Noche De Ronda

CD cover of our musical recording, which was actually a picture taken
after rendering a few songs at a church charity event

From left to right: Raffy P. Villanueva, violinist (inset), Arminio Estalilla, pianist, Minguita P. Lopez, vocalist, Betta P. Gallego-Kramer, vocalist and Manuel P. Gallego, vocalist. Produced by my Tita Lou Ellen B. Padilla, wife of my Ninong Teddy, the late Justice Teodoro R. Padilla.

1)     You're My Everything - Minguita (for the late Teddy Padilla & Lou Ellen Padilla)
2)     You're Just Too Marvelous - Manuel (for the late Rosa Padilla Gallego)
3)     Eres Tu - Betta
4)     Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Manuel
5)     Smile - Minguita
6)     Minamahal Kita - Minguita and Betta
7)     Can't Help Falling In Love - Manuel
8)     I Could Have Danced All Night - Betta
9)     Jurame - Minguita
10)   Inamorata - Manuel
11)   Some Enchanted Evening - Betta and Manuel
12)   I Have Dreamed - Minguita
13)   Noche de Ronda - with Raffy on the violin (for our late grandfather Justice Sabino Padilla)

With special thanks to Maite P. Gallego-Zaldarriaga and Sijbren G. Kramer. Recorded at Sound Weavers Recording Studio, 2012.

Wedding Picture of our Lola Minggay and Lolo Bino

Click on this Noche De Ronda hyperlink and press the play button on the site to listen to our song.

I've always wanted to record some songs for the fun of it. When my Tito Tommy (former Philippine Ambassador to South Korea during the term of President Cory Aquino) celebrated his 80th birthday, we performed our usual musical number to regale the guests. One of them, former President Fidel Ramos (an old friend of the family), liked it so much, he cajoled us to make a recording . . . and so we did. Being the frugal people that we are, it would never have happened if not for Tita Lou volunteering to fund the project! It was a blast and I think I can speak for all those who were involved. Shortly after distributing the CD to family members, Tita Patring passed away. Raffy (Tita Patring's son and violinist in the recording) informed me that his mom enjoyed listening to the CD, which made the effort all the more worthwhile. Until our next recording . . .

Rancho Caridad Historical Marker Program, June 15, 2013

In honor of members of the family, past and present, who tended the land, my sisters and I, in cooperation with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, have installed a historical marker at our beloved Rancho Caridad.

The Program

Rancho Caridad Historical Marker Program

Gallego Family Chapel, Rancho Caridad

Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

June 15, 2013

National Anthem                   c/o Manuel P. Gallego (recording)

Invocation                             Fr. Christian R. Magtalas, Nampicuan Parish Priest

Welcome Remarks                Violeta P. Gallego-Kramer

Unveiling of Marker               Dr. Maria Serena I. Diokno

                                             Chair, National Historical Commission of the Philippines

                                             Maria Teresa P. Gallego-Zaldarriaga

Presentation of the 

Historical Marker                  Dr. Maria Serena I. Diokno

Signing of the Certificate of Transfer of the Historical Marker:

Gallego Family                      National Historical Commission of the Philippines

Manuel P. Gallego                 Chair Maria Serena I. Diokno

Witnesses:

Gallego Family                      National Historical Commission of the Philippines

