplies that we ordered. But this time, it is just a noise of the past that will never come back. I will miss our conversations on vintage Volkswagens, jet-ski engines, retirement life in the desert, travel and the life styles of the older generation.

There are only a few people I know who are kind, fair and honorable. One of them is Lance. I always treasure the friendships that I have with these few fine individuals. It greatly saddens me whenever one of them leaves or dies.

Though I want to raise the question to my Creator as to why Lance had to die so soon, but I had to hold myself back because it is not my place to question the decisions of the Almighty. I need to just be grateful for the time I was allowed to have Lance as one of my friends.

This Saturday, I will drive to the church were Lance’s body lay in wake to give my last respects to my good friend. I mourn my friend’s departure but I will also celebrate his life.

Goodbye, buddy

Remembering Jesse Robredo

For the past few days, I have been monitoring via the internet the search and rescue mission off the Masbate island in the Philippines. The plane carrying DILG secretary Jesse Robredo crashed into the sea after experiencing engine trouble. A multitude of supporters and simple Filipino citizens prayed for a miracle for the survival of secretary Robredo. This morning when I checked on the Philippine news, my heart sunk when the headline stated that they have found the body of secretary Robredo.

 

I have never personally been introduced to Mr. Robredo but I have seen him a number of times. When I enrolled as a kindergarten student at Naga Parochial School in 1969, Jesse Robredo was then a 6^th grader in the same school. Being a student in a small school, I am sure I must have bumped into Jesse Robredo while buying a snack during recess at the school canteen.

Robredo belonged to the honor class whose moderator is Mrs. Carmen Ojeda. During a school awarding ceremony, I remember looking at the stage where the school director Msgr. Nicanor C. Belleza stood wearing his usual white clergy robe ‘sotana’. After a brief introduction, Msgr. Belleza started calling the names of students who has either excelled in academics or exhibited exceptional talent in a certain skill. Jesse Robredo was called to the stage to be recognized for his achievement in placing second in a chess competition. It was announced that Jesse belonged to the chess club of the school.

It was the first time I heard that the school has a chess club. In my 6 year old mind, I found it strange that people who sit in front of a board with wooden tiny pieces on it having very little physical activity for hours would actually form a club. During school lunch break, students who are avid chess players would hang out at the ping-pong table in front of the Boy Scout room and play chess. A number of the students who hang out around the table were fourth to sixth graders and one of them was Jesse Robredo. I eventually became interested in the game of chess after another student explained to me that chess is a battle of the brains without the use of brawns.

After Jesse Robredo graduated elementary in March 1970, he attended high school at Ateneo De Naga and I heard that Jesse became known as a talented chess player.

In 1986 when I became a pharmaceutical salesman in Camarines Sur, I heard that Mr. Robredo became the director of the Bicol River Basin development program. During the elections of 1987 or 1988 (I forgot the exact year), I saw on T.V. Jesse Robredo explaining his plans for Naga City if he is elected as mayor. I was amazed by the young politician’s ability to identify the problems that besiege Naga City and gave detailed solutions on how he plans to solve these problems.

When I was growing up in Naga during the 1960s thru the middle of 1980s, the development of the city seemed to go on a snail pace. When Jesse Robredo became mayor of Naga city, improvements grew everywhere within the city like wild flowers sprouting on a spring day. Jesse Robredo became the pumping heart of the heart of Bicol for he gave life to the sleeping city of Naga.

Jesse Robredo became an inspiration to many Filipinos that he has served during his lifetime. His sudden departure is very tragic and also a big loss to the Filipino people. There are a lot of people that are asking why such a good man had to be taken by God? We who are left behind will never find out until we ourselves join Jesse Robredo in heaven. Until our date of departure from this world arrives, we should seek to live to serve and not be served…just like what Jesse Robredo did.    

Remembering the Ruby Tower Tragedy and its lessons

X

Unregistered, Uninsured, Illegal & On the Road

Some people believe that all of us are allotted to commit one very stupid decision once in a great while. Well, mine came yesterday and I came out of it with a story to tell.

