All posts by Len Joson

Home for the Aged

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 What was at Google maps was out of date.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.

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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.

Oto Melara 76mm Gun

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!

First Visit to Sangley Point

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.

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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.

San Juanico Bridge

The San Juanico Bridge is the longest bridge in the Philippines. It was built sometime in 1973 when I was still in college. It’s a beautiful bridge connecting the two provinces of Samar and Leyte. Together with my family, we were able to cross this bridge for the first time when we traveled by land all the way from Davao City to Angeles City and back. So we passed by that bridge twice. It was a grand trip for the family and I drove the car alone without backup. I was younger then.

As I was driving, I took this shot of San Juanico Bridge back in June 2004.
As I was driving, I took this shot of San Juanico Bridge back in June 2004.
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This is a recent photo about two weeks ago of San Juanico Bridge viewed from the Samar side.

For the second time, about two weeks ago, I was again able to cross this bridge from Tacloban to Basey, Samar and then back to Tacloban on the same day. I  heard it was damaged during the typhoon Yolanda but it’s now restored and repaired. It’s really amazing what man can do. It’s an engineering marvel.

An Old Veteran and Typhoon Yolanda Survivor

Some two weeks ago, I had the privilege of visiting Tacloban City ten months after it was devastated by typhoon Yolanda. As the multicab where I was riding slowed down due to traffic, an old man approached us begging for two pesos for his fare. He said he was a veteran and that he was now 96 years old. The driver jokingly replied that he only had a whole three pesos — no change haha! There’s actually no coin that is three pesos. He was just kidding. The driver actually gave him a 5-peso coin.

Whether he was truly a war veteran or not, I have no way of knowing. But one thing is sure, he surely is a senior citizen, an old man who has survived the worst typhoon ever. I wonder if he still has a family who’s taking care of him. Thousands lost their families during typhoon Yolanda. This photo of him will remind me of typhoon Yolanda and my visit there 10 months after the worst typhoon hit Tacloban.