Tuesday, December 22, 2015

December 7, 1972, Dimahilig attempted to assasinate Mrs. Marcos





                Footage of the attack on Mrs. Marcos (Source: Youtube)

On December 7, 1972, Carlito Dimahilig attempted to assasinate First Lady, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos when she was attending a Manila awards ceremony which was  part of her National Beautification and Cleanliness contest.

At the open-air ceremony broadcasted live on TV, one of the recipients Carlito Dimahilig left the lineup of prize recipients and attacked Mrs. Marcos with a bolo knife. Damahilig slashed repeatedly at Marcos' arms, finally causing Marcos to fall backwards across a table, from which position she attempted to ward further blows. Congressman Jose Aspiras and Linda Amor Robles, secretary of the beautification campaign, then grappled with the assassin where they suffered minor lacerations themselves. Armed security guards then began firing at Dimahilig who died on the spot with two bullets in his back.

Carlito Dimahilig lies dead after being shoot by Marcos' security guards (Photo credit: Himagsik Kayumanggi).

Marcos was flown out by helicopter to a nearby hospital where the slash wounds on her arms required over 70 stitches with some tendon damage which required further surgery. 
The first lady recovered quickly from her attack but wore her arm in a sling for many months.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

August 3, 1999: CHERRY HILLS SUBDIVISION TRAGEDY (1999)


Cherry Hills Subdivision , Antipolo, Rizal August 3, 1999

On the night of August 3, 1999, heavy torrential rains caused a landslide that killed 58 people and buried over 100 houses at Cherry Hills Subdivision in Antipolo City, Rizal province, Philippines. The landslide was primarily caused by the heavy rains of the approaching Typhoon Olga.

On August 3, 1999, heavy torrential rains caused a landslide at Cherry Hills Subdivision in Antipolo City.

The subdivision became a death trap when its foundations filled with water and the whole complex slid down the hill on which it was built. (photo) (source)



Monday, July 27, 2015

July 28, 1963: World Scout Jamboree bound Philippine Boy Scouts Perish in Plane Crash.


July 28, 1963, Filipino boy scouts aboard EgyptAir bound for Greece for the 11th World Scout Jamboree crashed in India.

On July 28, 1963, 24 Boy Scouts and scouting officials (20 scouts, 3 officials, and 1 chaplain) of the Philippines to the 11th Boy Scout World Jamboree in Marathon, Greece, perished in an airplane crash of a United Arab Airlines (now EgyptAir) jetliner in the Bay of Bombay, India.

The delegation took a KLM flight for Hong Kong to catch a connecting United Arab Airlines flight to Athens, Greece. The ill-fated plane carried 52 passengers and eight crew members. Aviation authorities were not able to ascertain conclusively the cause of the accident. Sabotage was ruled out.

The boy scouts who died in the plane crash:

Manila Boy Scout Council
  • Ramon V. Albano
  • Henry Chuatoco
  • Jose Antonio Delgado
  • Pedro Gandia
  • Wilfredo Santiago and
  • Ascario Tuason, Jr.
Quezon City Council
  • Roberto Castor
  • Romeo R. Rallos and
  • Rogelio Ybardolaza.
The rest of the scouts
  • Victor de Guia, Jr. (Baguio City)
  • Antonio Limbaga (Zamboanga City)
  • Roberto Lozano (Dagupan City)
  • Paulo Madriñan (Pasay City)
  • Jose Fermin Magbanua (Negros Oriental)
  • Filamor Reyes and Antonio Torillo (Cavite)
  • Benecio Tobias (Tarlac) and
  • Felix Fuentebella, Jr., represented both the Manila and Goa, Camarines Sur Councils.


The Boy Scout Monument

Today, if you pass by the Tomas Morato street and Timog Avenue area, you will notice that certain streets in that central Quezon City district commonly referred to as the Scout Area (embraced by barangays Laging Handa, Obrero, Paligsahan, Roxas, and Sacred Heart) were named in their honor.