As a vintage Volkswagen enthusiast, I always look forward to VW shows in southern California. One of the much awaited VW shows in California is the ‘Bugin’ held in Irwindale, California. Different VW clubs compete on drag races and also classic VW shows. One of the main attractions of the show is the vintage parts swap meet (flea market). During these events my VW buddies and I would load up our vintage VW buses (Kombi) with old parts and antiques to be sold at the swap meet.

Initially, I wanted to load my parts into my VW Kombi but after laboring through half of my Saturday afternoon removing the heavy 1776cc engine off of my 1971 Deluxe VW bus, I did not feel like loading my parts in my bus anymore.

One of my vintage VW club buddies came by my house after dinner time and asked me if I could drive his VW single cab bus that he loaded with parts and an engine for the show. Knowing that he is struggling financially due to a separation with his wife, I decided to help him out by driving his bus for him.

I woke up at 4:10am the following day and hurriedly prepared breakfast to go. My friend came by my house shortly driving his 1957 bug. When I started the bus that is loaded with parts, I noticed that the registration of the vehicle had been expired since December 2011. I then asked my friend if he has accident insurance for his vehicle. He said he doesn’t. I became a bit uncomfortable with the idea of me driving an uninsured vehicle with expired tags. If I get pulled over by the police, I am looking at hundreds of dollars worth of fines. While we were discussing my concern, I felt that there is something wrong with the status of his driver’s license that is why he was afraid to drive his bus. I can tell that desperation is driving him to make unwise and selfish decisions. Though I am fully aware of his self-centered intension, I already made a promise to help him the day before and I intend to keep my promise.

We rolled through the streets with the sky still dark. While driving, I prayed to our Lord asking Him to keep cops away from my path.

The distance to our destination is about 35 miles and I kept on calculating the chances of me being pulled over. I also have a dreaded feeling whenever I approach potential locations along the freeway where the highway patrol are most active. My heart was pumping faster than usual and I was constantly checking the headlights of the cars behind me because the highway patrol cars have a distinctive headlight setup.

Cruising at 55 miles an hour, I checked the control panel and the gasoline gauge caught my attention—it was close to empty! I called my buddy who was following me with his bug and asked him if he put gas in the tank. He said he did, $10. What?! I wanted to pull over and strangle him for his stupidity but decided against doing it because that would just cause a delay in our progress towards our destination.

From a distance up ahead, I saw small flashes of red and white lights, a California highway patrol cruiser! My hands froze on the steering wheel. I doubled check my speed, 55 MPH. As I casually cruise passed the highway patrol, I noticed that he pulled a car and is questioning the driver of the car. I figured that there are not a lot of highway patrol cars operating early that Sunday morning and so my chances of being caught is slim.

Since I am not familiar with the road exit at the freeway, I told my friend to drive ahead of me so that I can follow him when he exits. After about a mile, he called me and said that we missed the freeway exit ramp and had to find another exit. This dumb mistake irked me quite a bit because we have to drive about 3 miles through another freeway to be able to find the right road exit at the freeway. I wanted to get off that freeway because I felt that at any moment a highway patrol car will be behind my tail with its lights flashing. I was finally able to relax when we arrived at our destination and there was a long line of old VW bugs and buses waiting for their turn to get into the show.

The show was great and I saw a lot of my VW friends and their families hunting for vintage parts. I did not buy a lot of parts because my garage is already loaded with vintage VW junk parts that I plan to sell at a VW show next month.

After the show, we packed up and the first thing I told my buddy was to find a gas station to put gas in his bus. Confident that he knew the way around Irwindale, I followed him through the side streets. After turning through several streets, he pulled over and called me on the cell phone to told me that he does not know where the nearest gas station is located at. “Are you kidding me, man? Let’s get out of this place!”, I said. 

About a mile up the road, I spotted a major intersection and told my buddy to drive to that location. I was relieved to find a gas station at the corner and we loaded our cars with gas.

