If you look at Ayala Ave. – Makati Ave. and Gil Puyat Ave. (formerly Buendia Ave.) these three roads form a triangle similar to an airfield.
In fact, the Makati financial district was built around the old Nielson Airfield of WWII. (See Photos)
It was Joseph McMicking’s idea to develop Makati as the new financial center of the Philippines. Yet not a tiny street, park or even a building was named after Joseph McMicking and Roy Hall.
Neither was there anything named after Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
Somehow those from Panay Island, the ancestral land of Japanese collaborator-turned Philippine President Manuel A. Roxas and his relatives Ayala, Araneta, Zobel, Soriano end up owning practically everything in the Philippines.
The Old Nielsen Field Tower is now a library. I doubt the library will contain books detailing how McMicking and Hall families were “randomly” found by the Japanese and killed in Jan. 1945 as Gen. MacArthur was nearing Manila. Manuel A. Roxas, Ayala-Zobel’s cousin was working for the Japanese at that time.
Excerpt: “My question was why were those who collaborated with the Japanese treated differently from those who fought with Nazi Germany like the Ukrainians? Did the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have something to do with this leniency and over accommodation of oligarch-traitors?
Here is a 1943 photo of Brig. Gen. Manuel A. Roxas in US Army uniform sitting beside Col. Nobuhiko Jimbo of the Japanese Imperial Army. Later Manuel A. Roxas and other oligarch-traitors would manipulate the April 1946 referendum and circumvent the people’s decision to go back to a Philippine Commonwealth. Nothing short of an independent and sovereign Philippines would save them from going back to prison.
“The crime against our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.” – George Bernard Shaw in his play “The Devil’s Disciple” Act II (1901) If there is such thing as hate crime, there should be the crime of indifference. – Not everything is bad in the Philippines. Here’s a good one. An oligarch and ethnic Spaniard won a contract in France. The Alexander Graham Bell of the Philippines, Augusto Zobel de Ayala and the A. G. Bell of France, Michel Combes signed a deal last 17 Sept. 2014. The photo of the skin and bones starving boy was taken on 12 Oct. 2014. PHOTO: French President Francois Hollande (2nd row, R with a worried look) and Philippine President Benigno Aquino (2nd row,L), attend the signature ceremony of agreements between Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes (R) and Globe Telecom Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala at the Elysee Palace in Paris September 17, 2014. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (FRANCE – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS TELECOMS)
On the 10th anniversary of 9/11 WAIS editor John Eipper asked WAISers: “Where were you on Tuesday, September 11, 2001?”
Photos below are the WAIS posts of Mike Delong Deputy Commander of Central Command on 9/11/01 and David W. Pike President of the American University in Paris at that time.
Mike Delong’s post was not only about 9/11 but 9/12 and 9/13 as well. Sadly on July 28, 2018 Mike Delong died after suffering a heart attack. He was 73. RIP. SF.
On this 17th year anniversary of 9/11, I wish to add to my WAIS post the following:
In the afternoon of 9/11, I went to pick-up my son Gabe and Drake from school. Gabe asked me: “Dad, are we at war?”
I said: “Yes, son. But it’s going to be a very different kind of war.”
I wanted to tell Gabe: “There will be a lot of fighting and sometimes we will be fighting the enemy.” But at that time Gabe was 10 and Drake was 8 at that time. Although I was sure this is what’s going to happen, I didn’t want to confuse the kids. I was right.
WAIS links:
Memories of 9/11 (Michael Delong, Qatar, 09/11/11 5:12 am)
Excerpts from Celestino’s speech: “Many have passed away waiting for 75 years for this time to come. I am Celestino Almeda, a 100-year-old Filipino WWII veteran, I have waited along with my fellow Filipino and American soldiers for this moment to come.
After the war, thousands of us fell underappreciated and unrecognized for fighting for our country. Thank you all and God Bless America.”
Filipino WWII Vets Awarded Congressional Medal (3:18)
Celestino Almeda, a 100-year-old Filipino WWII veteran delivered an epic speech on Oct. 25, 2017. He’s saying what happens if you don’t lobby.
In the USA you don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate for. (Read: Lobby! Lobby! Lobby! This is the reality of American Democracy.)
This award ceremony delayed by 75 years got me wondering why the delay, and although the Congressional Gold Medal is highest honor the US Congress can bestow to a civilian, why not a military honor?
Then I remember a WAIS comment saying that Filipino WWII veterans’ military benefits were rescinded in 1946 (Rescission Act signed by Pres. Truman on February 18, 1946).
Instead of giving the Congressional Gold Medal, it would have been better if the Rescission Act of 1946 that denied military benefits to Filipino WWII veterans was revoked and the US nationality of Filipinos restored.