Dominique P. Gallego            Deputy Executive Director Carminda R. Arevalo

Acceptance Message            Manuel P. Gallego

Master of Ceremonies           Manuel P. Gallego

The Marker Text

Filipino Version

RANCHO CARIDAD

LUPAING SAKOP NG BAYAN NG NAMPICUAN, NUEVA ECIJA, NA PAGMAMAY-ARI NG MAG-ASAWANG CARIDAD VELASCO ONGSIACO AT MANUEL VIOLA GALLEGO. DATING BAHAGI NG MALAWAK NA HACIENDA ESPERANZA NA IPINAGKALOOB NG HARI NG ESPANYA SA ISANG ESPANYOL, IKA-19 NA SIGLO. DITO ITINATAG ANG GALLEGO INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY (GIAI) UPANG MATUGUNAN ANG PANGANGAILANGANG PANG-EDUKASYON NG MGA TAGA NAMPICUAN AT ISULONG ANG EDUKASYONG PANG-AGRIKULTURA SA GITNANG LUZON, 1953, KALAUNA’Y IPINAGKALOOB ANG PAARALAN SA DIYOSESIS NG SAN JOSE, NUEVA ECIJA UPANG IPAGPATULOY ANG SINIMULAN NG GIAI, 2011.

English Version

RANCHO CARIDAD

LOCATED IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF NAMPICUAN, NUEVA ECIJA AND OWNED BY CARIDAD VELASCO ONGSIACO AND MANUEL VIOLA GALLEGO. REMNANT OF THE VAST HACIENDA ESPERANZA, A ROYAL LAND GRANT GIVEN IN THE 19^th CENTURY. SITE OF GALLEGO INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY (GIAI), ESTABLISHED TO FULFILL THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF NAMPICUAN AND ADVANCE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN CENTRAL LUZON, 1953. THE INSTITUTE WAS DONATED TO THE DIOCESE OF SAN JOSE, NUEVA ECIJA, IN ORDER THAT ITS MISSION BE CONTINUED, 2011.

The Acceptance Message of the Family
by Manuel P. Gallego

Good morning everyone.

I’d like to acknowledge once again the presence of our distinguished guests.

From the National Historical Commission of the Philippines . . .

Chairperson Maris Diokno

Deputy Executive Director Carminda Arevalo

Mrs. Gina Batuhan, Chief of Historic Sites and Education Division

Ms. Ellen Samonte, who is responsible for organizing this event

From the Provincial Government of Nueva Ecija . . .

Provincial Administrator, Atty. Al Abesamis

Our Municipal Administrator, Mr. Danny Bartolome, representing Mayor Lacurom

Our Parish Priest, Fr. Christian Magtalas

Our Beloved Principal of St. Pius X Institute of Nampicuan, Ms. Ella Bautista

On behalf of my father, who conveys his regrets for his absence today, my mother who is here in spirit, and my beautiful and brilliant sisters, welcome to Rancho Caridad and thank you for gracing this event.

Today, we commemorate the history of a parcel of land that has been with my family for five generations. On a personal level, the land is near and dear to my heart because it is a remnant of what was inherited by my paternal grandmother, Lola Ego or Lola Caring, Caridad Ongsiaco, who would have spoiled me rotten if she had lived longer. But that was her way and we loved her for it.

From another perspective, the land has been a compelling presence in the family through the generations. Developing then a vast uninhabited swampland into an agricultural enterprise, securing the same from lawless elements then and now. In the case of my grandfather, Manuel Viola Gallego, establishing then a high school for the local community when there was none provided by the government. In the case of my father, Manuel Ongsiaco Gallego, establishing then one of the pioneering and largest mango orchards in Central Luzon and, at the height of the communist insurgency in the country, standing our ground in refusing to pay any so-called “revolutionary taxes”.

However, the most significant collective decision of the family with respect to the land, my paternal grandparents included, was to comply at the very outset of land reform, which has been a great sacrifice and, indeed, a profound gesture of patriotism on the part of the family.

The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Apart from the loss of economies of scale in our agricultural sector, where in the civilized world would agricultural land be forcibly taken from the owner by law for making the mistake of planting a single grain of rice? Not only has the Philippines been a net importer of rice for decades,  it is as if our land as well as our dreams have been reduced to measly sachets of toothpaste and shampoo, just enough to tide us over from day to day.