It was about one in the afternoon when we headed back home. When we got to the freeway, my heart started to beat faster again. By that time, there were more cars on the freeway compared to when we drove to Irwindale. Anxiety started to creep into my nerves and I kept on checking the rear view mirror analyzing each of the cars behind me up to a quarter of a mile away hoping that none of them is a highway patrol cruiser. As I put more miles behind me bringing myself closer to my destination, it donned on me that the anxiety that I was experiencing is pretty much like the anxiety being felt by illegal immigrants when they take the risky path towards helping their family.

To keep my mind occupied, I tried to be positive by telling myself that nothing will happen to me and the law enforcement people are busy chasing law breakers and criminals. But my conscience reasoned that what I am doing is illegal too! Panic attack started hitting my nerves again. So much for positive thinking!

We finally arrived at the city where I live. After we got off the freeway ramp, my buddy called me and offered to buy me lunch. I quickly declined and told him that I just want to get home and get this nerve wracking stupid experience over with.

When I finally got off the vehicle, I sternly told my buddy that I am not doing that thing again even if he begs me until hell freezes over.

Lt. Col. Walter H. Loving and the Philippine Constabulary band

Last weekend, my teenage daughter excitedly asked me if she and her classmate can watch a concert of a famous Korean band. Since I mostly listen to music from the 1940’s through the 60’s, the bands and singers of the current generation is all foreign to me. My eyebrows jumped off my face when I saw the price for economy rate seats for the Korean band’s concert--$150! Concert prices sure have come a long way since I was a kid back in the 1960s and 1970s.

In the past 40 years, I have seen Filipino singers and bands struggle to penetrate the international music industry. The following are some of the Filipino musical artists that found success outside the Philippines:

Pilita Corales was the first female to top the Australian pop music charts in the late 1950’s.

The ReyCards Duo (Rey Ramirez & Carding Cruz) found success performing a musical & comedy show in Las Vegas, Nevada during the late 1960’s.

Freddie Aguilar’s own composition entitled “Anak” hit the number 1 spot in Japan’s music charts. The song also became popular in Malaysia, Hong Kong and parts of Western Europe.

Lea Salonga became world famous when she was selected for the lead role in “Miss Saigon”.

Charice Pempengco stunned the American musical audience when she performed in Ellen De Generes & Oprah shows. She is currently performing in concerts all over the world.

All these Filipino artists broke through the music industries outside the Philippines because they had a God given talent. But before Charice, Lea Salonga, Reycards and Pilita Corales, there was a Filipino band that became famous in United States. This is their story and also the story of their courageous African-American leader, Lt. Col. Walter Loving.

Walter Howard Loving was born to former African-American slaves in Lovingston, Virginia in December 1872. Two years after Walter was born, his mother passed away. The Loving family which consisted of the father, three boys, two teenage girls (one of whom was married and has a son), had to crowd in a small house. 

In 1891, Walter moved to Washington D.C. and showed his musical talent by playing the cornet and directing the second Baptist church choir. In June 1893, he enlisted in the U.S. army and was assigned to the 24^th Infantry regiment because he indicated his occupation as musician. Back then, African Americans who enlist in the U.S. Army were assigned to one of four segregated regiments: 9^th & 10^th Calvary regiments and 24^th and 25^th Infantry regiments.

Private Loving was stationed in Fort Bayard, New Mexico in July 1893 and was transferred to the band in January 1894. Military bands were an important part of every regiment because they play in parades and unit dances.

In 1898 at the treaty of Paris, the nation of Spain sold the Philippines to United States for $20 million. When the U.S. took possession of the Philippines, it also bought itself a war with the Filipino revolutionaries who were fighting for the independence of the Philippine nation. The Filipino-American war cost the U.S. $600 million.

