June 1 - 15, 2017
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Rey Fortaleza - Publisher
Carlito Pablo - Editorial Consultant
Rosette Correa - Senior Editor
Jun Cordero - Associate Editor
Writers - Crisanta Sampang ; Columnists - Geoff Meggs, Ben Berto, Editha Corrales, Mon
Datol, Fr. Jerry Orbos SVD, DeeDee Sytangco, Alan Samuel, Erie Maestro, Sandee M.
Ed Malay, Jayne Anastacio, JJAtencio and Willie J. Uy (Manila Bureau Chief)
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Breaking
Point
By Rosette Correa
One hundred nineteen
years ago, the Philippine
Revolution began in 1896.
The Pact of Biak- na-Bato
sealed the deal with the
Spanish being asked to pay
the revolutionaries 800,000
pesos and that Emilio
Aguinaldo and other lead-
ers went into exile in Hong
Kong. At that time, Agui-
naldo was at a loss at what
to do, since he lost most
of his friends to the seem-
ingly unwinnable battle
- Bonifacio, Rizal, Antonio
Luna, and del Pilar, and he
quietly went into exile. In
April 1898, at the outbreak
of the Spanish–American
War, Commodore George
Dewey aboard the U.S.S.
Olympia sailed from Hong
Kong to Manila Bay leading
the Asiatic Squadron of the
U.S. Navy. On May 1, 1898,
the United States defeated
the Spanish in the Battle
of Manila Bay. Aguinaldo
decided to return to the
Philippines to help Ameri-
can forces defeat the Span-
iards, and the U.S. Navy
How our fathers fought
agreed to transport him
back aboard the USS Mc-
Culloch, and on May 19, he
arrived in Cavite. He contin-
ued to rule as President un-
til 1901, when the US finally
took over and governed the
land until 1935.
By the time the Ameri-
cans left, Manuel Quezon
was elected the first Philip-
pine President under the
Commonwealth, although
not the one we know as
the British Commonwealth.
The Philippines, however,
was briefly under the Brit-
ish, from 1761-1764, when
they took over the naval
base in Cavite. It was one of
those agreements that the
colonizers of Europe had
with one another so that the
colonies can be governed
properly, and it was also
strategic placement in the
West Indies. Quezon was
followed by Osmena, then
Roxas, and then another
take over from the Japa-
nese had Laurel at the end
of puppet strings.
From then on, after July
Bulong
Pulungan
4, 1946, the Philippines has
been governing itself. Much
of the challenges and sac-
rifices of the revolutionary
fathers eventually paid off,
after elitist politicians took
over a while, and allowed
the country to be abused by
its colonizers for a certain
period. Not that it did not
merit anything. Spain gave
us a unified identity and
surnames; the USA brought
us English and education,
Japan brought Toyota and
sushi, and the rest were in-
cidental. Despite the diffi-
culties, Filipinos came out
smiling and took the chal-
lenges head on - something
that we are all still doing to-
day.
That is why when Fili-
pinos talk about Indepen-
dence Day, it is mainly
about the country’s inde-
pendence from Spain. After
all, 400 years of Spanish
rule is something one can-
not erase from memory, or
blood veins for that matter.
The fact is, we really have
gained independence from
Spain because we have
cut all ties with her, includ-
ing the last memory of her
rule over us when Spanish
as a language requirement
in college was abolished in
1990.
Unfortunately, we have
not gained independence
from the other countries
who ruled over us, and more
wish to be in that position.
Until now, we are depen-
dent on the United States
for military support, non-
combatant or not, as well
as the hard-earned dollars
of the Filipinos there who
continue to remit money to
their families back home.
We rely on Uncle Sam for
trade, fashion, media and
other things that seem to
matter. We are dependent
on Japan in the same way
as well - technology, em-
ployment and trade. We
continue to look up at these
economic giants wishing
that one day, we will be like
them.
And now, China wants
to take over, too. With claims
on Benham Rise and with
Duterte, sleeping with the
enemy and bedding with an
Continued on PAGE 9
Class Acts
By Deedee Siytangco
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
Lea Salonga and Ra-
chel Arenas both take—and
own—the stage in their re-
spective fields
Angel Thoughts
Just remember; The
past cannot be changed.
Opinions don’t define your
reality. Things get better
with time. Overthinking
will lead to sadness. Judg-
ments are confessions of a
character. Positive thoughts
create better things. Kind-
ness is free. Pass it along.
Everyone’s journey is dif-
ferent. Don’t compare. You
only fail if you quit. Things MTRCB chair Rachel Arenas
get better with time. Believe
it. Smiles are contagious. ing being the first woman
Spread it.—Anonymous
representative for the third
district of Pangasinan. Her
Our sympathies to the mother, socialite and civic
families of the soldiers who leader Baby Arenas or sim-
have given up their lives in ply “Baby A” followed suit
Marawi city. AFP, please be as congresswoman after
more careful with air strikes her term and is currently
as these have killed more the representative there.
soldiers than in the encoun-
When she was called
ters. May this month bring by Pres. Duterte whom she
us gentle rains and peace in supported, it was not unex-
Mindanao!
pected, but the offer to head
To MTRCB chair Ra- the MTRCB that regulates
chel Arenas, serving in the movies, television shows,
government is easy and radio, and advertising ma-
enjoyable. She has served terials in theaters was the
in various posts includ- big surprise. As in all things
happening in her life, she
decided she would meet the
new challenges, and to do
her best. This meant study-
ing unchartered waters,
getting the cooperation of
her co-workers especially
her 30-member board and
coordinating with the stake-
holders.
Rachel is no ordinary
flighty socialite although
she is a favorite of glossy
magazines. She finished
high school in the Colegio
de San Agustin, her AB Po-
litical Science degree from
De La Salle University with
an Academic Excellence
Award for her outstanding
thesis. She then took up
further studies at the In-
stitute of John F. Kennedy
S chool of Government in
Harvard and later enrolled
at the Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy at the
Tufts University in Boston.
She served as a direc-
tor of the Padre Pio Lend
a Hand Foundation as her
mother, Baby A. was re-
sponsible in introducing
the devotion to St. Padre
Pio here in the country. In
Congress, she once worked
at its research and training
service and produced pub-
lic shows at ACE TV Con-
cepts and had a stint at as
a writer in Money Asia, and
was a consultant at PAG-
COR. Now she is one of the
governors of the Philippine
Red Cross.
As chair of MTRCB she
sits only when there are ties
in the voting of the clusters
of reviewers, and sets the
policies and administrative
thrusts of the agency. She
is by nature non-combative
and liberal minded but, she
assures, she knows when
something is offensive.
She watches the mov-
ies she wants to watch and
oftentimes will line up for
her ticket. No, she can’t be
bribed or cajoled or pres-
sured. Rachel will always
stand her ground.
One of the guests
at the Bulong Pulungan
where Rachel was the guest
speaker was Rocio “Chuchi”
de Vega, once the MTRCB
chair in Marcos’ time. She
revealed her tumultuous
term since the board was
full of generals’ wives, Mar-
cos’ driver, gardener and
other characters with no
qualifications whatsoever.
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
Lea Salonga
Rachel confided that her
board represents many sec-
tors and she feels she can
work with them.
Cheers, Rachel!
We had a pleasant mu-
sical experience the other
day at the CCP with the
Brighton Young Orchestra
and Lea Salonga. Conduct-
ed by Kory Katseanes, the
director for orchestra in the
Brighton Young University
School of Music, the group
regularly goes on world
tours and they did so here
in the country, going to
Continued on PAGE 9