Hence, what is left of Rancho Caridad today represents a glimmer of the once vast Hacienda Esperanza, a glimmer of hope that we, as individuals and as a nation, need not and should not restrict our dreams into measly sachets. Rancho Caridad serves as an inspiration to dream in a grand scale, even if government is in the way—and I don’t mean the NHCP.

To this end, my family envisions Rancho Caridad evolving like many country estates in Europe and the Americas--as an agricultural-tourism or agri-tourism site. And a very special one for various types of recreational aviation, including those that would exploit the abundant natural thermals in the area, ideal for sailplane gliding, hang gliding and paragliding.

Rancho Caridad is the only place in the Philippines today in which you can readily fly in a sailplane. Thanks to my friend, Rolf Dunder, an avid sailplane pilot who hails from Germany and has been living with his family for many years in Alabang. Rolf has already made several modest contributions to Philippine aviation history, including the first recorded sailplane flight in the Philippines, the first endurance sailplane flight in the Philippines and the first cross-country sailplane flight in the Philippines. All from Rancho Caridad, Nampicuan.

Rancho Caridad is also strategically located vis-a-vis airports and airfields throughout Luzon and is, therefore, an ideal launching point for air safaris, a novel and high-value tourism activity that has great promise in the Philippines. I have personally flown my aircraft to several of these locations for proof of concept and I am eager to share my exceptional experience with other recreational aviators and adventurers.

In closing, I thank the NHCP for recognizing the historical and moral importance of Rancho Caridad. By some stroke of luck, TPLEX, the expressway to Nampicuan, will probably be completed before the end of the year. Hopefully, our new friend from the Provincial Government, Atty. Abesamis alongside Governor Umali, will help our town of Nampicuan by prioritizing the long-awaited repair of the road from Anao to Cuyapo. That would greatly benefit our local community as well as Rancho Caridad in moving forward with our agri-turismo initiative.

Maraming salamat po.

The Tall Tree
A Poem by Sijbren G. Kramer

It stands tall the thief of light
It gains and strengthens with all its might
But comes a time in the dark of night
When all is silent no matter the height
When light returns its strength increases
While those below still wither and weaken.

The History

The Picture Essay

Another Spin Around Rancho Caridad

Still a long way to go but my aerial videos are getting better after each attempt. Thanks to the Spencer Davis Group for the music, which makes the video lots more fun to watch. It will be shown at the unveiling of the historical marker of Rancho Caridad by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines on June 15, 2013. Enjoy!

Click on the following link to view the video in YouTube: Another Spin Around Rancho Caridad

Support the Mangal Marine Sanctuary Ordinance

With my virtual diving buddy, Gerald, son of Ka Pedring

I had to return to Casabangan Bay before the end of Amihan or the start of the typhoon season, so that I could revisit the diving sites in the area at the calmest time of the year (April, May and June, in the absence of a typhoon, of course). Although I have only scratched the surface, there are already two (2) exceptional diving areas I have identified just a few minutes small bangka ride from Casabangan beach. One is about 200 meters offshore fronting the electric pole of ORMECO closest to the green house on the white sand beach beside Casabangan and the other is about 100 meters offshore the mid-point of the cliff shore (also beside Casabangan) or what the locals call "Lalawigan".

The following film clip is a compilation of brief sightings of two (2) sea turtles that have survived and reside in the vicinity of Casabangan Bay. As recently as 30 years ago, sea turtles, among other marine life, thrived in Casabangan Bay. Over the years, they have been indiscriminately killed for food and the ones you see in this film clip may be all that is left. Their survival, along with other endangered marine resources in the area, depends on the passage of the Mangal Marine Sanctuary ordinance, which has been proposed to the municipal council of Mansalay since May 2012. As the saying goes, it's a no brainer, yet there is no ordinance until now, June 2013. Please support the passage of the Mangal Marine Sanctuary ordinance and help Benazir and Buddy repopulate Casabangan Bay! Write the Sangguniang Bayan of the Municipality of Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro to pass the Mangal Marine Sanctuary ordinance without delay. Click the following link to view the film clip in YouTube: Benazir and Buddy

One of those rare occasions . . . a visitor

My cousin, Bing, in red shorts. Rolf's planes in the background.

