Get Lost and You Shall Find...McArthur - Visayas Leg Part 3

After that wonderful dinner at Guiseppe's we retired early as we planned to leave Tacloban by daybreak. Peluchi, a childhood friend who is now based in the city, suggested we go see McArthur's Landing, the monument erected to mark his return to the Philippines as was promised. As I moved out the parking slot of our hotel, I thought that we should just head straight for the road so we could catch the ferry to Surigao before lunch. So I plotted my course using Maps from my iPhone, taking the shortest route going back to the Pan-Philippine Highway. The Maps app had been so dependable all the way from Manila to Tacloban that I wouldn't head out without consulting it. Well what do you know! We got lost. We ended up at the coast instead of the highway, exactly where the monument was. McArthur won't be denied. So there we were at 5:30 in the morning wading with the giants!

If ever you're in Tacloban please don't ever miss this spot or at least try to get lost like we did and then end up here. We actually stayed longer than planned because it got Bettina curious about that moment in Philippine History. And if you are a single parent you will take any and all forms of motivation that would get your kids to actually love their history and all other subject lessons at school. And when your kid gets excited finding her schoolmate's great grandfather's name, once president of this nation, inscribed in the memorial then that would be the perfect time to reinforce that history is fact and not some fictional literature meant to torture young students.

I remember that I once sat on an Alumni Board and worked with Jose Rizal's great grand daughter. I had no idea they were related until years after when I read an article about the national hero's house in Calamba that she wrote about. For some reason, growing up I was lulled into thinking that our national heroes are similar to comic book super heroes who lived in a different dimension. I guess the glowing write ups about their exploits during their respective moments in history didn't help, as it made them look like fictional characters with their high ideals and patriotism. Too perfect, surely they don't exist or never existed. I eventually realized they were once flesh and blood. I also once thought of Jesus that way. Back in Grade 4 I demanded from my teacher, Ms. Nocete-Ampong, proof that Jesus once lived on earth. She went to her desk and gave me a bible :-). Could it be just me or are we wired to be cynical about heroes and their exploits?

For sure heroes are five sigma events, a statistical rarity with a 1 in 1,744,278 chance of occurring. There need to be a confluence of events that would allow an opportunity for one to be a hero. Aside from that he/she needs to be there at the right time and the right place. But like all statistical probabilities they do happen and will happen. And at times like how it was 10 years ago today 9-11, they would happen one time big time. I know now heroes do not just belong to the historical past and they all need not be doing one-for-the-books-and-will-surely-be-a-movie kind of act. Heroes and their heroic acts abound us everyday. I was moved by that little girl recently awarded for her patriotic act of saving the Philippine flag in the middle of a storm same way as reading about those passengers who fought the terrorists for control of the plane so it will not wreak more havoc. It is my responsibility to erase any doubt my kids may have about heroes like I had growing up. I have to make them believe that everyday somebody out there is a real hero, actually 3,884 of them at any one time if my 5 sigma estimate is correct. I hope you would make your kids believe too!