Awards and Remembrances

The French government, through Ambassador Reneé Veyret, recently conferred on Dr. Maria Dorina Bustos and Dr. Clemencia Espiritu the Ordre des Palmes, rank of Chevalier.

Dr. Bustos, of the doh Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, continues to advance medical research. She received highest honors at Paris’ Université Pierre et Marie Curie where she earned her doctorate in philosophy. Author of many publications on malaria and other diseases, she is at present an officer of the Phil-France Professional Association.

Dr. Espiritu, a Ph.D. in Linguistics, formerly chaired the Philippine Normal U.’s Department of Languages where she promoted French and served as coordinator for the language education of French teachers. Her valuable contribution to education has often been cited.

On April 29, a particularly busy date, Indian Ambassador Navrekha Sharma gave a farewell dinner for Venezuelan Ambassador Milena Santana Ramirez; the Friends of Cultural Concerns held a program at the residence of Belgian Ambassador Christian and Gul Tanghe; Canadian Ambassador Peter Sutherland hosted an "Evening of Canadian Wine and Oyster Tasting", and US Chargé d’Affaires Joseph A. Mussomeli and his wife Sharon gave a cocktail reception "A Century of Friendship and Alliance".

The occasion named specific areas of the U.S. embassy the Charles Parson Ballroom, the Claire Phillips Conference Room and the Najeeb Saleeby Courtyard.

With courage and daring, Charles "Chick" Parsons undertook submarine and air missions to the Philippines during the Japanese occupation, supplying guerrillas with arms, medicine and other supplies. His networks transmitted Japanese troop movements to Allied forces. He prepared guerrillas for the invasion in 1944 and helped rebuild Manila.

Dr. Saleeby served in the US Army as a surgeon in Sulu and Mindanao, delving deep into their history and culture and writing on them. He was superintendent of schools in Mindanao and was the first director of St. Luke’s Medical Center which opened a school of nursing under him.

Claire "High-Pockets" Phillips borrowed funds, assumed an alias, falsified papers to open an exclusive cabaret in Manila for Japanese officers, gathering valuable information from them. She got the name "High-Pockets" for hiding intelligence data in her brassiere. Her nightclub proceeds went to food and medicine which she smuggled to troops.