Manuel V. Gallego on Stamps

Statesman, educator, lawyer, and diplomat, Manuel Viola Gallego was born in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija on January 18, 1893, to Julio Gallego and Inocencia Viola. He acquired his elementary and intermediate education in Nueva Ecija, and his secondary studies, first in Bulacan and later at the Manila High School. He studied at the University of the Philippines, where he obtained three degrees: Bachelor of Arts, 1913; Bachelor of Laws, 1918, and Master of Laws, 1919. That same year, he earned his Licenciado en Jurisprudencia from the University of Santo Tomas.

Determined to pursue further studies, he flew to the United States and enrolled at Chicago’s Northwestern University, where he received his juris doctor degree in 1928. His thesis, entitled “A Critical Study of the Usury Laws,” was made into a book and later served as reference material in different law schools in the Philippines. Before returning home, he proceeded to Spain and took up postgraduate studies in law at the nU iversidad Central de Madrid. In 1919, he started his extensive law practice, gaining recognition for handling his cases

with brilliance and alertness. He taught law at the National Law College and the University of Manila. Later, he served as president of the Fabrica de Tabacos y Cigarillos Katubusan and managed several haciendas.

His political career began in 1931, when he was elected congressman in the first district of Nueva Ecija. He was reelected in 1941. As a congressman, he initiated some of the first land reform measures. He also worked for the use of dialects in Philippine schools as a medium of instruction, and of Tagalog as the national language. He was the author of the House bills granting women suffrage and allowing the partial payment, by installment, of land taxes, both of which became laws. He was co-author of the rice tariff bill, which also became a law. He sponsored the highest number of labor legislation acted upon by the House of Representatives at the time. For that, he won fifth place in the Philippines Free Press ’ evaluation of lawmakers from 1942 to 1945, for service to country for the years 1931 to 1935.

In 1945, he was appointed to the Philippine Congressional Rehabilitation Reconstruction Commission, which conferred with representatives of the United States government on ways and means of rebuilding the country for the havoc and destruction caused by the war.

Dr. Gallego was the last Secretary of Instruction of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under the Osmeña administration, and the first Secretary of Education of the Republic of the Philippines under the Roxas administration.

As education secretary, he promoted cultural development through the introduction of new textbooks, authored by Filipinos, on Philippine government, history, social science, and other relevant subjects. Pursuant to his recommendations, the legislature passed the School Health Act of 1946, mandating the establishment of medical and dental services for students in all educational institutions offering secondary and tertiary programs. He was also instrumental in

the passage of the law, which changed the curriculum to include value instruction. It was also through his initiative that Congress enacted a law increasing the salaries of schoolteachers, to induce qualified men and women to enter and remain in the teaching profession. To help teachers financially, particularly in obtaining loans, he formed the National Cooperative for Teachers. He established and implemented a program that enabled educators to pursue studies abroad along technical lines and on the latest technologies and systems in the administration of the educational process. This resulted in the signing in March 1948 of the Fullbright Pact between the Philippines and the United States, with studies of Filipino educators and students in the US being financed by a special fund coming from the sale of American surplus property.

As a diplomat, Gallego represented the country in various international undertakings. In 1935, he was in Tokyo as Philippine representative to the First Oriental Tourist Conference. He was a member of the Far Eastern Commission, which sought sizable reparations from the Japanese government for the plunders that the Japanese invaders had committed on occupied countries during the war. In 1946, he was in Korea to work for continued peace between that country and the Philippines.

That same year, he was one of the delegates to the First Assembly of the United Nations convened in London. Three years later, in 1949, he headed the Philippine delegation to the ECAPE Conference in Australia where he defended Filipino economic rights. In 1950, again as head of mission, he was in Indonesia to formally negotiate a treaty of friendship and amity between that country and the Philippines, with the effort proving successful.

As an educator, Gallego, who served as member of the Council of State, was chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines from 1946-1948; professor and dean of the college of law and, later, president, of the University of Manila; chairman of the board of trustees of the Manila College of Pharmacy and Dentistry; and chancellor of the Manila Central University.

Gallego was the founder of the Central Luzon School of Nursing in Nueva Ecija, as well as of the Central Luzon Educational Center, which later were fused into the Manuel V. Gallego Foundation Colleges, in the same province.

