Why we shouldn’t forget the Fall of Bataan

Yes, the Fall of Bataan happened 61 years ago, but yes, we should continue commemorating this milestone in our history… after all, the tragedy that was the Fall of Bataan was heralded in the United States with almost equal billing as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In today’s terms, that would be akin to the breaking news of the Fall of Baghdad. Sure, many times we have been ridiculed as a country that celebrates its defeats, but then, it is not a matter of celebration, but one of honoring those who fought and died for freedom during the dark days of World War II.

I’m sure that old families in this country have seen the members of their families perish in the fighting for the Bataan Peninsula and in the Death March that followed Bataan’s downfall. My grandfather, Capt. Valeriano Segura, died while on patrol in Bataan and they never recovered his body. Another uncle, Dr. Manuel de Veyra survived the Death March and wrote the book, "A Doctor in Bataan" which talks about his unforgettable wartime experience.

When the war was over, my uncle, Col. Manuel Segura went to Bataan in search for his father and found a large group of skeletons that the Army had removed from the numerous graves they found and they were all placed in what is now the Libingan ng mga Bayani. While we cannot be certain if our grandpa’s remains lies among the heroes in the national cemetery, his memory lives within us that he went out to fight for our country and died fighting.

Today, our soldiers still get killed in action, but it is a different kind. While they do still get buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, it is unfortunate that our soldiers die a senseless death. Sure, they still die defending their country, but they are defending it from political ideologues who have no care for a democratic government wherein the minority respects the rule of the majority. Indeed, in communism, the noisy minority wants to rule over the majority. Hence, our soldiers are sent to neutralize these ideologues so that hopefully someday, these people would lay down their arms and help our nation truly get back on its feet.

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Finally, after more than a decade of fighting film piracy, seven Indonesians and five Chinese were found guilty of violating the Anti-Piracy Law through illegal production of compact discs and digital video discs (DVDs). We have been following the activities of the Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB) since the day this law was enacted and in fact, during the time of then VRB Chairman Ed Carrascoso, we helped him in this fight only to be dismayed that under the VRB rules… video pirates (then, it was still the Betamax and VHS tapes) are merely slapped an "administrative fine" and everything else was forgiven. Hence, there were no teeth to this fight so the piracy continues until today. But finally, after a decade of catching video pirates, we now have them behind bars. Unfortunately, they’re foreigners. So when will the Pinoy pirates pay this bitter price?

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Our colleagues from Cebu and Davao media were in Manila last week to attend Globe Telecom’s Stockholder’s meeting last Tuesday morning at the Intercon, Makati, where Globe president Gerardo Ablaza Jr. was making the President’s Report and what a report it was for Globe’s stockholders who generated P46 billion in revenue, up from the P35 billion they posted in 2002. That’s a net income of P6.8 billion up from the P4.3 billion they earned in 2001. For this robust performance, Globe’s officers announced a P14 cash dividend per share which will be paid by May 6,2003.

Well, last year we also came for the Globe Stockholder’s meeting, and frankly speaking, I thought that the year 2001, which was a banner year for Globe, was hard to beat. But somehow, Globe broke its own record. Hence, the cash dividend. During the presscon, a series of questions were thrown to top Globe officials… one related to Cebu was about the Supreme Court decision on the PLDT franchise, which Globe’s Legal personality, Atty. Rudy Salalima said "was not applicable to Globe since they were not a party to the case in particular." Indeed, that’s a different issue, but as far as Cebu City is concerned, the Globe offer to pay the City of Cebu P25 million is already a done deal according to Atty. Salalima.

On my query about Globe’s or the telecom industry’s shift to high gear into 3G infrastructure, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA) replied, "3G is a very limited market and the capital investment is simply too huge, 3G will not benefit the great majority of Filipino consumers, especially Globe subscribers." Indeed, 3G in Europe was more than hype, in the end, it tied down European Telecom giants into huge investments with little return on these investments. JAZA also recognized the role of the Philippine government in the growth of the telecoms industry saying, "we’re happy that the Philippine government regulators (NTC) did not follow the lead of Europe which has only resulted in the over regulation of the industry."

Of course, since I don’t meet him often, I couldn’t resist but ask JAZA the poignant question, which was the subject of our columns months back… whether if asked, he would be interested to run for President…. He politely declined with a huge grin on his face, thanking me for my support. Well, that makes two great potential Presidents who have now declined to run for the top post of the country… the other is our fellow Cebuano, Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. who declared he wasn’t running a few days ago.

Well, as for the future of Globe, president Ablaza pointed out; "the best opportunities for Globe will be outside Metro Manila." After all, Metro Manila has already reached the saturation point of some 70 percent of its population using cellular telephones. Perhaps that’s the reason why Cebu and Davao media are always present whenever Globe has any important activities.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@ mozcom.com. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 p.m.