King Solomon's Mines and President E. Marcos Gold Sr

 After the nightly one-hour virtual prayer, I indulged myself in the relaxing almost two hours and a half of a movie about King Solomon's Mines.

Dawned on my thinking of the Philippines' martial law president and strong man Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, Senor's gold. Was it real or just a figment of the political mind. And was the Yanashita's treasure also a part of it. But news and social media were all over reporting the many bank accounts deposited in several countries. The strong man had a will for the benefit of his family and the country. The Philippines is lucky and rich, to say the least.

Sto. Ninio de Oktubre

 Labagh Woods: June 24, 2023 

Hot Saturday potluck party of the members of the Sto Nin'o devotional group with 2 retired priests and one bishop; who were all Filipinos by birth. Two were naturalized American citizens of the state of Illinois and one may be a visitor from the Philippines. 

The picnic table was laden with the bounties of God. They were varieties of cooking in the different provinces of the Philippines. In fact, I have yet to notice hotdogs or American food gracing the two long fits together picnic tables.                                                                                                                   

Practically, the majority were in the red Sto Nin'o de Oktubre uniform. The breeze offered a  refreshing

atmosphere to the happy-faced picnickers as they scooped the food onto their paper plates.

Fr. Leoncio Santiago, the spiritual director, blessed the food and later gave his hospital experience of his two surgical confinements. He reminded the group to take care of their health as we are mortals and the world we live in is polluted with the new discoveries of how we eat, drink, and exercise for longevity.

The leader of the group, Gloria Key spoke on her hospital confinement experiences. She was grateful to her friends and members of the daily 8 o'clock - 9 pm virtual prayer that started during the Covit-19 pandemic. 

The vibrant faces, the relaxing get-away, and the food reminded me of living with passion and purpose.

The Tennis Court

 The Memory of a Town Fiesta

I was dancing with Evangeline 

On that Labason tennis court

 When I whispered to her, "Are you fine"?

 "And the school days are they worth "?

A scenario of the high school days

When you were always fast ahead

All because of your studying ways

And you always have the books to read.

You were a friend of the school's Sister

 I was a friend of the parish priest

Then there was this Cursillo offer

To be a member and not a guest.

Things happened in Dipolog city

When I met my co-educator

I bought a motor Kawasaki

A Fishery school needs a teacher.

A public school is what I wanted

Teaching English plus a good salary

The good Lord now has my wish granted

The next move is someone to marry.

My guiding star is always by me

To illuminate my darkest hour

And all because of my love for Thee

My Lord your holy, mighty power.

Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte

 The Man Who Loves Life, Country, and People

I belong to the Silent Generation. From my perspective, the epoch that's worth recalling is the Baby Boomers Generation when a star was born as there was that clamor for peace, amidst rebellion, and corruption. and proliferation of drugs.  

 Of war and peace. This is a part of his lexicon. His boyhood was beautiful and remarkable as he struggled to obtain peace. He enjoys life but the shadow of restlessness follows him as he so-to- to speak shines in his own world.  

His growing years were the typical experience of loving and enjoying the blossoming roses in his garden. Look at this: the transfer of schools - the Ateneo and later the San Beda where he bypassed the Graduation Program ( he did graduate, anyway) as a personal incident occurred. Yet over a score year, he was given distinct honor when he became the president from the votes of over sixty million. 

And as he embarked on his six years of leadership of the Republic of the Philippines, he didn't forget his promise to stop the flow of poisonous drugs, curtail corruption and slow down the big influence of the Oligarchs.

And he believes in the omnipotent power of God. That he was destined to lead his people. He changed the status quo. His platform was vis-a-vis the unfinished invaluable program of the previous administrations. He thought of the essence of Time. His first agenda was to give credence to the solid strength of the Armed Forces - the guardian of peace and order in the country. He increased their salary. He gave them the assurance that he will be with them as long as they performed their vowed duty of protecting the government against the evil intents of invaders local and international.

His executive department members were almost from the Armed Forces, as they are strict in discipline not the civilians. And memos, directives, and correspondence go to their respective tables not to him. This avoids suspicion and familiarity. With this, the executive power would be smooth sailing.

This came to pass. His six-year term left a remarkable "build, build, build" legacy. Mr. Tugade's trains and railroad were on the fast move and the infrastructure programs glide to schedule.

The Boracay Beach Resort was corrected of its defects, Manila Bay looks good during the day and paints a beautiful sunset.