His varied interests made him president of such groups as the Manila Tobacco Association, United Nations Association of the Philippines, Philippine Constitutional Association, National Rice and Corn Growers Association, and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, and vice-president of the Homeowners Association and the Foreign Affairs Association of the Philippines.

A prolific writer, Dr. Gallego published the Philippine Election Law, Dictatorship Under the Guise of Democracy, The Philippine Language Problem, Economic Emancipation, the Price of Philippine Independence, The Philippine Trade Act in the Light of History, A Critical Study of the Philippines Usury Act, Bar Examination Questions and Answers on the Civil Code, Philippine Law of Evidence, and the Philippine Law of Water Rights . He also co-authored the Law on Obligations.

He married Caridad Ongsiaco on December 17, 1922. Dr. Gallego died on August 13, 1976. On July 11, 1993, as a gesture of honor and respect for this exemplary and multi-faceted man, the Manuel V. Gallego commemorative stamp was formally issued by the Philippine Postal services.

Latest Beethoven Stamp from Grenada

Grenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Its size is 344 km², with an estimated population of 110,000. Its capital is St. George's. The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada Dove.

This small country first issued a set of Beethoven stamps (comprised of 7 stamps and 1 miniature sheet) on April 24, 1978. Their latest Beethoven is a souvenir sheet of 6 stamps, issued in 2009, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of noted composer, and "Father of the String Quartet" Franz Joseph Haydn. One stamp shows the young Beethoven as Haydn's student.

Bakbakan sa Sinulog 2010 at Waterfront Cebu

Milan “Milenyo” Melindo of Cagayan de Oro City won by a close but unanimous ten round decision over Anthony “Baby Assassin” Villareal of the U.S. in front of a sell out crowd at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu City Thursday night.

Melindo (20W-0L, 5 KO’s) jumped on Villareal at the opening bell and scored a knockdown with his right hook. Villareal got up and tried to keep a safe distance by moving and jabbing.

The American found his range in the third and landed one-two combos but Melindo closed the distance and landed hard shots at the end of the round. In the 4th the shorter Melindo scored repeatedly with his jab and a right hook staggered Villareal again. Melindo continued to invest in body shots but Villareal was still standing and countered effectively.

In the fifth, Villareal tried to give Melindo different looks by switching to southpaw. Villareal continued to box from a distance but Melindo managed to cut off the ring. But the ALA gym fighter missed a lot of shots as Villareal was very slippery.

In a breathtaking seventh round, the fighters traded wicked hooks as Melindo landed rib rattling punches. Melindo landed the harder blows in the 8th and 9th but in a nail biting tenth round, Villareal hurt Melindo and pressed the initiative until the final bell.

In the co-main event, AJ “Bazooka” Banal of Ermita, Cebu City knocked out Cecilio “Boga” Santos of Mexico in the fourth round.

The southpaw Banal was tentative in the opening round but started to find his range in the second and third rounds landing hard shots. He landed a powerful left to the temple in the 4th round that staggered Santos and Banal flowed up with a furious volley. The Mexican was counted out in 35 second mark of the 4th round.

Gregorio del Pilar on Stamps

Already a general at age 25, Gregorio del Pilar was known as the "boy general" in the revolutionary army directly under the command of Gen. Antonio Luna. He cut a dashing figure with his silver spurs and khaki suit with gold shoulder straps. He led Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's rear guard as Aguinaldo retreated towards the mountain province. Del Pilar fought a delaying battle against the approaching American Army and died defending the Tirad Pass in La Union.

Born on November 14, 1875 to Fernando H. del Pilar and Felipa Sempio of Bulacan, Bulacan, del Pilar was the nephew of propagandist Marcelo H. del Pilar and Toribio H. del Pilar, who was exiled to Guam for his involvement in the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.

"Goryo", as he was casually known, studied at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in 1896, at the age of 20. When the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule broke out in August under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, del Pilar joined the insurgency. He distinguished himself as a field commander while fighting Spanish garrisons in Bulacan.

