Strange Coincidence

A few entries back I had compared two cataclysmic events that happened in the Philippines which made a major impact on the Philippines in terms of lives, properties and a thriving economy lost. It’s weird when two natural disaster happened one day, one month and one year apart, ain’t it? Well I got another Strange Coincidence for you.

I am on a two day leave and was kinda bored from not doing anything. There’s nothing to repair around the house. It’s raining and nothing to do but read. I was poring over the bookshelf to re-read something. That’s boring too, since I know the endings of these books right? So I decided to make a little game to myself. Get a book then Google it. Did it made it to a bestsellers list? Did the author made a bestseller? If he did scout it out. Closed my eyes and pulled one….

Starship Troopers. Okay, I‘ve read this book about three or four times. It’s about an interstellar war between humans and giant insects in a planet called Klendathu, so on and so forth. And did you know that the main character, Johnnie Rico, was a Filipino? That one of his heroes is Ramon Magsaysay? Three leaves from the last page of the book (pocketbook, actually) he was looking at those battleships and said,

[Book excerpt]

“There ought to be one named Magsaysay.”

Bennie said, “What?”

“Ramon Magsaysay, Great man, great soldier – probably be chief of psychological warfare if he were alive today. Didn’t you ever study any history?”….

[Book excerpt ends]

Searched it from Google which landed me to this Wiki… Starship Troopers was awarded the Hugo Awards in 1960. Hugo is the Oscars, or the Grammy or the Emmy Awards for science fiction novels. Need I say more?

Let’s go back to the disaster and Strange Coincidence thing.

Ramon Magsaysay was the third president of the Philippine Republic. Before becoming the president, he was a mechanic, and then a Guerilla soldier, then a Congressman, and then becoming the Secretary of National Defence. He was the one responsible for the surrender of the Hukbalahaps. He was loved by his people.

He was the first man to wear the Barong Tagalog on his Oath of Office when others before him wore the two piece tuxedo of the Americans, Amerkana as we call it. He opened the doors of Malacanang to the Masses.

Magsaysay came from the province of Zambales, the same one where Mt. Pinatubo is located.
In March 16, 1957 after visiting three schools in Cebu, he boarded his presidential plane to go back to Manila. He never arrived. A day later it was reported that the C-47 airplane crashed on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu. Only one of the 26 passengers (including its crew) survived.

The Presidential Plane is named “Mt. Pinatubo”.