Before anything else, I would like to thank the men and women of the 2nd Air Division of the Philippine Air Force, which celebrated their 31st anniversary last Monday, for honoring this deadline beater with a plaque of recognition.
To Major General Nathaniel Legaspi, commander of the 2nd Air Division, thank you sir, I am truly honored.
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While you might think that PAF personnel are merely concerned about flying their missions, both combat and non-combat, they are also very much into sports.
Well, they have a golf course inside the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base, but aside from golf, they are also very much into other forms of athletic activity.
General Legaspi told me several months ago about how they have opened up their base to civilians, most especially those who would like to take up sports, as their way of reaching out to the community.
Gone are the days when the military is feared. Now, the men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are very active members of the community and live harmoniously alongside the civilian populace.
At the air base in Mactan, there is still plenty of room to play field sports like football, batted sports and other events, which General Legaspi said is allowed provided that those who’d like to play would coordinate with them.
The PAF is reaching out not only through the usual civil military activities, but through sports and I hope more military units would follow this example.
More than fostering closer ties, this will also support sports development as the military camps have the space for outdoor activities. Of course, the matters of security must also be taken into consideration, but close coordination will help make this possible.
This is Civil Military Operations through sports.
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Dr. Peter Mancao sent email a couple of days ago showing a picture of a Korean player, who was with Jiji Gullas. The Korean guy, Mr. Lee, was holding a dead bird.
They were not hunting and there was no intent to kill the bird, but it died after it was hit by Lee’s tee shot on the par-5 hole No. 2 of Cebu Country Club last Friday.
This hole is probably the longest in the course and from the tee, you have to cut a huge three that guards the left side of the fairway.
Jiji said that Lee’s ball hit the bird and landed past the tree giving him an open look of the fairway and allowing him to make it to the green in three.
After sinking his birdie putt, Mr. Lee just accomplished what could be a ‘double-birdie.’
The second hole of CCC’s layout is a wonderful place to shoot pictures with all the birds near the lake the guards the green. Hitting them with balls are not the intention of players, but sometimes these shots just happen.
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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings go to those who celebrated yesterday like my good friends Jeremy Pepito and Jennifer ‘Butter’ Saavedra LaHue and also to Lt. Col. Ernesto ‘Jun’ Torres of the Philippine Army.
Today’s greetings go to former Air Force Lt. Ashley Acedillo, who is running for congressman of Cebu City’s North District this May.
More power to all of you!