There were about 28,000 American troops stationed in the Philippines and to augment this number, additional U.S. troops were shipped to the new colony. Loving was assigned as a chief musician in the 48^th U.S. Volunteer Infantry, which is one of the African-American regiment that was sent to the Philippines. The other colored regiment was the 49^th Volunteer Infantry. In January 1900, the 48^th Infantry arrived in Manila. A local newspaper, the Manila Times, printed an announcement saying that 200 trained singers would be performing at the Luneta public park accompanied by the U.S. 48^th regimental band. When the African-American troops were deployed at different defensive lines around Manila to repel attacks from Filipino troops, Loving and his musicians tried their best to boast morale.

On March 1900, the 48^th regiment was moved to the city of San Fernando, La Union. The troops found the place quite inhospitable with its mountainous terrain, thick overgrowth and very few roads. But in spite of these hurdles, troops of the 48^th was able to operate well in the area which impressed Col. William Duvall, which was the 48^th volunteer infantry commander. Loving was later promoted to second lieutenant.

In May 1901, the 48^th regiment returned to United States for redeployment to reduce the U.S. Army’s strength in the islands by 40 percent. Shortly after its returned, members of the 48^th returned to civilian life.

In February 1901, the U.S. congressed authorized the enlistment of 12,000 Filipinos for military service. This resulted in the formation of the Philippine scouts which were armed with .45 caliber Springfield carbines. Hoping to serve as a lieutenant in the Philippine scouts, Loving sought the help of influential people that he knew in the army to get an officer’s commission in the Philippines.

Loving was not the only African-American who wanted to return to the Philippines. A number of veterans from the 48^th and 49^th volunteer infantry regiments elected to remain in the Philippines and settled down with their Filipina girlfriends or wives. These men did not have the desire to return to the U.S. because of America’s animosities towards the colored race. One of Loving’s fellow officer who stayed in the Philippines is Adolph Wakefield, who worked as a civilian packer for the Quartermaster’s Department. Wakefield died in July 1902 from cholera.

In 1902, Loving returned to the Philippines and worked as a subinspector in the Philippine constabulary. At the request of William Howard Taft, first Philippine governor-general, Loving started work in organizing a Constabulary band. He was promoted to second lieutenant in the end of 1902 then to first lieutenant in August 1903. During his stay in the Philippines, Lt. Loving became fluent in Spanish and Tagalog dialect which became helpful in search for first class Filipino musicians. One of the musicians that Lt. Loving recruited was Pedro B. Navarro who was able to play every wind instrument in the band. Navarro eventually succeeded Loving as the band’s director. The citizens of Manila always enjoyed the Philippine Constabulary band two-hour evening concerts at Luneta park.

The band’s first international break came at the St. Louis World’s fair at St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. The fair covered a massive 1200 acre area with 1500 buildings connected by 75 miles of roads and walkways. The fair was delayed from 1903 to 1904 to allow more attendees coming from states and foreign lands. Exhibits were staged by 62 foreign countries, and 43 out of 45-then U.S. states. The exhibits that were featured were industries, cities, organizations, corporations, music schools, etc.

The Philippine authorities decided to send 1,100 Filipinos to create a 47-acre exhibit. At the Philippine exhibit, it featured the primitive life of the Igorots and Filipino Muslims. The Philippine Constabulary battalion was composed of 280 men led by 12 officers plus Loving and his 80 band members.

Lt. Loving’s PC band had a busy schedule of playing at opening ceremonies and parades exhibition drills. The band’s evening and tri-weekly concerts became a very popular attraction to the 19 million visitors that came to the exhibit. On one particular evening concert by the PC band, the power went out. Lt. Loving quickly tied a white handkerchief to his baton so that it can seen by the band members and the band continued playing the William Tell Overture in the dark. The PC band played without missing a note because Loving trained his musicians to memorize the repertoire.

The band also traveled to other places in United States. They led a 10,000-man parade of the Knights of Phythias in Louisville, Kentucky. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the band played at the Wisconsin State fair where 20,000 people attended the opening day. When President Roosevelt went to the St. Louis fair, it was believed that Pres. Roosevelt and Loving met because Roosevelt wrote a letter to Lt. Loving thanking him for the shield that contained miniature Filipino weapons that Loving gave to the president as a gift. 