He later joined General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had gained control of the movement, in Hong Kong after the truce at Biak-na-Bato. During the Spanish American War, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines and established the government of the First Philippine Republic. He appointed del Pilar section leader of the revolutionary forces in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. On June 1, del Pilar landed in Bulacan with rifles purchased in Hong Kong, quickly laying siege on the Spanish forces in the province. When the Spaniards surrendered to del Pilar, he brought his men to Caloocan, Manila to support the other troops battling the Spaniards there.

When the Philippine-American War broke-out on February 1899, del Pilar led his troops to a short victory over Major Franklin Bell in the first phase of the Battle of Quingua on April 23, 1899, in which his forces repelled a cavalry charge and killed the highly respected Colonel John M. Stotsenburg, after whom Clark Air Base was originally named (Fort Stotsenburg).

On December 2, 1899, del Pilar led 60 Filipino soldiers of Aguinaldo's rear guard in the Battle of Tirad Pass against the "Texas Regiment", the 33rd Infantry Regiment of the United States led by Peyton C. March. A delaying action to cover Aguinaldo's retreat, the five-hour standoff resulted in Del Pilar's death due to a shot to the neck (at the height or end of the fighting, depending on eyewitness accounts). Del Pilar's body was later despoiled and looted by the victorious American soldiers.

Del Pilar's body lay unburied for days, exposed to the elements. While retracing the trail, an American officer, Lt. Dennis P. Quinlan, gave the body a traditional U.S. military burial. Upon del Pilar's tombstone, Quinlan inscribed, "An Officer and a Gentleman".

In 1930, del Pilar's body was exhumed and was identified by the gold tooth and braces he had installed while in exile in Hong Kong.

The stamp was issued on September 18, 1981.

The Philippine National Anthem

On June 5, 1898, a week before Philippine independence would be declared, Julian Felipe, a local pianist from Kawit, Cavite, arrived at the home of Maximo Inocencio, one of Cavite's thirteen martyrs during the revolution. Upon his arrival, the leader of the revolution, General Emilio Aguinaldo, asked Felipe to play a march written by a Filipino in Hong Kong. However, Aguinaldo was not satisfied with this march. Recognizing Felipe's skills, he asked him to compose a more soul-rousing tune that would install courage and patriotism in the hearts of every Filipino.

On June 11, the day before the declaration of independence, Felipe arrived again and played his tune to the revolutionary leaders. The leaders unanimously approved it as the national hymn. Felipe called his work the "Marcha Filipina Magdalo."

On June 12, Felipe's tune was played during the hoisting of the Philippine flag at the historic window at the Aguinaldo mansion. The march was renamed the "Marcha Nacional Filipina," and immediately became the National Anthem. However, the anthem still lacked words. The next year, a young soldier named José Palma penned the poem "Filipinas" in Spanish, to match the music of the anthem. It was adopted as the official lyrics.

The Philippines were now under American rule, and as such, a suitable English translation was to be made of the anthem. The first translation was made by Paz Marquez Benitez of the University of the Philippines. However, the most popular version was written by Mary A. Lane and Senator Camillo Osias, known as the "Philippine Hymn." On December 5, 1938, the Philippine Congress passed Commonwealth Act 382, which made the anthem's English words official.

A Tagalog (the Filipino language) version of the words started appearing in the 1940's. In 1948, the Department of Education approved "O Sintang Lupa" as the national anthem's Filipino words. In 1954, Education Secretary Gregorio Hernandez, Jr., created a committee to revise the words. The new version, entitled "Lupang Hinirang," was adopted (a minor revision was made in 1962), and was confirmed in 1998 under a new national symbols law. The words were based on a translation from Spanish to Filipino by Felipe Padilla de Leon.

The new national symbols law, approved in 1998, confirmed the status of the Filipino version of the anthem, but not the English or Spanish version. Currently, the English and Spanish versions are not in use, as the law states that only the Filipino version shall be played, however, the official English and Spanish lyrics remain the works by Lane/Osias and Palma, repsectively, although they are not part of the official anthem.

