The 70th anniversary of the Leyte landing
For our special presentation on Straight from the Sky, we bring you updates on MEGA Cebu. Surely by now, a great majority of Cebuanos already has an idea what MEGA Cebu is all about. MEGA Cebu has done a lot in bringing the local government units in Cebu province to buy in into their plans for a better Cebu. This is the first time it has been done in order to ensure Cebu’s continued growth that is linked to private sector initiatives rather than the plans and programs of politicians who have short terms of office.
With us tonight are the top dogs of MEGA Cebu led by Mr. Dondi Joseph, Evelyn Narcio-Castro of RAFI, Lito Maderazo and Cebu Provincial Administrator Atty. Mark Tolentino. Watch this very interesting updates for MEGA Cebu on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00 tonight with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV’s channel 30 at 9:00PM after our show on SkyCable then at 7:00AM and 9:00PM respectively on Wednesday and Fridays.
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One of the reasons why traffic was extra congested last Friday and the weekend was due to the fact that the road (yes, I opened this road during my days in CITOM) that exits the Banilad Road just across the Paradise Village that leads to the AsiaTown IT Center was closed because of a fiesta for the squatters living in that area. Yes, they are squatters because the land is owned by the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority.
But if you ask me… the administration of Mayor Michael Rama of CITOM should no longer allow the closure of roads due to fiestas, especially roads of extreme importance such as the clogged Banilad-Talamban Road. Perhaps the Cebu City Council ought to get the information from the University of the Philippines research labs on how much traffic is costing our motorists including the wastage of oil and gasoline.
Yes, the people living in the area may hate me and I don’t care. They have no right to close roads that are designed for motor vehicles. It’s about time that the officials of the City of Cebu understand that they must have the political will to inform their constituents that our roads should not be closed because of any reason… being used by sidewalk vendors (They probably don’t know that just beside the Barangay Hall in Escario St. are tables and chairs right along the road at night) and yes for fiestas of sitios and barangays. Tarungon man kaha nato ang hiwi huh Mayor Mike?
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Today is the 70th anniversary of the Leyte Landing when the US Forces under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise (I shall return) to Filipinos that he made when he arrived in Australia after his escape from the Philippines. He was accompanied by Philippine President Sergio Osmeña, Sr. who had taken over the Philippine government in exile when Pres. Manuel Quezon died. With him was also Carlos P. Romulo.
I got a communiqué from the US Embassy that US Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg would be joining the 70th commemoration of the Leyte Landing anniversary today. But before joining the Landing ceremonies, Amb. Goldberg will first inaugurate projects that support rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”
In Barangay Poblacion the US Ambassador will turn over 36 sari-sari stores reconstructed and restocked through an initiative by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble. Under this partnership nearly 1,000 sari-sari stores in Typhoon Yolanda-affected areas will be rehabilitated. Amb. Goldberg will also announce the establishment of the Micro Enterprise Disaster Assistance Fund for Resiliency in partnership with Philippine Business for Social Progress.
Also this coming Oct.23-26 will be the 70th anniversary of the world famous Battle of Leyte Gulf, which historians dub as “The Greatest Naval Battle in History” because after this decisive naval engagement, the Japanese Imperial Navy was so crippled, it could no longer launch any naval offensive, hence most of their still active ships returned to Japan to be used for the defense of the homeland.
There were two major naval forces that aimed to attack the on-going Leyte landings one under Admiral Takeo Kurita, while Admiral Kiyohide Shima attacked from the South between Bohol and Mindanao. Meanwhile Adm. Jisaburo Ozawa came from the north to try to lure the US Seventh Fleet to move away from Leyte. Incidentally, it is also the 70th anniversary of the first use of Kamikaze suicide aircraft that flew from Pampanga. On Oct.24th was the Battle of Sibuyan Sea, when fighter planes from the US Seventh Fleet sunk the Japanese battleship “Musashi” the sister ship of the “Yamato. With 18-inch guns, they were the largest battleships of WW II.
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