The Boy Scouts Memorial Rotonda in the Timog-Morato intersection in
Quezon City: immortalizing scouts who perished in a plane crash .


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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

July 22, 1961: "Lo’ Waist Gang" Actor Boy Sta. Romana Killed in Gunfight!

July 22, 1961: Movie Actor Boy Sta. Romana Killed in Gunfight!

On July 22, 1961, movie tough guy “Boy” Sta. Romana, 25, was killed in a gunfight wounding also a Quezon City policeman (Victor Buenaventura) and a wealthy textile industrialist’s son (Edgardo Pascual- of the Pascual family) at the LVN Pictures compound, Central Boulevard, Quezon City. Sta. Romana sustained three bullet wounds and died on the spot lying face down under a heavy drizzle in front of the LVN studio  where the shooting occurred with one hand still holding his gun- a .38 caliber Luger-type pistol.


It was reported that Buenaventura was the one who fatally shot Sta. Romana and that both Buenaventura and Pascual were shot upon by Sta. Romana during the gunfight. Different versions on how the gunfight came about were documented. This sensational and tragic story was a big scandal at that time where prominent personalities were brought in for questioning like Joseph Estrada and Perla Bautista y Garcia who were reportedly with Sta. Romana during the incident.

Sta. Romana was a member of a popular showbiz group of teenagers ("barkada" youth of the 50s) known as the Lo’ Waist Gang originally composed of Fernando Poe, Jr. (FPJ) , Zaldy Zshornack, Berting Labra, Boy Francisco, Butch Bautista, Tony S. Cruz, Bobby Gonzales, and Mario Antonio. Chiquito and Paquito Toledo followed later. The public tended to see Lo-Waist Gang as a real-life gang but FPJ says the group was actually a gang only onscreen. Their first movie in 1956 was named after their gang- the first of the highly successful series of Lo' Waist Gang Movies which made FPJ a star.
LO’ WAIST GANG (1956)


Because of the gang's popularity, some members of the group were easily provoked by rival gangs out to test them where FPJ and the rest of the gang often found themselves in hot waters. It was believed that it was one of these provocations which led to the unfortunate incident with Boy Sta. Romana, a known hot-tempered member of the group who met his untimely death at a very young age of 25.


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July 6, 1986: "Acting President” Tolentino with Marcos Loyalists takes over Manila Hotel!

Amidst Marcos loyalists, Arturo Tolentino (LEFT, with  microphone), former Senator, Assemblyman
and Ferdinand Marcos’ running mate in the 1986 elections, claimed his Constitutional right as “acting President”.
(Photo from the June 26, 1987 issue of Philippines Free Press)

Barely four months after the restoration of democracy, the Corazon Aquino Presidency of the Philippines was threatened by rebel forces, under the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, who had taken over the Manila Hotel on July 6, 1986. 
Marcos and Tolentino 1986 Campaign poster

A group of military officers loyal to the deposed President, Ferdinand E. Marcos, takes over the Manila Hotel and declares Arturo Tolentino, who was Mr. Marcos's vice presidential running mate, as President. They surrender two days later.

The Filipino people did not stir though, and the rebellion was soon put down.
   


Wednesday, July 1, 2015

July 2, 1973: Inauguration of the San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in the Philippines.

On July 2, 1973, the San Juanico Bridge, the longest (2.16-kilometer) bridge in the Philippines which spans a body of sea water between the islands of Samar and Leyte in the Visayas, was inaugurated.

                                Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos cuts the ribbon to mark the opening of the bridge. Julio Cardinal Rosales,                     the President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Mrs. Cristina Ford, and other guests look on.
                                                President Ferdinand E. Marcos, First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, and                                                Julio Cardinal Rosales greet well-wishers at the San Juanico Bridge 

The San Juanico Bridge is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway (also known as the Maharlika Highway). 
The San Juanico Bridge carries the Pan-Philippine Highway between Samar and Leyte

Taken from the Leyte side of the bridge
The San Juanico Bridge is considered one of the most beautifully designed bridges in the country.

San Juanico Bridge : Graceful Crossings