After the St. Louis World fair, the Constabulary band bought string instruments and started playing as a symphony orchestra. When William Taft became the 27^th president of United States, he invited Lt. Loving and his band to play at his presidential inauguration at Washington D.C. The inaugural committee offered to pay the band $650 for two concerts on March 5 & 6, 1909. At this point, the only problem the band needs to resolve is how to raise the $28,000 needed for the whole band to travel to the presidential inauguration. It was eventually agreed that the band will raise the money by staging a concert tour across the U.S.

On its way to the U.S., the PC band had a concert at the Nagasaki Hotel. After arriving in California, the band traveled across the country performing in successful concerts. After playing at President Taft’s inauguration, the newspaper The Evening Star reported great appreciation and praise for the “Little brown men and their director”.  Before leaving Washington, the band played at the White House honoring Japanese dignitaries. The band went on tour and performed in Chicago, New York city, Buffalo, Detroit, Cincinnati, Denver, Salt Lake city, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

While the band was on board a transport ship in San Francisco bay, President Taft happened to be riding a cutter. He ordered his vessel to pull along side the transport ship. While the Filipino band was playing “Hail to the chief” on the bridge, Pres. Taft shouted to the Filipino band, “Goodbye, boys. I wish you a pleasant voyage”. The transport had a short stop over in Hawaii where the band performed before deposed Queen Liliuokalani.

In 1915, the PC band returned to the U.S. and performed at another World’s fair held in San Francisco. At the fair, the PC band was joined by the United States Marine band. Loving had not been feeling well due to severe throat problems. He passed his baton to his chief musician, Pedro Navarro.

In 1916, Loving requested a medical retirement from the constabulary. He conducted his retirement concert in Luneta where he was given a watch and a cup as a retirement gift by his well wishers.

Loving moved to Oakland, California and retired as a major. A short time later, he married Edith McCary, a daughter of an army paymaster’s clerk whom he had met ten years earlier in Manila. In May 1917, they had their first son, Walter Jr.

In September 1917, shortly after the U.S. declared war with Germany, Loving worked as a civilian for the Military Intelligence (MI). After his service ended with the military intelligence in August 1919, Loving and his wife moved to Manila and began directing the Philippine Constabulary band again. He also trained the City Boy’s Reformation band with a pay rate of ten pesos per day. In 1923, Loving had a second farewell concert in Luneta and shortly after that concert, he moved to California taking up a post as a Major in the Officer’s Reserve corps.

In 1936, the Philippine constabulary merged with the army as a constabulary division. President Manuel Quezon decided to ask retired Major Loving to direct the new Philippine army band. Loving accepted the offer and he brought his family back to Manila in October 1937. As a token of his gratitude to President Quezon who promoted him to Lt. Colonel in the Philippine Army, Colonel Loving composed a song entitled “Marcha de los Colectivistas” to honor the political party headed by President Quezon.

In 1939 after the Constabulary was separated from the Army, Col. Loving brought back the PC band to United States to play at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, California.

It was believed that Col. Loving retired from service when World War II began. To avoid the distraction of Manila, it was declared an open city. In early 1942, the Japanese occupied Manila and interned a few thousand American, British and other foreign nationals in the grounds of Santo Tomas University in Manila. Among those who were interned were the Loving family.

Living conditions inside Santo Tomas university gradually deteriorated as months rolled by. Col. Loving was suffering from high blood pressure. His wife, Edith Loving, had to sell her diamond earrings so that she could buy Epsom salts to treat the colonel’s blood pressure. Because of the deteriorating health condition and age of Col. Loving, the Japanese released the Loving family from Santo Tomas and were placed in house arrest in a house in Ermita, Manila. They were required to report to the Japanese authorities twice a week. They were encouraged to escape by their Filipino friends but they refused. (They were probably thinking that it would discourage the Japanese authorities from releasing other sick and old internees from Santo Tomas if they escape.)

