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Post by Registrar on Nov 7, 2014 13:43:11 GMT 8
Caballo Island eyed for Ebola quarantineBy Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 7, 2014 - 12:00amImage from the 503d PRCT Heritage Battalion’s Corregidor forum site (corregidor.proboards.com) shows an aerial view of Caballo Island, located 2.6 miles from Corregidor. The island, which was a US defense fortification before World War II, is now used by the Philippine Navy.
MANILA, Philippines - An island hosting a Philippine Navy installation at the mouth of Manila Bay will serve as home for three weeks for 112 Filipino peacekeepers returning from Ebola-stricken Liberia. The members of the Philippine contingent will be quarantined on Caballo Island, located 2.6 miles east of Corregidor, when they return to the country on Nov. 11. According to the website corregidorisland.com, Caballo has an area of 75 acres and appears as a wedge of rock jutting out from the sea. It is also known as the Navy’s Fort Hughes. “The peacekeepers will enjoy their stay in that island,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday. He said the soldiers can go fishing and nature tripping. If they choose to stay indoors, the peacekeepers can surf the Internet or watch their favorite cable channel. Cabunoc said the island stay is a fitting reward for the Filipino troops who risked their lives to maintain peace in Liberia. “They risked their lives. They were at risk of being shot or stabbed by conflicting groups. They were sent there to keep the peace, risking their lives and limbs,” he said. “When they return, let’s reward them. We will follow the quarantine procedures while making our soldiers happy.” Sources said security officials including Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Navy chief Vice Adm. Jesus Millan, Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado, Office of Civil Defense administrator Alexander Pama and Joint Task Group Liberia chief Capt. Luzviminda Camacho inspected the quarantine site yesterday. They were accompanied by representatives of the Department of Health (DOH) and AFP Medical Center. Officials, however, declined to confirm the information. Cabunoc said measures are being done to ensure the safety of residents in the island. He urged the public not to be afraid of the peacekeepers, noting that they are not considered “high-risk personnel.” “The high-risk personnel include health personnel or doctors treating Ebola patients, people who bathe those who died of Ebola and those who kiss patients. They (peacekeepers) are not part of the category,” he said. Health officials said AFP doctors will be attending to the peacekeepers, but the DOH is ready to send additional physicians trained on Ebola prevention if needed. The military originally planned to quarantine the peacekeepers at the Armed Forces Peacekeeping Operations Center in Capas, Tarlac. The plan was dropped amid protests from local officials who are worried about its effect on the town’s health and tourism. The Philippines pulled out its peacekeepers in Liberia following the outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has killed about 4,900 people. Meanwhile, the provincial board of Pampanga urged AFP chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. to quarantine the returning peacekeepers in a secluded health facility outside Central Luzon. Earlier reports said the AFP was considering military facilities at Clark Air Base in Pampanga and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija to quarantine the soldiers for 21 days.
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Post by Registrar on Oct 29, 2014 18:11:55 GMT 8
Now that is a great plan!! We wish you every prospect of success!
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Post by Registrar on Oct 28, 2014 15:41:57 GMT 8
The episode is seen by political activists as a opportunity not to be wasted to get fully sponsored media-time to pursue their opposition to the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US. If they can destroy the VFA, they opine, they can pull off another "bases-out" triumph. Being seen as anti-US can be a good earner, and we all know that money means votes. Erap did pretty well in that regard. The only long-term effect for the former President seems to be that he's not on the 'Christmas Card List' at the US Embassy. No big deal, really. "Transgender" is a publicity multiplier, not just for the anti-treaty activists, but also for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex social activists.
Deliberately weakening the country militarily has never stopped the anti-US coalitions before. Former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., admitted openly (by authoring a speech) that he voted against the U.S. bases even though he knew it would leave the Philippines weaker militarily. "Go ahead. Do your worst and we shall do our best," he said of the episode. It took only twelve senators to turf the US out, not an uprising, not a general election. That's the way activists work - leverage.
