Jose Wright Diokno (February 26, 1922 - February 27, 1987) was a Filipino nationalist, human rights advocate, lawyer, senator and government minister. Born to Ramon Diokno, a former senator and associate justice of the Supreme Court, and Eleanor Wright, an American who became a Filipino citizen, Jose "Pepe" Diokno graduated from elementary school with distinction, and finished his secondary education at De La Salle College in Manila as Valedictorian in 1937. In 1940, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Commerce Degree summa cum laude from De La Salle. He topped the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Board Examination the same year with a rating of 81.18 percent. In 1944, without finishing his Bachelor of Laws Degree, he took and topped the bar examination, with a rating of 95.3 percent. After the 1986 People Power Revolution, which effectively ended Marcos rule and was pivotal to Corazon Aquino's election to the presidency, Diokno was appointed to the chairmanship of t...
The words to " Qassaman " (We Pledge) were written in 1956 in Serkaji-Barberousse Prison in Algiers , where the author Moufdi Zakaria was incarcerated by the French colonial forces. The poem was put into music, first by Mohamed Triki in 1956, then by the Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi . Originally containing five verses, the third verse containing anti-French lyrics was dropped when it became the official national anthem upon independence on July 5th 1962. Mohamed Fawzi , (born Mohammed Fawzi Habas Elhaw in 1918 in Tanta Egypt , died 1966) was an Egyptian composer and singer. Fawzi had a beautiful voice which was inherited from his father (a Quran reciter); he began singing at weddings and other events when he was twelve years old. Soon he learned to play the flute, and he went to Cairo looking for an opportunity to sing. Having studied Arabic music in Cairo, he started to work with Badiah Massabni, and then with Fatma Rush di, where he performed and sung the role of Anto...
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 ...
Antipolo Pilgrimage is a month-long celebration that brings devotees and pilgrims to venerate the " Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage " which is enshrined in Antipolo Church in Antipolo City . This is annually celebrated every month of May. It is during the month of May when Filipino devotees to the Blessed Virgin Mary from different parts of the country throng on the hills of Antipolo to make a pilgrimage at the shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buenviaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage). The folk song “ Tayo na sa Antipolo ” vividly captures the festive air of this season in this rural town some decades ago. 'Tayo na sa Antipolo' 'at doo'y maligo tayo' 'sa batis na kung tawagin' 'ay Hi-hi-hinulugang Taktak' 'at doo'y kumain' 'ng mangga' 'kasuy at balimbing' 'kaya't magmadali ka at' 'tayo ay sumama sa Antipolo.' The pilgrimage is a month-long celebration that sees ...
I've been road running for the past 3 years. A few days ago however, I ventured into a different running adventure- trail running. Earlier on, I always wanted to run in varied off-road terrain, but friends warned me that injuries are higher in these types of run . A colleague of mine, dislocated his knee and another had bruises in his shins and foot courtesy of the rocky terrain. My witty, humorous, fitness loving travelmate Dr. Clifford "Ipyok" Aranas almost collapsed due to anaphylaxis after being bitten by a bee. Some even got lost (due to absence of signs) and became severely dehydrated (due to lack of water stations). So, I told myself: "I'll have to prepare for this event"- the first ROX (Recreational Outdoor Xchange) Trail run in Liloan , Cebu sponsored by Salomon . After much reading from various books and frequent site visits to Runner's World , I came up with these strategies, which I call the ABCDE strategy, for a successf...
The Hymn to Liberty (Ýmnos is tīn Eleftherian) is a poem written by Dionýsios Solomós in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas and is the longest national anthem in the world, set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros . In 1865, the first two stanzas officially became the national anthem of Greece and later also that of the Republic of Cyprus . According to the Constitution of Cyprus, the Greek national anthem is used in the presence of the Greek Cypriot president (or other Greek Cypriot), and the Turkish national anthem is used in the presence of the Turkish Cypriot vice-president. Cyprus stopped using the Turkish national anthem, however, when Turkish Cypriots broke away from the Government in 1963. Hymn to Liberty was also the Greek Royal Anthem (since 1864). The hymn was set to music in 1865 by the Corfiot operatic composer Nikolaos Mantzaros, who composed two choral versions, a long one for the whole poem and a short one for the first two stanzas; the latter is the one adopted as the Nati...
Claro Mayo Recto , Jr. (February 8, 1890 – October 2, 1960), was a Filipino politician, jurist, poet and one of the foremost statesmen of his generation. He is remembered mainly for his nationalism, for "the impact of his patriotic convictions on modern political thought". He was born in Tiáong, Tayabas (now known as Quezon province) of educated, upper middle-class parents, namely Claro Recto [Sr.] of Rosario, Batangas, and Micaela Mayo of Lipa, Batangas. He studied Latin at the Instituto de Rizal in Lipa, Batangas from 1900 to 1901. Further schooling was at the Colegio del Sagrado Corazón of Don Sebastián Virrey. He moved to Manila to study at the Ateneo de Manila where he consistently obtained outstanding scholastic grades, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree maxima cum laude. He received a Masters of Laws degree from the University of Santo Tomás. Claro M. Recto, Jr. is considered the "finest mind of his generation". Through his speeches and writings...