Chapter 1 - Remembering My Grandfather

In 1986, the 20-year dictatorial regime of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was toppled by the People Power revolution spearheaded by then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and AFP Vice-Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos with the backing of the influential Catholic Church headed by Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila. The mantle of national leadership fell on the shoulders of a plain housewife named Corazon Aquino. President Aquino declared a revolutionary government thus enabling her to replace all elected local officials with appointed ones until the next election is held. For Davao City’s vice mayoral post, she wanted to appoint a public-school teacher named Soledad Roa Duterte who belonged to her inner circle when they were fighting the dictatorship. But Soledad declined the appointment for the reason that she is already old. She advised President Aquino to appoint her son Rodrigo instead. That was how lawyer Rodrigo Duterte, who was then a prosecutor at the Justice De...

  After finishing college, my brother Joey joined his older brother Chito in Davao City where they both worked in Radio Station DXMF, popularly known as Radyo Bombo.   Chito was assigned in radio patrol roaming the city streets reporting the news as they saw it happened. Joey, on the other hand was some kind of anchorman in charge of news analysis and broadcast commentaries.     As I wrote in another piece titled TooYoung To Die , about that era, “… in the mid 80’s, Davao was a city in turmoil. The entire city became the battleground of a typical urban guerrilla warfare that you see on TV in other parts of the world. There was a semblance of normalcy during the day. By dusk, commercial establishments were already closed. At night, under the cover of darkness, armed communist forces roamed the streets ready to eliminate any perceived enemies. The government forces returned in kind. Dozens of killings perpetrated by both sides happened during the night w...

In my earlier piece, Too Young To Die , I wrote ,“… in the mid 80’s, Davao was a city in turmoil. The entire city became the battleground of a typical urban guerrilla warfare like what you see on TV in other parts of the world. There was a semblance of normalcy during the day. After sunset, commercial establishments were already closed. At night, under the cover of darkness, armed communist forces roam the streets ready to eliminate any perceived enemies. The government forces returned in kind. Dozens of killings perpetrated by both sides happened during the night while some occurred even in broad daylight. ”                                            This was the situation my brothers Chito and Joey were into. My brothers were working as radio broadcasters of Radio Bombo. Chito was in Radyo Patrol with a codename of Apollo Uno roaming around the city reporting ...

April 25, 2021 - During the early 80s, my colleagues in the university established a computer consulting firm in Iligan City. Computrade Philippines, Incorporated was the first and the only computer firm in Iligan at that time. Upon my return in 1985, after completing my masteral studies in Manila, I was invited to join them as member of the board in-charge of software development projects. One of our clients is Mr. Henry T. Siao, a big-time businessman owning several establishments in the city. That is how I first met him. Our business relationship gradually blossomed into a personal friendship up to a point where I am almost considered a member of his family. I could come to his house anytime on short notice and share a meal with them. He even reserved me a guest room so that I could spend a night there if I wanted to. During my wedding in March 1992, he was one of my principal sponsors. Henry is an active member of the Rotary Club of Iligan. At one time, he was the club president...

  April 2001 . - It was a perfect combination. She has a driver’s license and a car but could not drive. Being new i n California, I don’t have a California license, but I can drive. What I have is a temporary permit to drive but only whe n accompanied by a person with a valid license. I have only a vague idea of some of the places we were to visit and don’t know one street from another. She has memorized the geography of Loma Linda and nearby cities. That’s how we got teamed up last Sunday for a day’s gallivanting and doing the errands she could not do alone. I met Mercy Joy Corpuz way back in the early 80s at the Solijons’ residence more popularly known as 737 Constancia in Sampaloc. That place was then a regular hangout of people like Godfrey Calleja, Roger Saldia, Girlie Flores, myself, and others. In fact, Girlie eventually found her Romeo among those Alvin-Patrimonio wannabes playing basketball on that vacant lot across the street. They are now residing in Mountain View Co...

  It was a typical summer morning in Iligan City, Philippines. The year was 1985. When I arrived in the office, our secretary handed me a telegram. The message was brief but crystal clear: “NOY, COME IMMEDIATELY, LOLOY KILLED.” It was from my younger brother, Joey, who, together with his older brother Chito, was working as a radio broadcaster in Davao City. “Noy” is a contraction of “Manoy” --- a title of respect usually accorded to the eldest brother in the family. I am the eldest in the family and all my eight siblings call me Manoy. “Loloy” was the pet name of our youngest brother, Joseph. It took me some time before the whole message sank in. My brother, gone. He did not die…he was killed. While on our way to Davao with my wife, I had the luxury of time to reminisce and to reflect on the events in the past that led to the current situation. While I was growing up and started to understand the harsh realities of life in the farm where we were born and raised, I promised to mys...