When the American forces returned to the Philippines in early 1945, thousands of Japanese troops decided to fight till death on the streets and buildings of Manila. The Japanese set the city on fire and there was chaos all around the city. The Loving family tried to escape by running towards the shores of Manila Bay but a Japanese soldier separated Col. Loving and his wife. Edith Loving was sent to Bay View Hotel in Ermita with the other women. The last Edith saw her husband was he was being led away with hundreds of other prisoners to Luneta. A Filipino witness claimed that the prisoners that were led to Rizal Park were ordered by the Japanese to run to the beach. Some men tried to help Col. Loving but he told them to save themselves. It was believed that Col. Loving was beheaded by the Japanese at Rizal Park, which was the same place where he led his band on his farewell concert years earlier.

After the liberation of Manila, Edith Loving returned to United States. She returned to the Philippines on 1952 to attend the Constabulary’s 50^th anniversary. She died in 1996 at the age of 101.

Their son, Walter H. Loving Jr., served 2 ½ years during World War II and was commissioned as an infantry officer in June 1945. He served during the Korean War as an artillery captain and later joined the National Guard. He retired with a rank of colonel in 1969. He died in California in 1969.

Taps to the Lovings.

Bong Penas, the passing of a pal

“Death brings stillness and peace to the body….and it also brings the soul to eternal peace…or pain through condemnation.”

These words came into my mind when I first heard that our batch mate, Bong Pinas, passed away last March 2, 2012. The words are not for the departed one but is meant for the ones that are left behind—that would be all of us.

The earliest memory I have of Bong Pinas goes way back to 1969 when I attended kindergarten at Naga Parochial School. In the 1969-70 yearbook of Naga Parochial school, Bong Pinas’ picture is printed showing him wearing a white graduation gown and cap with a tassel.

I can no longer recall where exactly Bong’s family resided in Naga City but I would sometimes see him walking along Jacob Street. When the Noche family, who is a close friend of our family, constructed a new house in Jacob extension, I would sometimes see Bong hang out with Jun and Robert Noche. I figured Bong must live somewhere in Jacob extension area.

Bong is a very easy and outgoing person. He seemed to not be bothered by school work because he would often say, “Mayo yan sa grado. Basta pasado, ok lang yan”. (It is not what grade you get. As long as the grade is a passing one, that is all fine). During our elementary days, Bong would sometimes come by our house to hang out with my brothers.

During high school, it was believed that boys are turned into men if they smoke cigarettes and drink a type of alcoholic beverage. It is almost impossible to find a male student who went through four years of high school without trying a single puff on a cigarette or a sip of alcohol. (Rubbing alcohol does not count). Shading the boyish innocence and donning the manhood gallantry is considered a requirement to survive high school. The devils of these two vices polluted the developing minds of almost all my batch mates including yours truly and Bong Penas.

During weekends, I would sometimes see Bong all boozed up with his bottle buddies along Jacob street, Bagumbayan Avenue or Ateneo Avenue. While enjoying the mint flavor of a “yosi” (cigarette), Bong would keep a close eye on the people walking by to make sure that none of them are Mr. “Tura” Destura, Mr. King “Pasi” Pasilaban or Mr. Vernon “Trino” De Los Trino, because these guys are the “Death Angels” of Ateneo De Naga’s Prefect of Disciple office.

I remember attending the 15^th or 16^th birthday party of our friend, Jun Noche, at their residence in Jacob extension. My brother, Alvin, sneaked out our family car, which was a white Mazda station wagon and picked up Bong Penas and Ricky “Guitarman” Sadiosa. I think we even picked up a group of pretty “Colegiala” friends of Jun and brought them to the Noche residence. I remember Bong admiring the spaghetti that Mrs. Noche prepared for the party. With the presence of the pretty Colegialas, all us boys were at our best behavior and did not drink a drop of beer. I could only recall the merriment during the party. After the Colegialas left, everything became blurry because I think alcohol was served.