The Canadian National Anthem

"O Canada" was written in 1880 and was sung for the first time later that year at a banquet in the Pavillion des Patineurs in Quebec City. The French words have remained the same to this day. The English version, however, has a more interesting history. When Routhier's lyrics were first published in Toronto, a doctor named Thomas Bedford Richardson translated the words into English and to fit the melody. Two years later, the first edition of the Canadian version of Collier's Weekly held a competition to write English lyrics to the song. Mercy E. Powell McCulloch won the competition with her entry. The words were rewritten again and again, but one version gained the most popularity. It was written by Montreal lawyer Robert Stanley Weir, and only slightly differs from the English version used since "O Canada" was officially declared the national anthem in 1980, one century after it was composed.

Before the official adoption of "O Canada" in 1980, the official national anthem of Canada was "God Save the Queen", yet "O Canada" was used on an unofficial basis, as well as the patriotic song "The Maple Leaf Forever"

Canada, being a former British colony (and "O Canada" being composed not that long after independence was granted), has its anthem in the "Western hymn" style of anthem.

For the past few decades, there has been an on-again/off-again movement to once more slightly alter the English lyrics of the national anthem, from "In all thy sons command" to "In all thy hearts command", to be more inclusive.

It is interesting to note that, while having both English and French lyrics (Canada is an officially bilingual country), and both languages' version of the anthem share the same melody, each official language has different words for the anthem.

Christmas CD's I Listened this Christmas 2009

David Lanz, The Christmas Album- It is little wonder that Lanz's two previous seasonal recording are among the top sellers in the Narada library. His live piano interpretation of familiar songs such as "Silent Night" and "What Child Is This?" as well as not-so-familiar instruments such as "Dreamer's Waltz" are more emotional than all the words used to describe them. Lush won't do it - brilliant would be better. Even Scrooge would have caved in to sentiment after hearing this.

New Age - Although new age music in its acoustical incarnation, is sometimes derided as "jazz without benefit of improvisation," that jibe can work to the listener's advantage on Christmas albums. For example when David Lanz expands on seasonal favorites on his holiday best-of, The Christmas Album (Narada), his modestly virtuosic ornamentation reinforces rater than obscures the themes, making his renditions of "Silent Night" and "What Child Is This?" quietly compelling.

David Lanz, Christmas Eve-"Winter is the time when Mother Earth takes a breath inward, and I believe it very natural for us to pause and do the same -- to allow ourselves time for introspection amidst all the celebration and activity of the holidays. The music on Christmas Eve was created during such a time in my own life.

Though the arrangements for some of these carols and the idea for the album began in the winter of 1990, most of the work and all of the recording offered at home during an "extended Christmas respite" that followed a very rigorous touring schedule during most of 1993.

"As the work progressed and each carol developed from fragments and wisps into finished works, I imagined that an Angel, a Guardian Angel of sorts, existed for each of the songs. These Angels seemed to guide my hand and heart throughout the process. They also resulted in the seven "Angel improvisations" threaded between the carols. Musical inward breaths.

If the music encourages your own quiet introspections, that was my hope and intention. This mood is surely the very essence of the spirit of the holiday. But if you do take that inward breath, don't be surprised if you feel a light brush of Angel wings and hear the softest of whispers..."

Peace, Jim Brickman’s second collection of holiday-themed music, is largely a mirror image of his first (The Gift, released in 1997). Both feature a mix of solo piano works, augmented piano selections (involving oboe, strings, synthesizers, a pop-jazz ensemble, or some combination thereof) and glossy, radio-ready pop vocal productions. To some ears, the polished sheen of the vocal tracks (four are included) may infringe on the more contemplative mood of Brickman’s instrumental tracks, the way a city’s after-dark glow can seep into your view of a deep night sky’s canopy of stars. Still, as with The Gift, Peace is an attractive mood-setter for the season. Brickman’s best arrangements will resonate with a listener’s introspective sensibilities. "Jingle Bells," "Away in a Manger," and "We Three Kings," for instance, all receive slow-building, reflective treatments that might prod you into pondering deeper meanings. A pair of nonholiday originals, "Early Snowfall" and "Blessings," achieve the same heart-nudging effect. As for the vocals, The Blind Boys of Alabama reinforce the finger-snapping, muted-trumpet, ‘40s-swing vibe of "Let It Snow;" Kristy Starling takes a sweetly romantic turn on "Sending You a Little Christmas;" and country’s Collin Raye (also featured on The Gift) earnestly conveys the clear-eyed optimism of the title track.

