OLONGAPO: A POTPOURRI OF CUISINE

Source:www.gdhs.org)
I got this old pic in the 80's at the site of George Dewey High School mentioning of Olongapo wasn't only a place of clubs, bars, discos, and sex workers but also fine dinings around the city itself.
This pic was featured in the GDHS newspaper a school intended for Americans who were living in the Base at that time.Of course, it was contributed by GDHS students news journalist.
Olongapo was then considered as the sin city because of its prostitutions and American G.I.Joes seeking for pleasure when they had their cruisers docked in the Subic, but thanks to this newspaper for saving Olongapo from the shameful mockering of prejudice and shallow minds.




MAGSAYSAY: MORE THAN JUST A STREET
Way back then, Magsaysay was the famous street in Olongapo because its the center of entertainment and the bridge that connects the main gate of Subic Naval Base and the main city Olongapo.If you are a nocturnal fellows and wants to have the best nightlife in the Philippines, Magsaysay was the little Las Vegas back then...clubs, discos for old and for young, bars you name it and Magsaysay had it.
My family were able to survive the pangs of poverty because most of my kins income were coming from the nightly pleasure(don't get me wrong of this term) of Magsaysay. Magsaysay Ave.as we called it now for it was the center and the source of Olongaponians bread and butter.It was fun & lively then comparing it today,the streets were filled beautiful workers and snowied with Americans.
I had a lot of sweet memories in Magsaysay where I used to hang out at my brother's work watching the latest videos while sipping coke.
Across Magsaysay is a long boulevard facing Subic Naval Base, which is a volunteers park now was among of my fave places in Olongapo.I just usually found myself staring at that Base filled with dreams and hopes that one day soon,I could live and be a part of the Americans.That's how so simple my happiness way back then,to be in Subic Naval Base which was already an America for me.Nostalgic as it may seems but my heart is still flashing back the good old memories.

REMEMBERING 80'S COMMERCIALS

Those who grew up and spent their teen-agers life in the 80's just like me, I guess you have the reasons to remember these videos way back then.
Its proclaiming that the youth is the hope and future of this world...that the new generation is people's tomorrow.
This commercial jingle was advertised by Coke drinks choosing young people of the 80's as the next ones who will build the future...I truly missed this commercial..truly brings me back in time again.Too bad to recall, that I considered myself then as tomorrow's people but I haven't proven myself to the world as the new inspiration,and a new builder for the coming Gen X.


TOMORROW"S PEOPLE

I am the future of the world
I am the hope of my nation
I am tomorrow"s people
I am the new inspiration
And we've got a song to sing for you
We've got a message to bring to you
Please let there be, for you and me,
A tomorrow (tomorrow)
If we all can agree
There" ll be sweet harmony
Tomorrow (tomorrow)
If we all will be there to share
Feelings so real and so true
Promise us tomorrow
And we""ll build a better world for
you.


This one was shown using our very own version led by Lilet....the former teen star singer back then.

Jim Paredes: It's time to be our own heroes

Cory Aquino after Ninoy’s death at Times Street, 1983.