A few weeks ago, my cousin, Bing, who has been residing in Canada with his wife and daughter for over 16 years gives me a call. He's in town and would like to visit the farm. So, I invite him over and he gets a reality check on the simple life (did I say reclusive?). In all the years that I have been coming to the farm, I can count with the number of my fingers how many times I actually had a visitor. This is one of those occasions and it was fun to catch-up with Bing. I didn't think he had the capacity to stay still the whole time I would be at the farm (which was from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning) but his early years in the agricultural sector (particularly aquaculture in Iloilo) kept him in good stead. We talked, mostly about family. We ate, we drank beer, we smoked, we watched a movie (Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise) and we even had a massage. Bing is happily settled with Liza and their pride and joy, Sabina, who will be off to college soon. The dilemma is, what happens when Sabina is all settled herself in Canada--done with college, married (ouch, she's Daddy's girl!), etc.? But that's just me thinking.

Bing, it was great to have you over. Thanks for all the entertaining stories and the pictures!

 In my jammies before take-off

Full speed ahead

In-flight for a few minutes

Shortly after landing; back to my man-cave

My Man-Cave

The Philippines . . . investment grade for the first time in its economic history!

Click here for the official story: http://www.rappler.com/business/economy-watch/24936-a-first-investment-grade-rating-for-ph

The challenge, of course, is for our national government team to keep improving the sovereign credit rating of the Philippines until we are a "triple A" or "AAA" credit like Canada, Australia and Singapore. That is still a long time coming, if ever at all, given the thoroughly irresponsible spending habits of our public officials. What is clear today is that the Philippine economy, inside and outside the Philippines (i.e., the Overseas Filipino Workers' or OFW remittances), is generating enough (and being overtaxed, of course) to support the parasitic government and to service the national debt. What is also clear in the horizon is a fat, inefficient and corrupt government at virtually every level that is poised to abuse this recent economic distinction by ratcheting up the demand of (a) more socialist programs (i.e., unsustainable subsidies to the poor folks who need to be neutered to stop shitting babies like goats and rabbits) and (b) a more obese, inefficient and corrupt government. So, while P-noy's team appears to have the supply-side of the credit rating issue under control, they have only begun to address the specter of the undisciplined demand-side run amuck, which could easily lead the Philippine economy down the path of Greece and Spain.

Beware the politician with the slogan of "free college education for all" or "affordable healthcare or health insurance for all" and the like. Beware the increasing pork barrel allocations in the Lower and Upper House of the Legislature, as well as at the Presidency (i.e., PDAF, DAP or whatever else it is called or labeled). Now that it's cheaper to borrow money, there is more pork to go around and spend freely. Beware the government bureaucracy that hires more bureaucratic leeches, now that there are more spoils from the taxpayers to spread. Any of these irresponsible and unsustainable practices in government will intensify under a false sense of economic well-being and perceived abundance in the context of the recent investment grade sovereign credit rating--and we'll come crashing down the economic death spiral just as we are starting our ascent.

Not surprisingly, ERAP, the convicted plunderer who has neither the legal ("legitimized" only by the gaping lapses of the COMELEC and the Supreme Court) nor the moral basis to assume the post of the mayor of the City of Manila, is leading the way towards fiscal imprudence and downright abuse. Just recently, he triggered the economic death spiral of the City of Manila by signing an ordinance that will raise real estate taxes by as much as three hundred and fifty percent (350%) as well as increase business permit fees--well beyond the rates of comparably more progressive cities in Metro Manila. He is squeezing the last ounce of blood from property owners and business enterprises, and throwing the ever-diminishing hard-earned livelihood of the middle-class into a bottomless cesspool that enables him to throw crumbs at his squatter (non-tax generating) constituency and to re-energize and perpetuate his own corruption addiction and that of the deeply entrenched bureaucratic kleptocracy known as Manila City Hall.