Liverpool: Re-imagining the Beatles- David Lanz Newest Album

I'm a big David Lanz fan, and have 29 of his 31 CD albums. The newest one, Liverpool: Re-imagining the Beatles is already finished and will be available early next year. This is highly anticipated album for me, cuz I'm also an avid Beatles CD collector (I have the complete Beatles collection).

Liverpool...the birthplace of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and where we begin our musical journey.

The sounds of the Mersey harbor can be heard as it introduces the first strains of the opening song. This title track was composed as a tribute, an emotional overture of sorts, imbued with subtle musical phrasing from The Fab Four.

From here, we traverse through a decade of Lennon and McCartney songs, arranged and re-imagined through the lens of my own musical voice, which admittedly, has been joyfully shaped and informed by this great and enduring legacy of musical history…a time so explosive and fruitful we may never see anything like it again.

I spent nearly half a year listening, selecting and arranging the material to be recorded on Liverpool. The recording sessions began in May of 2009 and carried on through the fall.

Once the lion’s share of the recording was complete, and on the insistence of my friend and collaborator Gary Stroutsos, we, along with photographer and personal assistant, Carole May, took off on a pilgrimage to Liverpool England, to see where the music of the Beatles all began.

Once there, we were given an extraordinary tour by England’s National Trust. It started with an intimate inside look at John Lennon’s boyhood home where he lived from the age of five until he was twenty-three.

I was completely taken off guard at the impact the spirit of place had on me. This was especially true when I climbed the stairs and stood by myself in the small bedroom that had been John’s, the room where he had done much of his early imaginative dreaming. Chills ran through me and ghosts from the past were palpable.

It was here in this house named Mendips that 14-year-old Paul McCartney and 17-year-old John Lennon began their friendship and started a song writing partnership that would change the world.

They also soon began meeting and writing songs in Paul McCartney’s more modest home, less than a mile away from Mendips, at 20 Forthlin Road.

Our tour continued through the McCartney home. One of the outstanding features was the black and white original photographs taken by Paul’s younger brother, Michael . . . photos capturing family, friends, and everyday household events. Most notable was a photograph of the two teenage musicians, sitting in Paul’s small living room, holding guitars, notebook opened to the hand written lyrics of an early Lennon and McCartney classic, “I Saw Her Standing There.”

I am so grateful for the chance to have connected in such an intimate way and to have come full circle with two of my greatest musical role models.

I will never forget the time spent in Liverpool: the drive down Penny Lane, standing by the gate at Strawberry Fields . . . all giving new meaning and greater dimension to the music of the Beatles.

“There are places I remember . . . All my life”

Visual Fusion- A Group Exhibit

Everyone is cordially invited to view the group exhibit- Visual Fusion- by artists, Seb Chua, Fr. Jason Dy, Sio Montera, Celso Pepito, Lito Pepito, Ritchie Quijano and Jobril Villaver. The opening will be on December 5, at 6pm SM art Center, Cebu City. Exhibit runs until December 14, 2009.

Seven artists with different modes of expressions pursuing art on different styles and understanding life in their field of experiences. The opportunity to be united in one show is to create a sense of unity even in diverse mode of artistry. It also hopes to showcase the gradual transformation of Cebu's art from its conservatvie vein into understanding the need evolve, experiment and create a contemporary artistic revolution. Above all it aims at giving the art loving public the chance to participate in molding a society with utmost artistic understanding.

As the exhibiting artists are pursuing its own individual journey, the possibility of being together in Visual Fusion Exhibit will seek to demonstrate the importance of unity beyond diversity. It hopes to stir the level of artistic understanding and patronage that will ensure the continuing search of excellence in the filed of visual arts, Lastly, it also hopes to impart on the importance of adopting ones artistic evolution.

Magsaysay: Healing with Music and Medicine

He was playing Mozart on the piano, his fingers caressing the keys like a lover. Piano was his first love, his first teacher was Anita Cabahug Trasmonte who rapped his wrists and knuckles to keep them in line. Be a doctor, his father, Engr. Vic Avanzado, told him, don’t be a musician. And because he was a good son, he obeyed his father.

