We should have a replica of Magellan's ship

When Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III signed Proclamation No.50 giving some 300 rebel soldiers involved in three revolts against the government, namely, the Oakwood Mutiny on July 27, 2003, the standoff at the Marine Headquarters in February 2006 and the taking over of the Manila Peninsula Hotel on Nov.29, 2007 total amnesty, thus extinguishing any criminal liability for their disobedience to the command sends a chilling signal to future military adventurists that they can get away with this crime. So if another group of military adventurists pull another coup against P-Noy, he can only blame himself for this. This is another tragedy done by P-Noy!

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When I was in Macao for a taping last year, my TV crew and I saw at the foot of the tower a replica of a Carrack, the same vessel that Ferdinand Magellan used on his epic journey to Cebu and eventually back to Spain. It is the first vessel to circumnavigate the world… of course finished by Capt. Sebastian del Cano who returned to San Lucar de Barrameda in Spain. After my Macao trip, I wrote an article that it is time for Cebu to construct a replica of the Spanish Carrack as it would become a tourist destination.

Yesterday, I went back to the Galleon Andalucia now docked at the Malacañang of the South to do a taped interview for my TV show Straight from the Sky and just after we were done, I could see the huge crowd lining up to see the replica galleon, which is like a living museum. This is visible proof that if we Cebuano did a replica of Magellan’s vessel, it will certainly become a tourist destination. I told this to Mayor Michael Rama the other day… and he merely replied… “How do we go about doing this?”

Of course the first thing to get is the funds. Building replica is easy enough as we can borrow the plans of the Nao Victoria which is an original replica that is similar to the Galleon Andalucia. Just Google Nao Victoria and you will see photos of that replica of Magellan’s ship.

But we don’t need to build a sailing vessel, rather let’s do something similar to what they have in Macao, a wooden replica of a Carrack placed somewhere perhaps near the old Compañia Maritima building, which can be a real maritime museum. As I said, the galleon trade allowed Filipinos to become seafarers as they were hired when the galleons that came from Mexico had a shortage of crewmen. So will Cebuanos do this project? I hope so.

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The whole world watched on all the international TV networks, BBC and CNN when the 33 miners buried for more than 69-days several hundred meters below inside a collapsed mine in San Jose, Chile where finally rescued through a rescue capsule. It is truly a great drama of humanity when one by one, each miner were brought up from the escape shaft and back into the waiting arms of their families, who were told that rescue could come as far as December. But somehow, the valiant efforts paid off.

Doctors have feared that the miners would suffer mental stress or psychiatric problems or worse. But somehow, the 33 miners clung on to each other with the hope that the people on the surface were feverishly digging a rescue shaft to reach them deep underground. Yesterday all the TV networks had a continuing live coverage of each miner as they were pulled up to the surface and meeting their wives and children for the first time in 69 days, it was just so emotion filled… especially when the President of Chile was there.

My good friend Douglas Gacasan of the Task Force for Family & Life (TFFL) texted me about this unfolding human drama saying that what’s happening in Chile is about the preservation of human life and the family. He observed that one of the miners saying that he would renew his marriage vows, while another will be marrying his girlfriend in a Catholic wedding. It was indeed a positive report about Catholicism especially coming from the BBC and CNN that have been attacking the Catholic Church very recently.

Yet in the Philippines which boast that we are 86% Catholics, even those who still profess to be Catholic openly denounce and attack Catholic doctrines and this includes many of our Legislators who are proposing bills like the Divorce bill that aims to destroy the sanctity of marriage and eventually destroy the unity of our families. This is not to mention the RH Bill. These so-called Legislators who claim to be Catholic want the Philippines to emulate countries like the US that has laws on divorce, which is why the percentage of failed marriages is so high because divorce is always an option.

Again we should ask the question, why should the Philippines join the rest of the western world that is now in economic turmoil because they adopted a population control program and allowed divorce? I dare say that the Philippines should make a unique stand as a Catholic nation so we will be the beacon light for the whole world to see.