Now is the perfect time to clamp down on the demand-side, among other things. Let us precisely bankrupt the City of Manila to force City Hall to restructure, to streamline and to rehabilitate itself from its unsustainable addiction to excessive taxation. Bankruptcy means Manila City Hall will have to live within the economic dictates of the taxpayers--so much for the bogus public hearings that didn't bother with the objections of the taxpayers. Bankruptcy will compel City Hall to focus on reducing the demand side of government versus increasing the supply side of government (i.e., increasing taxes and business permit fees). For starters, no more borrowing, no more fixers, no more contractuals and reduce City Hall’s headcount by fifty percent (50%)—less heads means less criminals and, yes, less electricity bills to pay. Retire City Hall employees without separation pay, particularly if the City of Manila is bankrupt. These bastards should not be given a centavo of separation pay for all these years of wholesale corruption. No more subsidies to squatters other than a bus ticket to their home province, so they can return home, till some land and be truly productive (other than making more malnourished babies like goats and rabbits). Streamline the administrative and procurement processes and impose/enforce punitive measures against erring officials—zero tolerance on corruption. Restructure the legitimate debt of the City of Manila, negotiate more favourable terms, including substantial “haircuts” and refrain from paying those government banks supporting City Hall’s debt addiction—it’s time to sever these unholy alliances. Reduce or eliminate the fire department and provide incentives to develop a private volunteer fire brigade in each barangay. No more junkets and so forth and so on.

Abolish the thoroughly useless Senate. At least P200 million in pork barrel per Senator or a total ofP4.8 billion a year would be saved. Reduce the current 212 congressional districts to a maximum of 50 (i.e., 1 for every two million constituents), and scrap the party-list representatives (what a scam). At least P70 million in pork barrel per Congressman or a total of P11.34 billion a year would be saved. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn't take a genius to see that many government agencies should not exist at all and all the other government agencies can be streamlined by at least 30% (50% in the case of Manila City Hall) and finally get government employees to earn a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Criminalize squatting and informal settlers, and send them off to their respective provinces to till the land. Reinstate capital punishment. It should be as public and gruesome as possible to make it an effective deterrent. Introduce caning (like in Singapore) and make it also as public and as gruesome as possible. Quit pussyfooting on the Reproductive Healthcare Law. Free college education to the only child and tax (I mean tax punitively) the parents of every child in excess of the first--at least until such time the population is under control. Then, maybe then, the Philippine economy does not evolve from investment grade into the economy of Greece or Spain today.

Surfin' and Six Packs

Name me a normal adult male who does not aspire to have six pack abs . . . and I will show you a liar! That said, aspiring and doing are galaxies apart. It takes plenty of work or, in the case below, plenty of play to attain the illusive six pack abs.

Surfing instructors at Baler
(There appears to be a strong correlation between surfing and six  pack abs.)

Remember the Sesame Street Song?
("One of these things are not like the other, which one's different, do you know? ")

This was my second visit to Baler but this time I flew from Nampicuan--instead of riding my motorcycle. Estimated travel time by motorcycle excluding rest stops is about 4 hours. Actual flight time from Nampicuan to Baler on April 12, 2013 was 1 hr and 20 minutes--due to the headwind. Return flight time from Baler to Nampicuan on April 13, 2013 was 1 hr flat--very nice tailwind (consumed a lot less gasoline too).

Jerome, Baler Airport Manager, and Alquin, Baler Resident,
who has a beautiful flower farm beside the airport

Parked at the Baler Airport
(A perfect "air safari" stop)

Below is a film clip of the return flight on YouTube:

Baler to Nampicuan, April 13, 2013

My next cross country flight will likely be to Iba, Zambales, where I will visit my flying buddy, Ricky Aguas.