The pockets of the Chinese are very, very deep. About 662 fathoms some say. (The average depth of the South China Sea is 1212 metres.) That's a lot of leverage. The Chinese figure they have a good idea where the oil is, which is why they are investing national pride and a great deal of treasure in an international confrontation against the Philippines. By way of background, in September 2004, the Philippine and Chinese national oil companies agreed to conduct seismic soundings in the South China Sea. In March 2005, the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) agreement among China, Vietnam, and the Philippines coordinated "pre-exploration" of possible hydrocarbon reserves, and an exclusive contract was awarded to a state-owned Chinese company to conduct the surveys. Some might argue that granting a Chinese state-owned company exclusive knowledge of potential Philippine oil deposits was a short-term prostitution of the country's long term economic interests. There is widespread suspicion that corruption during the Arroyo years may have influenced Philippine politics and policy along these lines, but I certainly couldn't say. The issue seems to have been swept under the carpet, as most issues are, by allowing the urgent to displace the important.
I don't feel sorry for the alleged perpetrator, but I do hope that the incident can be allowed to run its course dispassionately - fat chance of that! There are people who want it to become an international incident, and care not a whit if it hurts the Philippines long term interests. The Philippines has a poor and growing population which deserves better politicians than it presently has or has had. (But then again, don't we all?)
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Post by Registrar on Oct 27, 2014 15:55:18 GMT 8
Some nice images pass my way from time to time on Facebook. Here are five that Fred Baldassarre posted which I felt were worthwhile to share. They are of the surrendering Japanese troops in Malabay, 1945.
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Post by Registrar on Oct 27, 2014 15:30:23 GMT 8
Agreed, Okla. We have been this way before, we have beaten that poor dead steed before, you are so right! Indeed, and because we have been here before, I have warned myself that this post has gone completely off-topic. I have said too much already, I will say nothing further.
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Post by Registrar on Oct 26, 2014 19:54:32 GMT 8
Quezon's attitude and position had a chilling effect upon MacArthur - he still had the power to constrain MacArthur until the overt act had occurred, and MacArthur was not - at that time - the person who had the authority to make the decision and thereby sever civilian control of the Philippine Commonwealth. MacArthur was still under very specific orders, and for a very specific purpose. At that point, MacArthur was subservient to the purposes of diplomacy and politics, not their governor. Washington had decided that hostilities had to be a black/white circumstance, not to be dogged in any way by shades of grey. Washington needed their causus belli to unite the country so as to get on with the Europe first strategy. There had been a series of very "complicated moves" by Washington, directed at maneuvering the Japanese into firing the first shot. Woe betide anyone sending off a bombing mission without the political and diplomatic ducks not being lined up.
In this respect, what Stimpson later recalled of the "delicate situation" which the War Cabinet had to confront on November 25, 1941 is most illuminating. I won't repeat it all here,it's in the books. General Marshall later concedes "...we would make sure that we would not be in such a dangerous position that we would be forced to fire the first shot ourselves." In my view, it was not then open for a theater military MacArthur to decide to fire those shots.
Don't ignore, either, that in those first hours, there were still people who believed that the Japanese were not going to make war on the Philippines, and who believed that they must allow things to run their course. Quezon still believed he could deal with the Japanese and get some concessions - if not neutrality then some concessions short of it. The US believed that Quezon shouldn't be allowed to have the opportunity. An overt attack was not yet something that Quezon would support - he still had the legal reins of a civil government, even if not the power over defense, and he would continue to govern as he saw fit. (eg forbidding rice to be transferred across provincial lines to Bataan.) In the face of wars, people do grasp at old shibboleths. In the period prior to Pearl Harbor, the Quezon-MacArthur relationship had been at a low point. So no, things were not sweetness and light at the time. Cracks existed, and post-war, they needed to be papered over and everyone needed to get their stories pat.
One also has to look at the actual point at which the lawful authority over the Philippines could change from the Commonwealth, to a pure military control. As nothing had yet occurred on Philippine soil,(or having occurred, was not yet confirmed known in Manila) the civilian government was in control. It wasn't a click-switch of ON/OFF as many armchair strategists seem to think. No single person could throw the switch. One almost has to be a master of laws to answer that issue to the satisfaction of both major parties.