There was no such thing as a Filipino citizen before 1946. Filipinos were US nationals, not US citizens, just like the people of Guam and Puerto Rico.
If you look at a passport, the holder is identified by his/her nationality, not by his/her citizenship. It is an obscure but significant difference.
Of the 66 nations that fought for the US and Allied cause, only the Filipino veterans were denied military benefits and it was rescinded retroactively.
Whether as Native Americans or war veterans, those from the Philippines, the only US territory ever granted independence, are the most marginalized.
There was no referendum asking the Natives of the Philippines if we wanted to secede from the union with the US. After WWII, we were handed over the quislings & traitors who helped the Japanese Imperial Army during the occupation.
It was not according to our own free will that we were prematurely granted independence. We were forced to secede. Yet the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag says: “One nation under God, INDIVISIBLE with liberty and justice for all.” (Except for Native Americans of the Philippines?)
Yet, I don’t know of Filipinos using the national anthem to air out their grievances.
From: Thanksgiving Greetings; a Belated Honor for Filipino WWII Veterans (Bienvenido Macario, USA, 11/23/17 3:53 am)
Maria Elena G. Macario (1953-2010) Seventh Year Death Anniversary – Dec. 10, 2017
“Compared to Phyllis Gardner’s experience, my late wife’s ordeal was much worse. Despite her MS in Petroleum Engineering from Stanford; her accomplishments in the geothermal industry, Maria Elena G. Macario died penniless on Dec. 10, 2010, while the children and grandchildren of quisling-oligarchs are listed on Forbes Magazine among the 40 richest in the Philippines.
Yet these oligarchs never invented, developed or discovered anything even remotely associated to their unexplained wealth. How could this build-up of unexplained wealth by those whose parents and grandparents worked for the Japanese in WWII go on for over 72 years without Washington DC’s knowledge and tacit approval?”
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On Oct. 25, 2017, after 75 years, the US Congress finally recognized Filipino WWWII service and sacrifice and awarded them with the Congressional Gold Medal the highest honor, Congress could bestow upon a civilian. But were Filipino WWII veterans given a civilian and not a military medal? That’s for another discussion and post.
Dec. 10, 2017 is Elena’s 7th year death anniversary and to remember her I’m writing to John Eipper a comment on “Gender Issues – Gender Inequality” the topic of Phyllis Gardner’s post last Nov. 28, 2017.
See: Gender Inequality in…OB/Gyn (Phyllis Gardner, USA, 11/28/17 4:10 am)
Last September, I was going through my files and found three items:
One was a fax letter dated Mar. 4, 2004 Elena sent to a financing company explaining how after finishing her MS in Petroleum Engineering at Stanford, we both worked for the same geothermal firm, Magma Power, lost our jobs and later we had to file for bankruptcy.
A letter from CalEnergy to the Philippine Dept. of Foreign Affairs dated April 13, 1995, sent by Dennis Kapereit, Manager of Reservoir Engineering, requesting assistance to facilitate the replacement of Maria Elena Macario’s Philippine passport that was lost in a fire. (I attached Elena’s photo during the Magma Power days.
The other was a photo of Elena in the 1993 Energy Exposition in Manila, manning the booth of Magma Power Company, the geothermal firm we help secure a BOT contract (build-operate-transfer) with EDC-PNOC (Energy Development Corp.) geothermal division of PNOC, Phil. National Oil Company. PNOC was my late wife’s employer when she was in the Philippines.
It was the first contract Magma Power ever landed overseas. It was also PNOC first time to deal with a foreign corporation. And it was also the first time the World Bank ever financed a geothermal power plant project in the Philippines.
Securing the BOT contract in the Philippines was so good for Magma Power that it became a takeover target and by March 1995, CalEnergy headed by David Sokol took over Magma Power. CalEnergy later became MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
It was the first time PNOC-EDC ever dealt with a foreign corporation.
It was Magma Power Corporation’s first successful venture outside the U.S.
It was the World Bank’s first time to fund and be involved in a geothermal power plant and transmission project.
Maria Elena took care of the technical aspect of the project while I provided marketing recommendations, financial and cost calculations to ensure the success of the project.
Please bear in mind 1992, was the dawn of globalization. American companies were not familiar with international business even U.S. laws governing the conduct of overseas business. There there was the currency crises of the 1990’s. I saw to it these projects will be immune from the coming 1997 Asian currency crisis. In 1992 the Phil. peso – US$ exchange rate was P25:$1.
