Need to correct history

Wenceslao Gonzales General Vicente Alvarez Datu Uta Datu Ali

Amai Pakpak

A Big Job for PHC

Since this is a big job for the Philippine Historical Committee to correct the great error listing only the national heroes from Luzon in history books, I urge the PHC to push for the enactment of House Bill 1461, declaring the listed Mindanao heroes mentioned in the Philippine history books for the benefit of future generations to learn about national heroes from other parts of the archipelago.

And, my gulay, for the PHC to undertake studies on how these national heroes sacrificed themselves for the sake of the country.

I am married to the former Trinidad “Nining” Kapunan Capistrano whose grandfather was General Nicolas Capistrano of Cagayan de Oro.

I was able to get hold of a rather lengthy book written by a Jesuit, Fr. Francisco R. Demetrio, on the historical background of Mindanao heroes where the grandfather of my wife, General Nicolas Capistrano, was mentioned, and how he defended CDO from the Spanish and American colonizers, Santa Banana!

I take pride in having married a granddaughter of a Minanaoan hero.

To validate the heroism of my wife’s grandfather, there’s a street in CDO named General Nicolas Capistrano .

I believe Congressman Rodriguez should push through with his bill declaring the 12 Mindanaoans mentioned as national heroes to authenticate history, my gulay.

It’s time future generations also believed that aside from the national heroes from Luzon, there were also national heroes from Mindanao, some of whom were also Muslims, like Datu Uta, Datu Ali

I believe President Marcos Jr. should push for the PHC to undertake a research not only on heroes of the Visayas and Mindanao, but to detail what happened to those forgotten regions of the Philippines and Amai Pakpak.

Nicolas Capistrano

My readings from the book “The Local Historical Sources of Northern Mindanao” by Fr. Francisco R. Demetrio, S.J. about its Mindanao heroes show that their contributions against Spanish and American colonizers were many and numerous. These heroes, like General Capistrano, repelled the American colonizers from taking over CDO.

Likewise, history told us that were it not for the heroism of the heroes from Mindanao, the Spanish and American colonizers would have also totally colonized Mindanao.

There were records showing the Muslims in Mindanao were never colonized.

It’s for these reasons that Mindanao was not totally colonized by foreign colonizers and the Muslims never really considered themselves part of the Philippines. That’s the reason there are efforts by the constructed in full, about 800,000 passengers will be able to use the trains daily. Travel, he stressed, will be safe, convenient and comfortable.

The signing ceremonies for the project took place last April. President Marcos and Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista were present at the historic event.

Right after Macapagal was sworn in as PNR chairman by Secretary Bautista, Macapagal acknowledged that President Marcos will be known as the “Father of the Philippine railway system,” citing the President’s interest in modernizing and extending the railway systems in the Philippines.

Now that Macapagal is at the helm of the PNR, and with the support of President Marcos a matter of fact, Filipinos can look forward to a better railway system in the country

Macapagal stressed a modern and extensive railway system in the country will ease the transportation problem of many Filipinos, encourage business and industry in the provinces, reduce overhead expenses and stabilize the prices of prime commodities, and generate hundreds of thousands of jobs that will arise from the development.

Macapagal added that he is very grateful to President Marcos for the trust he reposed on him, and for the opportunity to be a part of the nation’s economic development and the modernization of the Philippine railway system.

“I am very grateful for this chance to be of service in a vital industry of the nation. It is my fervent wish to live up to the trust reposed in me by President Marcos, and to be of service to the people,” Macapagal added.

Muslims to separate from the republic.

It would do well for well-known legislators from Mindanao and the Visayas, particularly Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also Education secretary, to push for the Philippine Historical Commission to undertake a research to have the 12 heroes from these regions for the sake of history.

In the Senate, there are Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa , and of course Senate President Migz Zuburi.

I am certain that there are more heroes from the Visayas and Mindanao.

I don’t know much about the history of Mindanao except some bits and pieces I have read and told to me by friends from Mindanao, Santa Banana.

It’s a fact the Muslims were never colonized.

But, somehow, the Spanish colonizers were able to colonize the area of Zamboanga City where they built a fortress called Fort Pilar to ward off the Muslim pirates who frequently harassed the colonizers.

When the Americans came, they also occupied Zamboanga City.

The Americans tried to take over the Muslim areas but failed because the Muslims were fierce.

Recall that General Pershing had to have the 45 caliber automatic pistol invented because the “juramentados” could not be stopped by the ordinary handgun.

I also knew the Spanish-sounding names of the Filipinos who came from Zamboanga were because of the dialect “Chavacano” which was derived from a corrupted Spanish with a mixture of local Visaya.

It is for this reason the basic dialect in Cavite was a mixture of Tagalog and Spanish verbs because the Spanish colonizers preferred to stay in Cavite which was also a fort at that time.

The people who became billionaires in Mindanao were mostly immigrants from the Visayas and Luzon.

For now, we can only bolster the country’s antisubmarine capabilities.

It is true, as pointed out by the President, that getting our own submarine and operating it requires huge resources running into billions of pesos not only for the acquisition of the vessel itself, but also the training of officers and personnel.

But we have begun to get the ball rolling, so to speak, with preliminary discussions with several countries, such as France, and exploring possibilities for the manufacture of submarines for the Philippines.

In fact, French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz has confirmed that Paris is in an “ongoing discussion” with the Marcos administration since last year regarding the purchase of our first submarine.

Our Navy has also started sending personnel to France for training before procuring the submarines.

The Philippines is an archipelago with one of the world’s longest coastlines.

At the same time, we have territorial disputes with some of our neighbors.

We should beef up our naval defenses if we want to adequately protect our shores in the years ahead.

Macapagal’s academic credentials and business experience are very impressive.

After graduating from the University of the Philippines in the 1990s, Macapagal obtained gainful employment in a number of local industries.

Soon after that, he went to the United States for specialized work in finance and related pursuits. Macapagal found his comfort zone in the San Francisco Bay Area in California where he worked as division chief of Stewart Title Company, an American title insurance firm that has been around since 1893. This company is one of the biggest underwriters in the world. Despite the opportunities available to him as a corporate officer in America, Macapagal decided to return to the Philippines and make a living in his homeland. Eventually, he became a director of the Clark Development Corporation in Pampanga; the point man of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales; and a member of the governing board of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), which was established by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1973 to stabilize the supply of oil and petroleum in the country.

After his stint in the PNOC, Macapagal was offered the PNR post.

Macapagal is a native of Olongapo City. His late father, Atty. Teddy Macapagal, was the most well-known litigation lawyer of the city, and served as city mayor in 1986. He inherited his keen interest in public service work from his dad.

Hopefully, the Pampanga-Metropolitan Manila-Laguna railway project will be just the first of many more worthwhile railway projects Macapagal will be attending to during his watch as PNR Chairman.

Now that Macapagal is at the helm of the PNR, and with the support of President Marcos a matter of fact, Filipinos can look forward to a better railway system in the country.