Now Vicente Avanzado Jr. is a full-fledged doctor of medicine, in fact a fellow and a diplomate in Gastroenterology.

Goodlooking with a smiling personality and yes, he still plays the piano.

Beautifully. Music "relaxes and inspires" him and he believes "music and medicine are alike, both need continuous study and both can heal." To celebrate Ting’s successful entry into the rarefied medical clique of fellows (he completed his fellowship at U.E. Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center) and of diplomates (passed both oral and written exams given by the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology and the Philippine Society of Digestive Endoscopy), Nestor and Gingging Morelos called together kissing cousins and special friends to share their joy. Lechonada, roast calf, the works.

Congratulating Nestor, he asked, why me? Why not Nestor indeed? He is a genial host, has the salesman’s glib camaraderie, a marvelous sense of humor and he simply dotes on Ting, his son-in-law. Gingging, sparkling and bubbly like champagne, likewise adores Inting but most of all she loves Grace, warm and loving, the apple of their eyes upon whom the sun rises and sets who is so full of grace, blessed with the good sense and sensibility to choose the ideal man for her husband.

Kissing cousins are the Garcia clan, Gingging and Nestor having practically become an extended family. Nothing but the impressive baronial residence of former DOTC Secretary Sonny and Armi Garcia, would serve as the perfect setting for the party. Up in Windy Hills, the massive manse of plate glass and concrete overlooked a grand view of city lights, a dazzling scatter of multi-colored gems strewn below. Ninette Garcia, never looking as lovely, was showing off a new fashion find.

Modeling for Lotlot and Sandy Neri’s (Nelia’s daughters-in-law) latest discovery, blouses with a magical twist. Made from the banana fiber, similar to pinokpok but wrinkle-free and dyed in such attractive colors, the blouses are convertible as Ninette prancing prettily twisted them into kimonos, halter tops, off the shoulder shawls, strapless bustiers. Ninette’s own daughter-in-law Christine, who turns out bridal tiaras that are sold out in the States, passed on the info that TV celebrity Martha Stewart, wore such a blouse and gave it an enthusiastic blurb on her TV show.

Special friends of Ting and Grace who turned out for the celebration are colleagues Dr. Renald and Araceli Ramiro, Dr. Evan and Nenette Mendoza, Dr. Manjo and Dr. Leah Villamor, Dr. Ron Eullaran. Ginging’s own special friends with whom she shares common interests from analyzing gospel truths in the Bible, to the dreadful prospect of osteoporosis, alzheimers, arthritis in the foreseeable future were in happy attendance: Tita Zosa, Sony Velez, Gloria Bacay, Remy Barrera, Laling Javier, Violy Nacar, Vilma Hermosisima, among them and at finger-waving distance, Anita San Jose looking simply gorgeous in turquoise, she rated second looks. ‘Kissingest’ cousin of all and my own special friend was Inday Vivera Muñasque.

Been ages since I last saw Inday and except for a few smile lines around the eyes and mouth, she looks still looks like the absolute living doll she was when she was my bridesmaid over 50 years ago. Keeping track of her career and family life through the years proved to be as difficult keeping pace with her breathless mile-a-minute narration. She had been Director of the National Library, a something or other with Ayala Museum, the consultant of the military library and now a commissioner of the National Commission of Arts and Culture. An early morning call from Sonny Osmeña for assistance in research of the First Philippine Assembly, another call from Annie Aboitiz, with whom Inday shared an apartment in New York. Glossing over my busybody query about Stimson (yes, they’re great friends again) and how it feels to be an instant multi-millionaire (she and siblings inherited from her parents), she enthused instead about brother Dodong now retired from his medical practice in Park Avenue but still keeps his plush digs in New York, travels everywhere, haunts book stores, art galleries, gourmet restaurants, and music concerts. Sister Nena, now a widowed Lola in the West Coast, keeps up with her daughter Mary who served in the Peace Corps in South America, gone skin diving in coral reefs all over, paddled a banca all the way down to the simmering crater of Taal Volcano. An intrepid spirit after my own heart. Couldn’t gloss over my own nostalgia for Ramona’s hojaldres like no other and will never be like any other hojaldre ever. Although Inday and Dodong both have their mother’s secret recipe for the hojaldres they no longer have the time nor the inclination to resurrect the old glory of Ramona’s hojaldres. A pity…