The first time I saw Cory Aquino was on TV. She had just arrived from the United States and looked every bit like the grieving widow. On TV, she expressed her grief over her husband’s death, put the responsibility of Ninoy’s assassination on the Marcos regime and demanded the release of all political prisoners.
The last point particularly impressed me since my mother and stepfather were political prisoners in Bicutan at that time. I just had a feeling then that there was more to the soft monotone and the non-political body language that spelled “housewife” more than “politician.”
I saw her once in Bicutan when I was visiting my parents. She came bearing rubber slippers for the detainees and to talk with and console them. At the time, the detainees were composed of two factions, the social democrats and the national democrats who were constantly trying to discredit each other. Cory reached out to both, perhaps realizing that they were all in jail because they loved their country, and she could certainly identify with that.
Cory was a calming presence. She could sit with hardcore communists and hardnosed politicians and melt their intransigence by simply knowing how to listen to them. She was almost non-threatening with her soft voice and kind demeanor, which were assets during those highly polarized times. And yet behind it was a woman of steel who must have decided earlier on, during Ninoy’s incarceration, that the way to peace was not more of the macho posturing that invariably brought violence but through a commitment to listen in a healing way.
The death of Ninoy had a profound effect on me. It forced me to confront my artistic identity and authenticity. Sure, I knew the craft of a songwriter-performer, but was I a true artist who dared express myself freely? If so, why was I reluctant to express my outrage at what was happening? From small tentative steps APO taken after Ninoy’s death, we became emboldened artists who took up the cause of ending the dictatorship and promoting democracy in the way we knew best — though songs and humor. One might say, we walked on the edge and even jumped a few times. Lucky for us, the net always appeared.
I remember listening to a lot of speeches, reading a lot of opposition materials, attending countless rallies and even as I did a lot of the latter, I must admit I often wrestled with my own fears of the martial law forces. But I did it anyway because each time I saw Cory Aquino stand on a makeshift podium and confront the regime head on, it inspired me to do my share in the struggle for democracy.
There was something riveting about an unlikely candidate, a widowed housewife standing up to a dictator who held all the cards. Her courage was simply contagious. It was like seeing the story of David versus Goliath playing out in real life.
Cory’s term as president was tumultuous, largely because of the disloyalty and lust for power shown by elements of the armed forces and her former defense chief Juan Ponce Enrile. It was beset with endless coups and natural calamities.
I bristled at the fact that the soldiers always got away scot-free only to stage the next destabilization effort, even if they failed miserably each time. And yet, I wonder now if a less forgiving, more “macho” leader would have succeeded in preserving the democracy that we fought hard for in EDSA. We could have easily gone back to another dictatorship, given the temptation to use a strong hand to deal with the many crises. Perhaps we did need the kind, maternal symbol that was Cory Aquino to help heal the rifts among her fighting children.
In truth, there were very few moments that I was in Cory’s presence where we actually talked. I blush when I remember how speechless I always became in her presence. But each time we did meet, she made sure I felt her appreciation for my participation in the cause.
In the last few years of her life, there were times when Cory’s magic seemed like a spent force. The rallies she called people to attend were miniscule compared to the magnificence of the People Power shows of force of earlier days. People seemed to have lost interest in her singular message of preserving the legacy of Ninoy and his belief that the Filipino is worth dying for. But she plodded on. It did not seem to matter to her how many showed up. It was always about the message.
And yet, the news of her death, though expected, came as a shock. It was like a pall of gloom had suddenly descended on us all. We realized that we were orphaned. We had lost an icon, a mother, a leader, a friend, a decent human being. She was a benign shining spirit whom we presumed would always be there. Especially in these days of quiet desperation, her maternal mien was a comfort zone. At the wake, not a few people asked in all sincerity, “Who will be the symbol of democracy now that she is gone?” Indeed.
Cory’s death has surfaced a lot of feelings aside from grief. Some of it is probably plain nostalgia for those who walked with her in the journey to EDSA, but I suspect there is a lot more to it. People know integrity when they see it and respond accordingly.
It was heartwarming to see throngs of people in avenues break into wild applause as her casket passed by. It was an affirmation of the good she had done, a recognition of her decency and integrity as a person and her untiring efforts in expressing tangibly her love for our country.
To me, the people’s spontaneous reaction is proof that we are rediscovering what it’s like not to be cynical. The tears shed, the huge crowds, the compassion and intense interest manifested everywhere has rekindled for some the candle of idealism which everyone thought had long melted away.
Even aging EDSA warriors like myself were starting to believe that the ideals of EDSA belonged to a bright but short era that had already passed. But what is shaping up seems to suggest that reports about the death of EDSA 1’s meaning may have been premature and exaggerated.
Even if I have a good feeling about it, I prefer to be cautious and say that it remains to be seen if indeed the spirit of EDSA has been rekindled. The coming days will tell us for sure. But speaking for myself, Cory’s death has reawakened my idealism. I want to help get this country back on the road to fulfilling its manifest destiny of greatness.
Joseph Campbell once said that doors closed to others will open to you when you respond to the call of your life’s mission. Cory was “just a housewife,” as Marcos once sneered. And he was right. But what he did not count on was this housewife’s admirable courage that brought him to his knees. The stars aligned for her because she did not flinch once she decided to take up the challenges of her time.
When I visited President Cory’s remains in La Salle Greenhills, I saw old friends and fellow street warriors weeping. Since I was one of the first in line, I had the privilege of blessing her remains with holy water. As I bade farewell to my leader, my muse and my inspiration, I tried to hold back my tears but I was unsuccessful.
Death can make a person larger than when he/she was alive. The symbolic is always more potent than the literal. It’s probably because symbols have a built-in open-endedness that grows more and more as people engage them and imbue them with powers greater than what they had in life.
And so Cory and Ninoy’s heroic tale will be counted among the noble stories that will continue to inspire us as a people for generations to come.
Ninoy’s funeral was the way it was largely because of the way he died. Cory’s was the way it was because of how she lived.
Today we are again at a crossroads as a people. We either awaken and resume our march to the Promised Land or continue adrift wandering aimlessly in the desert. EDSA 1’s work remains unfinished business. Just as Ninoy passed the torch to the reluctant Cory, she has now passed the torch to us. Like Cory, we only need to say “yes” to rise to the occasion and rekindle the candle of idealism that was lit in ESDA 1.
It’s time to be our own heroes.(Source:JIm Paredes's Facebook blog)

