As part of their final exams, my daughter was required to go to a “home for the aged” the other day. So I brought her there but we had difficulty locating the place. What was at Google maps was out of date. It was inaccurate. We went to the place using a GPS to no avail. It was the wrong place. To make a long story short, my daughter was late for the activity but we finally found the place. Thankfully, the teacher was gracious and understood.
Well, I think that it was a good idea for the teacher and for the school authorities of Holy Angel University to have included such an outreach activity for the college students to go through. Some of them I’m sure may not have liked the idea of going there at first but then when they got there, I think that they had fun because that’s what I saw. They were having fun serving the elderly and those with some disability.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to visit the Philippine Navy’s Sangley Point Naval Base in Cavite. It was a great opportunity that came my way and I really had a great time getting on board two military ships and looked with amazement at the big guns which I have never seen before.
Oto Melara 76mm Gun Used in 60 Navies
Before this visit to the naval base, I had no idea what those big guns were. But I was glad there was a poster placed on one of the walls of the ship and there I read several information about the ship and its armaments. I found out that its big gun is actually Italian made and it’s called an Oto Melara 76mm gun. It is used in about 60 navies around the world and it can be placed or mounted on small ships. What is even more amazing about this big gun is that it can fire at around 80 rounds per minute. It would surely be like “hell” if its rounds will come raining right over where you are!
It was my first ever visit to Sangley Point in Cavite last Friday, October 10, 2014. I have always heard of that place but it’s only last Friday that I was finally able to see the place. It’s a former US Naval base but is now a Philippine Navy base. It was nice to see the military facility and to see men in uniform all around me—quite a different environment from what I normally am used to seeing.
What was even more exciting was that I got to personally meet and shook hands with the commander of the Philippine Fleet. He even gave me a bag of goodies to eat which I brought home to the delight of my wife and her neighbor friends.
I learned a lot of things on that visit. For one, I learned that the Philippine Navy is divided into 2 branches namely: the Philippine Fleet and the Marines. The marines are the Philippine Navy soldiers while the Fleet are of course the Philippine Navy’s ships of all shapes and sizes and for different purposes and all other facilities. I also learned that the Navy has its own fleet of airplanes and choppers different from the Philippine Air Force.
That was an interesting visit.
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