By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
Reprinted from Sunstar Cebu August 31, 2006 issue

Springs Toledos's "Deconstructing Manny"

“He finds gaps,” said Emanuel Steward after Manny Pacquiao stopped Miguel Cotto in the twelfth round. Those three words mirror the words of a far older, far more legendary war tactician: Sun Tzu. “Strike at their gaps,” The Art of War asserted two thousand years ago, “attack when they are lax, don’t let the enemy figure out how to prepare.” The second knockdown of Cotto illustrated this theory. Cotto, a conventional boxer-puncher, was hit in the fourth round by an uppercut from the left side that went inside and underneath his guard. Pacquiao found a gap, capitalized on the momentary carelessness of an onrushing opponent, and spent the rest of the fight exploding every potential solution Cotto thought he had.

“When you are going to attack nearby make it look as if you are going to go a long way,” Sun Tzu said, “when you are going to attack far away, make it look as if you are going just a short distance.” Pacquiao seems to be moving out when he’s coming in and coming in when he’s moving out. He exploits expectations with illusions. He “draws them in” and then “takes them by confusion.” Trainer Freddie Roach, himself a former professional boxer, agrees that Pacquiao is “very hard to read.” Pacquiao continues punching when his opponent expects a pause, his angles are bizarre, and he is often not where he is expected to be after a combination. Due to such unorthodoxies, this southpaw is a master of destroying the timing and rhythm of a conventional fighter. He is similar to Joe Calzaghe in that regard. Mikkel Kessler said that Calzaghe “ruins your boxing.” Indeed, Pacquiao does worse than that.

While a disruptive boxer like Calzaghe spills ink all over your blueprint and laughs about it, Pacquiao ruins your blueprint, but then adds injury to insult by crashing the drafting table over your head.

Pacquiao has athletic gifts that translate well in the ring: disruptive rhythm, timing, and speed, all financed by shocking power that belies his featherweight frame. As if this weren’t enough, his whiskers safely absorbed the shock of Cotto’s left hooks. He was never hurt, which raises eyebrows. Manny, we must remember, was exchanging punches in a division forty pounds north of the one he began in. And he reveled in it, he invited it, even snarling at times and standing disdainfully in the final stanzas to challenge the manhood of the retreating Puerto Rican. Roberto Duran, 58, watched from the crowd. His coal-black eyes remembering the night he dethroned another welterweight who thought he could outgun a smaller man. Duran watched Pacquiao’s black hair flying with the force of his blows, his beard paying unintentional tribute. A smile, once sinister, betrayed his lips.

Despite the glory heaped on him by a celebrity-starved public and an island nation eager for eminence, Pacquiao is not the flawless fighter that Duran was when he handed Sugar Ray Leonard his first defeat. Pacquiao’s humanity can be sensed if not seen in his nervousness as battle commences. It takes him a round or two to find his rhythm and gauge his distance and timing. Before that happens he is prone to reach in, get off balance in range, and will often leave windows open for counters. After that happens, his opponent, any opponent, is in peril.

He can be controlled, particularly by welterweights, but it will take a trainer and a fighter who are willing to give up conventional strategies and think out of the box. Convention is broken down by revolution, and Manny Pacquiao fights like a revolution.

Alas, even the trainer who recognizes the need for a counter-revolutionary strategy is faced with another problem –the trainer in the other corner:

Freddie Roach. The formidable Freddie Roach.

Roach has Parkinson’s disease, which has burdened him with tremors, slurring, and odd pauses during conversations. Its symptoms can be as disconcerting to conventional conversationalists as Manny Pacquiao’s style is to conventional fighters; but his disability also gives him an aura of alien brilliance like Stephen Hawking.

It has had no effect on his knack for strategy.

Roach did well not to tamper with Pacquiao’s unorthodoxy. He streamlined it and added balance, deliberate feints, angles, defense, and a two-fisted attack. Like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao has a foundation in fundamentals. Unlike Mayweather, Pacquiao’s lessons occurred later in his career, while Floyd’s were drilled into him as a small child. Also unlike Mayweather who claims to disdain strategy, Manny enters the ring with a master plan or three. Sun Tzu emphasized this: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war.” Roach spends hours and days and weeks and months in study. He deconstructs his opponent and finds patterns –“habits” as he calls them, to exploit. Then he teaches Manny to “see it as [he] sees it.”

