I am particularly interested in finding out what the extent of the film piracy has done to the movie industry and the US industry's other ways to combat this threat. ShoWest will start from Mar.12 to 15th after which I will give myself a couple of weeks break from the usual humdrum of daily life. That means of course that we will be doing columns via the Internet and reading Philippine newspapers from the web and if there's enough time, write our usual articles based on what we read. For sure, we will be doing our usual travelogue on the places I would visit while I am in the US.
This book gives us details of stories that most Americans and I'm sure that most Filipinos did not know happened here because these accounts are not taught in our history subjects in our schools. It is sad that too many people do not know their history, especially here in Cebu. But we're not alone. I was watching an interview by Japanese actor Ken Watanabe who starred in the new Clint Eastwood movie "Letters from Iwo Jima" bewailing that the Japanese schools only teach about World War II mostly about what happened in Okinawa and the bombing of Hiroshima with the Atom bomb.
During a meeting I had at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), I told the staff that the place which is now called EcoTech was once called the "Go Chan Hill" which was once a big battleground, where the well-entrenched Japanese defenders hid in a maze of caves and planted explosives in strategic areas. When the Americal Division assaulted this hill (my house overlooks this hill) it took them close to three whole days to neutralize Japanese defenses; 105 Howitzers shelled Go Chan Hill from the Hippodromo racetrack.
When the dust settled, a total of 85 Japanese pillboxes or machinegun nests were destroyed and 200 plus Japanese soldiers killed. The Americal Division had their share of casualties, including the disabling of one Sherman Tank. I have heard a lot of war stories from my uncle Col. Manuel F. Segura but this was the only action where an American Tank was put out of commission in Cebu.
During my childhood days, when we use to live in Ibarra St. in Parian, many of us kids would go to Sikatuna St. just across the Fire Station or the office of the Task Force Street Children as there used to be a destroyed Sherman Tank parked there and we played a lot with this real tank. I'm sure that Tinguan got that Sherman tank and turned it into scrap because it has totally disappeared.
We shall feature tomorrow the famous escape by Gen. Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor in a daring mission led by John D. Bulkeley who is considered America's most highly decorated warrior. He later became a Vice-Admiral. But Bulkeley's exploits with his Patrol Torpedo (PT) boats became stuff of legend as he was featured in the black and white movie "They were Expendable" starring John Wayne and George Montgomery. It's the story where the PT-boats ended destroyed in Kawit Island, which is now the South Road Properties (SRP). We shall only feature the basic story tomorrow, as we do not have the luxury of space. Abangan!