I received an email from Flipkids Pinoy pertaining to Jim Paredes knowing of Cory back then.Jim Paredes is known to be one of the Philippines finest entertainers...and blogger itself.He put into writing what he has gone through emotionally when Cory died.
Since I feel the same way, I decided to repost them here so as everyone can read too and letting this blog an outlet of their grieve of Cory's death.

WHO'S INSIDE THE COFFIN?

Got this pic from the Twitter account of Chuckie Dreyfus when I updated my Twitter...this pic was taken during the death of the late President Cory Aquino when the guards took it outside.
I can't believe that a journalist took a mistake of writing an entry without checking them doubly...hehehehe.
I just hope the Malancaniang Palace won't give their bad reactions about this news paper.

NINOY AQUINO'S LOVE POEM FOR CORY

The late national hero Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., wrote this poem for his wife, former president Corazon C. Aquino, decades ago. Composer and singer Jose Mari Chan later set the piece into music and included it in his album, Constant Change.


I have fallen in love
with the same woman three times;
In a day spanning 19 years
of tearful joys and joyful tears.

I loved her first when she was young,
enchanting and vibrant, eternally new.
She was brilliant, fragrant,
and cool as the morning dew.

I fell in love with her the second time;
when first she bore her child and mine
always by my side, the source of my strength,
helping to turn the tide.

But there were candles to burn
the world was my concern;
while our home was her domain.
and the people were mine
while the children were hers to maintain;

So it was in those eighteen years and a day.
’till I was detained; forced in prison to stay.

Suddenly she’s our sole support;
source of comfort,
our wellspring of Hope.
on her shoulders felt the burden of Life.

I fell in love again,
with the same woman the third time.
Looming from the battle,
her courage will never fade

Amidst the hardships she has remained,
undaunted and unafraid.
she is calm and composed,
she is God’s lovely maid.
(Source:http://goodnewspilipinas.com/?p=7583)



This poem was made by Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. for Cory at Fort Bonifacio on October 11, 1973.Former President Cory Aquino was in a great battle against cancer when Kris and Noynoy announced it publicly.She was the first Filipino woman who became a leader in the country and even the first in Asia.
The poem is telling of a strong love of Ninoy to Cory when he was in captivity and confined in a chilled prison.It tells of inspiration and description how Cory was a strong woman during the martial law till Ninoy was in jailed ,which she was solely taking care of the Aquino kids in the absent of Ninoy. Cory fulfilled the dreams of Ninoy by fighting against the dictatorship of Former President Marcos.She led us out from the hands of the Marcos regime to freedom,she brought us back the democracy that once being stolen from us.EDSA Revolution was born when she continue to fight not just for Ninoy's assassination but for the Filipinos.I was only an elementary pupil when Ninoy was assassinated in the old MIA.
I was then a High School student in Olongapo when the Revolution was born in EDSA..we supposed to have our field trip in Manila then but it was postponed because of the chaos happening during election.
I am very much affected of her death because I am a fan of Ninoy and witnessed how a mother was trying to protect her children from a cruelty of militaristic rules.It was her who widen my understanding about democracy and learned how we were suffering and witnessing the death of a thousand Filipinos during Martial Law.Her memory shall be remembered always as we are enjoying the freedom we have right now in memory of her and Ninoy.