At times, the eyes of Freddie Roach seem to focus on a higher plane inaccessible to anyone else. Perhaps he communes with the ghost of Eddie Futch. Futch was his mentor, and was among the greatest trainers of the 20th century. Futch sparred with Joe Louis and learned his trade in the company of master boxers like Holman Williams. He was the strategist behind the first defeat of Muhammad Ali by Joe Frazier, the second defeat of Ali by Ken Norton, Riddick Bowe’s defeat of the undefeated Evander Holyfield, and Montell Griffin’s disqualification win over the undefeated Roy Jones. Freddie Roach learned at his knee. Manny Pacquiao learned at Freddie’s.

The most popular boxer in the world today was catapulted into stardom after he defeated Oscar De La Hoya and then Ricky Hatton. Serious boxing fans know the truth. De La Hoya and Hatton were simply two candles on a cake already baked between 2003 and 2008 by great Mexicans from the lower weight divisions: Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez. These are the men who tried him in fire much like Murderers' Row tried Archie Moore in the 1940s and Philadelphia tried Marvelous Marvin Hagler in the 1970s. Pacquiao has evolved bloodily into a complete fighter and then some. He is an experienced, natural athlete with power that exponentially rises with weight. He has a style that is as confusing as a hall of mirrors and as difficult to solve as Chinese math. He is a willing student with an expanding set of skills. Behind him stands a trainer with a direct link to Eddie Futch who was a product of boxing’s golden decade and rubbed shoulders with many gods of war. Manny’s pugilistic pedigree summons the gold of yesterday to overcome the iron of today.

Boxing is a character sport first and a skills sport second. Manny’s character was formed in a background that is ideal for a fighter –a background set in the kind of third world poverty that Americans have not known for seventy years, but a background known to spawn fighters in back alleys amid broken bottles and broken dreams. Manny ran away from home at fourteen to spare his mother one more mouth to feed. He exchanged real poverty for worse poverty –in an act of sacrifice. This fighter has not only suffered, he also understood and embraced self-denial at early adolescence.

The toughest sport in the world is easy for someone like him. Pacquiao has something to fight for as only a poor man can, for self, for family, for country. He has the discipline to do it, and he has the perspective to transcend it. The Sweet Science is meaningful to him; his participation in it is an expression of love and loyalty, of self-actualization. So he approaches battle with joy.

And that isn’t all.

Manny believes that the hand of God himself is on his shoulder. Cynical secularism may scoff at such ancient notions, but irreverence is irrelevant here. Manny believes this –utterly. And it gives him an edge in that he is completely self-possessed and palpably unconcerned with the risks of the ring. He goes not only willingly, but happily. Throughout history, like-minded people have strode confidently into lion’s dens, climbed into kamikaze cockpits, blown themselves up at market places, sang while burning at a stake, and volunteered to die first at Nazi death camps to spare strangers. Pacquiao’s religiosity is that kind of powerful. It is a major reason why he smiles and waves on his way to battle dragons.

Emanuel Steward’s assertion that the thirty-year-old welterweight champion, now 50-3-2, belongs “up there” with Ali and Robinson was half-wrong. When Robinson was thirty, he was defeated once in 131 bouts and went on to finish his career with the scalps of eighteen world champions hanging from his belt. Manny isn’t near that. He is a typhoon blowing over structures less sturdy than those built in the golden era of boxing. But remember, he isn’t finished yet.

Like the legends before him, Manny Pacquiao sees himself as a man of destiny… a patriot fighting for a flag, a Christian laughing at lions… Such men are rarely taken down by anything except time and hubris. They are larger than their foes even when they are not.

Such men are larger than themselves. 
 
 


My L.V. Beethoven Stamps from Arabia

These are the LV Beethoven stamps from Arabia numbering 58. I have all the stamps except Fujeira 1972 Michel block 132, Fujeira 1971 MK 681 -Planche and Ras Al Khaima 1971 Michel BF 114.