I am sorry the two stories aren't to your liking, but they can't be dismissed with a wave of the hand. I am not going to chase the Soriano - Battle of Manila anecdotal reference for you, but it has been published. I'm sure your further reading will uncover it. It's not something which you'd expect Soriano to want to repeat. Good luck finding someone diarizing a radio call from Gen. MacArthur that they NOT attack the Japanese artillery spotting post on top of his Manila Hotel. MacArthur was a big boy, he took his lumps.
One must also recognize that MacArthur was not the tactical commander, he had generals and colonels below him whose job that was. The reality was that some were better than others. On some accounts, Brereton had just been caught disobeying a direct order and not moving the B-17's south to Mindanao, and concealing it. Brereton's failures didn't cease in the Philippines.
D. Clayton James, who wrote the better biography - but who wasn't half the wordsmith Manchester was, nor had the better book agent, commented to the tune that he felt positive about MacArthur on some days, and negative on others. It depended on the day of the week.
Personally, I think there's a lot more column space which might be allocated to examining the decisions of FDR. In 1940, it had become a declaration of the Democratic platform: no war, "except in case of attack." We all know that politicians don't lie, and that very powerful politicians have the truth rearranged for them.
There's an awful lot of goings on relating to the interrelationship between the US and the Philippines not reduced to writing. You have to dine at tables to hear the inside skinny on what really went on. Definitely not for internet chatter.
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Post by Registrar on Oct 25, 2014 10:57:49 GMT 8
The inventiveness of venal gossip about MacArthur knows no bounds. People have a tendency to collect any gossip that supports their predisposition. However, here's two circumstances which come to mind that deal with similar circumstances.
The first is that MacArthur had a significant shareholding in the Manila Hotel. This is almost certainly true as he had at one time been appointed to its Board of Directors. Yet in 1945, there is not a single credible suggestion that he sought any different treatment of the Hotel, target-wise, than from the rest of Manila. No special treatment.
When it comes to the San Mig Brewery, the story is that Soriano had sought out special consideration for its treatment - and was politely told that in the event the Japanese chose to use it as a defense strongpoint, then they would deal with that eventuality with the lives and safety of the troops as the primary consideration, not the ownership of the target. No special treatment.
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Post by Registrar on Oct 15, 2014 18:45:21 GMT 8
Sorry, the collar needs to match the cuffs.
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Post by Registrar on Oct 15, 2014 7:41:45 GMT 8
What a shame. I wonder what they'd want by way of takeover terms? I visited there maybe 20+ years back, wished I could have gone back with $10,000 to buy stuff that I wanted. Scratch that! $100,000.
Like old Trader Jon's at Pensacola. You
Col. Bubbies was my introduction to the Fire Ant. Being from Australia, where we didn't have the fire ant at that time, I didn't know not to stand still in the good Colonel's car park. You can guess the rest. Sure gave a new meaning to "hot foot".
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Post by Registrar on Oct 14, 2014 19:03:39 GMT 8
From the Facebook of Jan VytopilThis last weekend a group of Czech diplomats and businessmen marched the 102 km of the Bataan Death March 72 years after the fall of Bataan. For this tribute, the Czech nationals now living in Manila trudged across the 102 kilometre historical path which stretches from Marivelles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga. In 1942, the same path was taken by around 76,000 captured soldiers—Philippine, American and Czechs. The demanding walk serves as a commemoration of the Czech community sacrifice during the World War II. The Czechs living in the Philippines were the only other national community which volunteered en masse to fight alongside Philippine and US Armies against the advancing Japanese invasion. The heroism of Bataan defenders is nowadays reminded by 3 national memorials in Capas, Tarlac – The Philippine, US and – Czech on the location of former prisoner Camp o’ Donnel. Km 00 - Starting point of the Czech Defenders of Bataan March - 2nd year - 2014 — with Janka Vytopilova Homolova in Bataan, Philippines.
The distances between km 20 and 23 seem to be a bit flexible. We were quite happy to find this one! — in Bataan, Philippines.
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