During college, I heard that Bong Penas lived in Manila for a time. I had a chance meeting with Bong in Manila while I was rushing to get to the airport. The jeep I was riding on got stuck in heavy traffic. I decided to get off the jeep and run between the rows of cars that were no longer moving. While I was running, I heard somebody call my name. When I stopped to look around, I spotted Bong riding a Toyota Tamaraw waving at me. Between puffs of breaths, I quickly greeted Bong but I had to quickly leave because I was running out of time to catch my plane.

I think it was a few months after that brief meeting with Bong when I heard that Bong was hospitalized due to an overdose. Bong returned to Naga City and when I met him, I immediately noticed that he had speech impairment. Though I felt sorry for Bong, I treated him no different and kept our conversation normal.

After awhile, Bong’s speech went back to normal and he returned to his usual bubbly self cracking jokes with everybody. Bong is one of those people who does not seemed to ran out of stories. He has jokes for every occasion and seemed to know everybody in the neighborhood. He had his share of youthful troubles but was able to survive them with a smile in his face.

During the preparation of our high school batch’s 25^th graduation anniversary, Bong did what he could to assist in the fund raising and preparation of the anniversary celebration. When the big anniversary reunion event finally arrived on December 2005, Bong joined his LG19 classmates in the celebration. I believe it was one of the happiest moments for Bong that year.

During one of my visits to Naga, I asked my batch mates if they have seen Bong Penas. A few of them told me that Bong’s family lives near a slum area behind University of Nueva Caceres (UNC). One batch mate jokingly told me that there is an easy but effective way to find Bong. All I need to do is to bring a case of ice cold San Miguel beer near the entrance of the slum area. From there, I need to open one bottle of beer and let its aroma travel through the entrance of the slum. Bong will surely pick up the aroma of the beer and will come running out of the slum area following the scent of the brew.

The last picture I saw of Bong was taken during the funeral wake of our batch mate, Braggy back in 2009. Bong seemed thin and frail in the picture. Though I am amazed that Bong has survived this long, I felt worried about his health.

According to the news I heard, Bong was taken to the hospital on February 2012 due to problems with his lungs. On March 2, 2012, Bong Penas died with his father on his side.

Bong Penas might not have a lot of worldly possession but he lived a full life during his youth. Like all of us, Bong also had true friends that really cared for him. He struggled through adulthood but his body endured the hardship that was thrown his way.

Though Bong became frail during his last years, in my memory, he will always be that friendly, loveable guy who has a welcoming personality and will always call everybody his pal. Bong, you are a good friend.

Missing a pal,

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

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.

Memoir article written by Rosario Ponce, Manila, Philippines:

It was in 1966 when they came to Manila. Together with my two sisters and three friends, we attended their evening concert. The concert was fantastic but we wanted more. So we decided to follow them to the Manila Hotel where they were staying. It was quite late when we got there. The lobby was almost empty. Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans were all over the place, taking charge of the Beatles' instruments that were coming in from the concert venue.

We caught sight of Brian Epstein and tried to get out of his way, afraid that he might ask us to leave. But no one from their group was minding us. A kind hearted bellhop brought us up to the 4th floor and pointed to the rooms at the far end, suites 404 and 405 and told us those were their rooms.We tiptoed our way towards the rooms and talked in whispers when the door suddenly opened and lo and behold, it was John! He gave us an amazed look and just nodded at us. Next time the door opened it was Paul. Looked at us and I could swear he was counting. He told us to just wait. When he opened the door again he was looking straight at us and said, ' alright girls, if you promise to be quiet, you may enter...two at a time'. And we did.

Paul acted as our host, he led us to the living room where John and George were seated on a sofa. George had a tape recorder beside him playing what sounded like Indian music. As we were introduced to John and George they gave us handshakes. I'll never forget John's handshake, it was so firm and warm. And he had a beautiful, impish smile. George was so good looking in person specially when he grinned. 'If you have questions...' Paul told us. But what can I ask? All I wanted to do was just look at them and relish the moment. And it had to end. It was an awesome experience and until now I am still amazed at the kindness they showed us. They could have just ignored us, but they chose to see us. That's what sets them apart from other celebrities.

And I am forever grateful to them. Beatles forever!