Remembering Pres. Ramon Magsaysay today

Before I write on the latest COVID-19 happenings in Cebu, allow me to bring you back in time… 63 years ago when the nation heard the big breaking news that the country’s beloved President Ramon Magsaysay had crashed in the moutains of Central Cebu… specifically Mt. Manunggal on the Presidential plane, a Douglas C-47 aircraft named Mt. Pinatubo, which at that time was considered a dormant volcano. Mt. Manunggal is located on the side of the town of Balamban close to the border of Cebu City.

It was on March 16,1957 when President Magsaysay arrived at old Lahug Airport (it is now the AsiaTown IT Park) in Cebu City for a series of speaking engagements. He spoke at a convention of USAFFE veterans, at the University of the Visayas (UV), the Southwestern College (SWU) and at the University of San Carlos (USC). After his official speeches, the President attended a party at the home of Cebu City Mayor Sergio Osmeña Jr. But before he left for the Lahug Airport; he dropped by the Cebu Archbishops Palace to pray and proceeded to the airport where well-wishers led by former President Sergio Osmeña Sr. the father of Mayor Osmeña bid him goodbye.

The Presidential C-47 left the Lahug Airport on March 17,1957 at 1:00 a.m., Sunday. The plane crashed on the slopes of Mount Manunggal, which at that time had no roads, but only trails used by farmers. Several high-ranking Philippine officials perished with the President with only one survivor, a reporter for the Philippine Herald Mr. Nestor Mata. Nestor Mata served as a columnist for the Manila Standard and co-executive editor of Lifestyle Asia from 1986 to 1999, and also as a columnist for Malaya from 1996 until his death in 2018 at the age of 92.

In the early 1990s the Transcentral Highway from Cebu City to the town of Balamban was constructed and it is only 8 kilometers near Mt. Manunggal. Supposedly at this time there would be a group of people who would climb up Mt. Manunggal as an annual event. But with the Province of Cebu declared by Cebu Governor Gwen F. Garcia banning the entry of anyone coming to Cebu specifically from the airports of Clark, Legazpi City, Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete City as a positive response to the quarantine declared by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in the National Capital Region (NCR), I doubt if there would be a huge crowd going to Mt. Manunggal at this point in time.

Reading the report in the Philippine Star, it seems that the entire Philippine regions or provinces followed the community quarantine for NCR, cancelling all flights or ferry boat services to and from their areas. So the whole Philippine nation is on a standstill for a month until COVID-19 starts to dissipate. At this point, we should learn lessons from Wuhan, China the epicenter of the Coronavirus or South Korea or Hong Kong, countries that seems to have reduced the number of patients that got the virus.

What I also saw in the front page of The STAR was how the priests in Borongan put yellow strips to enforce a social distancing from its parishioners. It is now the season of Lent and for me it is high time for us to commune with God in this harrowing times. In Italy, someone took a video footage of a priest on board a helicopter bringing the monstrance with the Holy Eucharist blessing the towns of Italy from the air. Another priest was walking along the deserted streets with the Blessed Sacrament blessing the people who weren’t able to hear the Holy Mass. But then who are we to question the decision of Pope Francis not to hold masses in Italy, wherein most who attend masses are the old people who are the most vulnerable in getting infected with the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Mayor Edgar Labella of Cebu City placed the city under a Community Quarantine… following what Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia earlier ordered for the Province of Cebu. All private establishments are mandated to have temperature scanning devices at all entry points in their premises and should ensure that hand soaps are available in the restrooms and that hand sanitizers and/or alcohol are readily accessible. The same thing has also been called by Mayor Jonas Cortez of Mandaue City.

This means that all mass gatherings, including but not limited to concerts, cockpit operations, fiesta celebrations, private and publicly led, are cancelled and postponed. This includes sea ports within the jurisdiction of the Cebu City government are declared closed to passenger arrivals except for cargo deliveries of essential goods.

Mind you, this is the very first time this happened in the Philippines. Imagine Mango Ave. deserted on Sunday just like EDSA was free of vehicles. I’m sure that we will certainly learn lessons in the next 30 days. What the rich nations of this world ought to do is spend some money in finding ways to combat mysterious viruses that plague our planet… after spending billions in nuclear weapons to destroy the earth.

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