Our talk show “Straight from the Sky” will feature another book launching. The book is entitled “The Battle for Cebu: The Siege of Sudlon (1899-1900). The author of this book is Mr. Michael Culliname who came to Cebu in the late 60’s as a Peace Corps during the Kennedy years. His love for Cebu brought him back years later so he could do extensive research about the history of Cebu in that bygone era when the Americans took over the Philippines from Spain.
For years, I’ve been trying to meet with Mr. Culliname; after all we share the same passion for Cebu’s history. Call it timely that at this time, I’m still reading the book entitled, “The Imperial Cruise” written by James Bradley who wrote the national best sellers, “Flags of our Fathers” and “FlyBoys.” Mr. Bradley was so engrossed in his writings about the American presence in the Pacific, which is why he wrote the book “Imperial Cruise.” That is the book that totally convinced me that the history taught in our high school and college was nothing but American propaganda.
Call me lucky that last Jan. 10th, Michael Culliname launched his book “The Battle for Cebu” at the Bank of the Philippine Islands Museum where Mayor Michael Rama bestowed upon him the title “Honorary Son of Cebu.” Mr. Culliname was ecstatic that he was given that honor… that he wore under his barong a t-shirt with the statement “Proud Cebuano!”
Indeed, few Cebuanos today know what Mr. Culliname knows about our history. We know about the incident called “Tres de Abril,” which was the only time in history that the Katipuneros grabbed hold of a major city. Pantaleon Villegas, a.k.a. Leon Kilat, captured Cebu from the Spaniards in April 3, 1889. But four days later, the Spanish Cruiser Don Juan Austria arrived in Cebu to rescue the Spaniards held inside Fort San Pedro. A few days later Leon Kilat was dead in the hands of his own men. But by the end of April of that year, Admiral George Dewey sailed into Manila Bay and on May 1, 1889, fought the Spanish Armada under Admiral Montojo and won.
On Feb. 4, 1899, the Filipino-American war broke out and 17 days later, the US gunboat, the USS Petrel, arrived in Cebu with an ultimatum to surrender Cebu to the Americans. Cebuano leaders (you will recognize those names in many of the streets in Cebu City that are named after them) like Florentino Rallos, Miguel Logarta, Pablo Mejia, Segundo Singson and Julio Llorente did not want to fight the heavily armed Americans.
But Cebuanos who fought the Spaniards didn’t want to surrender. They were Gen. Arcadio Maxilom (Yes, Mango Ave. was renamed after him), Gen. Nicolas Godinez, and the Tabal brothers, Rafael, Anatalio, and Quintin, prepared a defensive perimeter at the back of Pardo near the Buhisan Dam and all the way to the ridge near Guadalupe Church and near Lutopan.
So for you history lovers out there, learn about that famous battle that our forefathers fought in the hills of Cebu City 116 years ago written by an American who loves Cebu. So watch Michael Culliname on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00PM with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time. We also have replays on MyTV’s channel 30 at 9:00 tonight and at 7:00AM and 9:00PM on Wednesday and Friday.
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Months ago when rumors from the coffeehouses of Metro Manila were very rife that the Supreme Court would disqualify former president and concurrent Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada. Those rumors were spreading like wildfire to the point that no less than Erap himself openly declared that if the SC would not disqualify him, he would retire from politics. Well, last Thursday, the SC threw away the petition of then Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, and thus Erap is still mayor of Manila today.
Last Friday, the Philippine Star came up with this headline, “Erap may seek Presidency if…” Apparently, “if” Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay or Sen. Grace Poe would not run for president, then he would. So there he goes again, up to his manipulating ways. If you recall, it was Erap who “convinced/forced” the late Fernando Poe, Jr. to run for president in the Year 2004 even if the latter didn’t have the personality or the wherewithal to be president.
So there you are folks, if Erap runs again for President, then we are all doomed as the political laughing stock of the world! With the PCOS machines still being in use, elections in this country has become a farce. Today, the National Transformation Council is having a daily protest rally before the national headquarters of the Commission on Elections near the Palacio del Gobernador near the Manila Cathedral. At this point, what we truly need is a national transformation before we go back to the polls, otherwise the evil of crooked politics will always be a burden to our people.