The family lived in San Lorenzo Village for many years up until the end of the Marcos Sr. era in 1986 after a successful revolt which toppled his 20-year regime. My father was worried that the juggernaut abhorrence toward FM’s cabineteers would reach him and his family, but those who knew him and those who worked under him would certainly attest to his honesty as a government official.
Matter of fact, he would have been charged with the crime of “unexplained poverty.”
Nevertheless, in our years living in San Lorenzo, I noticed an influx of Japanese executives who worked for the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
They leased SanLo homes for at least 2 years or for the duration of their employment with ADB, and moved in with their wives and young kids, usually one or two. Golf was their favorite leisure on weekends and entertainment clubs along Pasay Road would cater to their much-needed time to unwind.
At some point, since quite a number of these executives lived in the village, it was once called “Lorenzo-san.”
They’re mostly gone today, and so are the clubs along Pasay Road which also assumed a new name Antonio Arnaiz Avenue. But there was also something peculiar with the village.
As we all know, San Lorenzo streets were named after notable Filipino authors, playwrights, composers, and painters like Juan Luna, Garcia Villa (our street), Balmori, Amorsolo, Edades, Joaquin, etc.
That was easy. Not until I realized that there was this other street which was not quite popular among the rest of the great Filipinos honored in stone which was the original style for streets names there.
That street name was Zipper. Upon my curiosity, I read that a certain Herbert Zipper, an international-renowned composer and conductor, conducted the Manila Symphony Orchestra in 1939 upon invitation by the Philippine government.
So Zipper street in San Lorenzo Village belongs to Maestro Herbert Zipper.
Today, the village has several new homeowners. Many are probably offspring of original owners and perhaps a few nouveau arrives. I am also told by an unimpeachable source of mine that a high-ranking official living in the village has a collection of more than 30 expensive vehicles parked near his home. Wow. My father had only one vehicle and that was purchased from his own pocket. Times have changed indeed and a stable of cars is certainly a display of great wealth and luxury.
'Firipin-san'
There was a group of Filipinos who wanted our government authorities to ask Japan to fully extend benefits to all those who collaborated with the Japanese Imperial Army during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines.
These precious Filipinos say that Japan should treat collaborators in the same way that the United States treated Filipinos who fought in the US Army, and that Japan should grant them Japanese citizenships.
Thousands of Filipinos served in pro-Japanese orgs such as the Bureau of Constabulary, the propaganda office and the Makapili. Thousands of other Filipinos were forced to work for the Japanese Occupation forces and for the Japanese-backed government.
People who worked for the Japanese at the point of a bayonet from their Arisaka rifles should also be entitled to some form of compensation from Japan, whose government has declared that it wants to make up for the evils the Japanese Imperial forces committed during the Pacific War.
This sense of guilt has raised the issue of compensation for the thousands of Asian women who were forced to serve as “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers. Some of the Filipinos who were pushing the idea of full compensation for Japanese collaborators go as far as to suggest that the Philippines may have chosen the wrong side during the Pacific War.
They cited the long list of injustices Filipinos have received at the hands of theAmericans even though the Philippines was the staunchest US ally in Asia.
If we had sided with Japan, would we now be an economic power like South Korea and Taiwan, which were ruled by Japan for many years?
Which also begs me this question: Why are Filipinos required to apply for US visas when entering their country, while Japanese citizens aren’t? Weren’t we the allies of the US in a war against the Japanese?
The answer is obvious.
Where do Japanese tourists go today?
Do you remember the huge number of Japanese tourists who used to come to visit the country year after year?
It seems that was then.
Today is a different story. Perhaps we lack more tourism caravans to promote the country which usually only ends up as junkets for these officials.
And perhaps one of our legislators should now file a resolution that would eventually abolish the Department of Tourism (DoT) and leave the industry to the private sector. The resolution will make so much sense as it is also the practice in other countries.
The DoT has become the dumping ground for political appointees. These favorites frequently travel abroad to attend the many tourism-related conferences and summits. They show their faces at one or two sessions and then spend the rest of the day shopping and sightseeing.
Here at home, these political appointees spend their time freeloading in 5-star hotel lobbies, restaurants, and resorts where they bring family members and friends.
It should therefore come as no surprise that most of the DoT’s attempts to attract tourists (like the Japanese tourists with lots of extra cash) have ended up as dismal failures.
And though we have one of the most expensive tourism promotion programs in Asia, we too have the tiniest number of visitors from abroad.
The executives of some of our private travel and tourism corporations could run the tourism industry far more effectively if they did not have to cope with the interference of meddling government officials.