By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Family, friends, and former colleagues of the late Senator Blas Ople gathered for a mass at the Libingan ng mga Bayani [Heroes’ Cemetery] in celebration of his 82nd birthday.

Ople served for nearly two decades and created the overseas employment program in the early 70’s, and then the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, with the last earning for him the distinction of being the “father of overseas employment.”

Continuing the legacy of her father, Susan Ople, president of Blas F. Ople Policy Center, is helping overseas Filipino workers by strengthening the programs designed by the government for them.

“He is a mentoring type of father and we grew up knowing the country first,” said Ople as she described what her father was like.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

ROAMING around a historical place like Intramuros can be more nostalgic if you take a ride on a “kalesa” or a horse-drawn carriage. No need to hire a tour guide because your English-speaking kutsero or coachman can definitely give you background of this historic place.

In my recent tour of the Intramuros, I met Emiliano Ortaleza, a coachman for 40 years. Always ready with a smile and a warm greeting to potential customers, Ortaleza has been doing this job to earn enough money to get by every day.

Ortaleza goes around Intramuros using a borrowed kalesa and a horse named Alasan.

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The Philippine national anthem’s title has often been mistaken as, “Bayang Magiliw.” It is the first few words in the lyrics composed by Julian Felipe in 1898.

But more than being a cheerful nation, the Philippines is a chosen land, hence, the title, “Lupang Hinirang.”

I remember singing Lupang Hinirang in my elementary years under the heat of the sun every morning in school. Back then, I felt that the national anthem had lost its meaning, as we sang it everyday. Of course, that was before. Today, you will hear the national anthem played in movie theaters before it opens and closes. So it was refreshing to hear a new version of the national anthem complete with new visuals.

For several minutes, I was enthralled, as I saw, for the first time, the recent movie screening of Mae Paner’s Lupang Hinirang at the Rockwell Powerplant Mall.

Here’s the same video uploaded on YouTube:

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

TAGUIG City, Philippines — United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney together with some American and Filipino military dignitaries celebrated the Veteran’s Day at American Cemetery.

“If not for their sacrifices, our nations will never be free. They are the reason why we can vote peacefully, freely and with excitement actually,” said Kenney who joined the honoring of the war veterans.

Kenney said she appreciated the enduring friendship between Filipino and Americans, as she acknowledged Filipinos who served the Americans during the World War II.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

MAE Paner has been in advertising industry for 25 years.

Her debut in directing commercials came in 1997 when she came out with “Black and White.” Since then, she has found herself drowned in a career of “selling” soap, political personalities and products appealing to a certain target market.

Paner is a stage actor in the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Aside from directing, she has been a commercial talent, appearing in a funny Boysen paint commercial as the nagging mother-in-law to a man painting his home. In the commercial, the nonchalant son-in-law keeps painting the wall white until he decides to paint over Paner who continues nagging him.

For years, Paner thought she was doing okay with her chosen career as an artist until she saw Rodolfo Noel Lozada, Jr.’s expose on the controversial National Broadband Network project during a Senate investigation.

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By Vicente Labro
Inquirer

BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar–With fervor and pride, they again paid tribute to their forebears who left behind a legacy of love for freedom.

People of the century-old coastal town of Balangiga in Eastern Samar commemorated the 106th anniversary of the victory of their forefathers against American invaders on Sept. 28, hoping anew that the historic Balangiga Bells taken as war booty by US soldiers will eventually be returned.

A festive mood pervaded the town as the historic event was marked, albeit with less pomp as before. Photo shows a dance drama depicting American soldiers taking away the church bells of Balangiga.

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HERE’S a clip of the Philippine proclamation of independence on July 4, 1946, courtesy of the UniversalNewsreels YouTube channel.

By Desiree Caluza
Northern Luzon Bureau

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines–The Baguio Centennial Commission will put up a museum at one of the heritage sites here to celebrate the city’s 100th charter anniversary in 2009.

The Diplomat Hotel was chosen as the location for the museum that will keep photographs and documents charting the growth of the city, said Michael Pearson, member of the centennial committee.

He said they chose the abandoned hotel at Dominican Hill here because it offers a panoramic view of the city and is surrounded by trees.

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By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO–Kapampangans filled the San Agustin Church and its nearby museum in Intramuros, Manila, on the night of Aug. 24 to pay tribute to Augustinian missionaries who had sailed from there to Pampanga 435 years ago and influenced the natives’ character, culture and history.

As they stood on the same grounds where some of those 100 friars lived and trained, they bridged the time, seeing past and present connections between Fray Juan Gallegos, who set foot in Lubao in 1572, and far, far, far down time when Fr. Eddie Panlilio, who finished theology at the St. Augustine Major Seminary, was elected governor in 2007.

“Holy ground,” was how Dr. Arlyn Villanueva, president of the Holy Angel University, called the event’s venue.

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By Juan Mercado
Inquirer

“IT’S your fault that i never got to talk to the man,” my son Francis gripes when former senator Benigno Aquino’s death is remembered, as we do today.

Francis was a grade-school kid when our family bumped into Ninoy Aquino at San Francisco’s international airport. We were flying to Bangkok, and Aquino was booked on a Boston flight. The years have blurred most of our chat that day. But we did laugh over my securing a “carrier pigeon” to sneak his article, smuggled from a Fort Bonifacio prison cell under martial law censors’ noses. A sympathetic Air India manager brought it to the editor Theh Chongkadikhij at the Bangkok Post.

In February 1973, the Post published “The Aquino Papers,” a three-part series that challenged martial law. “I will not accept President Marcos’ offer of an amnesty because I do not believe I’ve committed any crime,” Aquino wrote. “He violated our Constitution and broke our laws.”

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