Much later after the July 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the Phil. peso depreciated by 100% and the rate was P50:$1. Build-Operate-Turn-Over (BOT) Projects take at least ten years from the start construction to the eventual turn over. Without investment safeguards built-in these contracts, Magma or CalEnergy’s investments would have been reduced in half after the currency crisis.
Elena and I pioneered in global business specifically the energy, construction and finance industries.
As a “reward” for our efforts working since Aug. 1992 to secure those contracts in the Philippines, in April 1995, I was laid off and Elena was transferred to Ridgecrest, CA.
While we were in Ridgecrest, Elena received a job offer to return to and work in the Philippines. The offer came from First Gas Power Corporation, a company owned by the oligarch family, the Lopezes, who despite their Spanish sounding name, are in fact ethnic Chinese.
As for me, ever since I came here in 1987, there has always been this very strong discouragement for me to stay here. Powerful people in the Philippines have always more than hinted that I should return and remain in the Philippines.
Having my college transcript of records sent from Lyceum where I earned my BSBA, directly to a school where I’m applying for graduate studies is a problem to this day.
It was out of this frustration that I first wrote on WAIS that “Except for the Philippines, in which known quislings & collaborators “declared” independence 1946”
See: re: Turkey & the EU; Mexico & the US (Bienvenido Macario, Philippines)
Elena G. Macario in the 1993 Energy Exposition in Manila, manning the booth of Magma Power Company. During the exhibition, US Ambassador John Negropointe visited Magma Power’s booth and even posed for a photo with Elena.
My alma mater, Lyceum of the Philippines, was founded by quisling Jose P. Laurel, the puppet president appointed by the Japanese occupation army in WWII. His grandchildren are still in control of their family business established during the Japanese occupation.
Below is the Cover Page and second page of Maria Elena’s Paper as required to earn her Masters in Petroleum Engineering at Stanford University
We already know that Filipino WWII veterans were denied military benefits retroactively to accommodate MacArthur’s fair-haired boy Manuel A. Roxas who was a Brig. General in the U.S. Army and was even wearing his uniform while collaborating with the Japanese as the closest adviser and colleague of quisling JP Laurel.
A review of Stanley Karnow’s book In Our Image – America’s Empire in the Philippines” (1989) by Publishers Weekly summed up and confirmed what I’ve been saying:
Whether as Native Americans or war veterans, those from the Philippines, the only US territory ever granted independence, are the most marginalized.
There was no referendum asking the Natives of the Philippines if we wanted to secede from the union with the US. After WW2 we were handed over the quislings & traitors who helped the Japanese Imperial Army during the brutal occupation of the Philippines.
Yet, I don’t know of Filipinos using the national anthem to air out their grievances.
“He (Karnow) shows that a succession of U.S. presidents and administrators coddled the archipelago’s 60 or so ruling families, perpetuating the feudal oligarchy that continues to this day, and widening the gap between rich and poor.”
And as usual, American journalists could never blame the U.S. Congress that passes the bills which the president, as chief executive, merely executes.
Karnow’s book that won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1990, is an excellent reference book on Philippine History and should be a required reading in the U.S. and the Philippines, especially past, present and future officials and employees of the State Department, US military, US AID, and the Peace Corps who are in anyway involved or will be involved directly or indirectly to the Philippines.
After reading this book, one would realize that the US government is guilty of aiding and abetting treason, corruption, oppression and tyranny in the Philippines to this day.
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Publishers Weekly’s review of Stanley Karnow’s book; “In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines” (1989) Publisher: Random House
Stanley Karnow won the Pulitzer Prize for this account of America’s imperial experience in the Philippines. In a swiftly paced, brilliantly vivid narrative, Karnow focuses on the relationship that has existed between the two nations since the United States acquired the country from Spain in 1898, examining how we have sought to remake the Philippines “in our image,” an experiment marked from the outset by blundering, ignorance, and mutual misunderstanding.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Though Karnow claims that U.S. imperialism in its former colony, the Philippines, has been “uniquely benign” compared to European colonialism, the evidence set forth in this colorful, briskly readable history undercuts that prognosis. He shows that a succession of U.S. presidents and administrators coddled the archipelago’s 60 or so ruling families, perpetuating the feudal oligarchy that continues to this day, and widening the gap between rich and poor.
Karnow, whose Vietnam: A History is a standard account of the American venture in Southeast Asia, draws intriguing parallels: the U.S.-Philippine war of 1898, much like the Vietnam experience, dehumanized U.S. troops, who looted and annihilated villages; ex-President Marcos, like South Vietnamese ruler Diem, presented Washington with the problem of how to deal with a client state that squandered its credibility. In Karnow’s assessment, the “new prosperity” under Corazon Aquino has not touched the Filipino countryside or slums. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book: In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines
