Yesterday at Sunday Mass, our parish priest delivered a beautiful homily dedicated to mothers. Not a word about elections, not a word about who to vote for, not a word casting aspersions on those who voted for the Reproductive Health Law. Thank you, Father.
According to news reports, a demonstration was recently staged by the Bacolod diocese featuring Team Patay and Team Buhay propaganda banners. Just as the rally was underway, the heavens opened up and a heavy downpour dispersed the participants, leaving a lean crowd to continue with the meeting.
Sixty-four years ago on April 28, 1949, Aurora Quezon, widow of Commonwealth President Manuel Luis Quezon and First Lady of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944, was ambushed by Hukbalahap elements along the Bongabon-Baler provincial highway in Nueva Ecija.
Two weeks ago, the nation marked the 71st anniversary of the Fall of Bataan, a day dedicated to the memory of our veterans who fought alongside American soldiers in a campaign that from the start had already been written off by Washington. The United States’ secretary of war, Henry Stimson, put it thus: “There are times when men have to die.”
In November last year, I wrote an article titled “Brand-new PMA ‘sup’ retires in five months.” Last Thursday, Lt. Gen. Irineo Espino relinquished his post as Philippine Military Academy superintendent after barely five months on the job.
Seventy-one years ago in 1942, Maj. Gen. Edward King Jr. surrendered an army of 76,000 Filipino and American soldiers to a Japanese force of 54,000 under Gen. Masaharu Homma. Of the 76,000, some 10,500 were American officers and enlisted men. It was the single largest capitulation of a US-led military force in American history, culminating in the Bataan Death March.
At the start of Holy Week, my wife presented me with two choices for Lenten reflections covering Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday. The first had bishops of the Catholic Church as speakers, while the second was a list of Jesuit priests in talks entitled “Faith and Music” to be held at Mary the Queen Church.
As we enter into Holy Week, a time for reflection, my thoughts are with the Navy personnel who, two weeks ago, were placed under arrest by virtue of a court order issued by a Manila Regional Trial Court.
Last Thursday, at the ungodly hour of four in the morning, my son, Francisco, woke me up to announce that we had a new pope. With a broad smile on his face, he added that “Francis” was the chosen name of Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina. My initial reaction was to ask what time it was.
For those not familiar with government acronyms, CAAP stands for Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, an autonomous entity that replaced the old Air Transportation Office that was a line bureau under the Department of Transportation and Communications. By virtue of Republic Act 9497 passed in March 2008, CAAP is an independent regulatory body with quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers, having jurisdiction over the entire civil aviation system of the country. It is the local counterpart of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and the Air Safety Committee (ASC) of the European Union.
Last month we were treated to a fascinating 2-part series on Roberto Ongpin, trade minister during the Marcos years from 1979-1986. While I served under Finance Minister Cesar E.A. Virata, who was also the prime minister under an interim parliamentary system established in 1978, I had the opportunity to interact with Ongpin on a number of issues that involved trade and customs matters. I was dealing with two completely different personalities, but I had no doubt they were both men of integrity and courage who did their best serving the nation under difficult circumstances.
Three years ago, I wrote a column titled “Two injustices, different endings.” The first injustice had to do with the treatment of Filipino war veterans who served in the US Armed Forces at the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941. Alongside US soldiers, the Filipinos fought with loyalty and determination even when the white [...]
