Mother, grandmother, writer, humanitarian aid worker, theatre director, sometime film and TV actress, prison visitor and inveterate traveller.
There is no doubt I was born with a wandering spirit. And I have been fortunate enough to have visited many countries throughout my life. From travelling alone across West Germany, East Germany, Poland, Russia, Siberia, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines in 1968 to becoming the President of the English Language Theatre in San Jose, Costa Rica in 2006. From being pronounced a “Living Goddess” by an indigenous Ifugao tribe high up in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines to putting the lives and legends of the Bribri tribe from the Talamanca mountains of Costa Rica into dramatic form. From setting up a “Children’s Village” in Makarska, Croatia for refugee children from all sides of the Bosnian War to organizing exhibitions of paintings by children from the refugee camps in Azerbaijan. From being a regular prison visitor to English girls incarcerated in El Buen Pastor prison in Costa Rica to arranging life-changing operations for refugee children with severe disabilities from the wars in Bosnia and Azerbaijan.
Along the way I have met many intriguing people, including Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, Michael Caine, Edie Sedgwick, King Hussein, Frank Sinatra, Sharon Tate, Kurt Waldheim, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Bill Paley, Salvador Dali, James Michener, Art Buchwald, John Steinbeck, Norman Mailer, Princess Grace of Monaco and, of course, my very favourite, my nephew Cary Elwes (Wesley and the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride).
But I would not want to forget the many ordinary, but extraordinary, people who are not so famous whose lives have been an example of selflessness to me. These people continue to work tirelessly to help others and yet expect no accolades. It is these people I have most admired and have attempted to emulate during the course of my life. And I hope I have passed on this desire to help others to my children and, in the future, to my three grandchildren.
In the past two years of Covid, I have started a new career – customizing tee shirts of stars and celebrities. Using recycled scraps of materials I have gathered over my long itinerant life, I hand-applique these shirt. Check out my Etsy store at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeeWithTheStars?ref=search_shop_redirect
Caroline Kennedy: My Travels 
Above all I am a wanderer at heart. I am a mother, a writer, a theatre director – a passionate lover of nature, travel and the arts.
Hello,
You were our house guest when you visited Kalibo, Aklan for Ati-atihan fiesta in the late 1960’s with Peachy Prieto, Romeo Vitug, and I think, the Ambassador of Finland.
You stayed at our ancestral house, the residence of Dr. Federico Menez. I was yet in grade school then, but you made a very strong impression with your lace see-through gown!
I cherish the memory!
Aloysius
Thank you for this, that’s fascinating to me. It was not the Ambassador to Finland (although he may well have been there too). It was Jack Crockett who was the US Cultural Attache, a tremendous character who was much missed when he was reassigned to Egypt shortly after the Ati-Atihan. And my “see-through” gown I actually made from old curtains I bought in the market in Bambang! Let me thank you again for having us to stay. It was an unique experience. Perhaps we will get to meet up again one day. I hope so.
You’re amazing, your attention to details of the people and places you passed through in your travels, how well you write about them in your blogs!
You even can recall the crochet material for your see-through gown, which created quite a stir in our once quite town, as an awesome self designed fashion statement you put together from curtains bought in Bambang, the original source of vintage hip clothes!
We can definitely meet up when you’re back here, or whenever our paths cross, hopefully so, anywherewewander! Visit Kalibo again, and from there, we can go to Boracay!
And you’re right, the Finnish ambassador was our guest in a different event!
Would love to meet up.
Hi Caroline!
I am very grateful to you for writing about the excesses of Imelda, and indirectly, of her husband’s tyranny. I posted in my FB account, in toto, excerpts from the article on Imelda. I will be doing so from time to time as a strategy to counter pro Marcos campaign, which I observed, has been intensifying this time. I hope you wouldn’t mind me quoting you or using your article.
Some of what you have written are corroborated by scholarly articles, many of which were written a few years after the fall of the Marcos’ reign. I am not sure if these books are in my country’s university libraries. I would be glad if I can even find these books at the Ateneo de Manila University. (Just a few days ago, the Jesuit President of the Ateneo issued a statement about Imelda’s attendance in Ateneo Scholarship Foundation’s program.) I am happy I found these books here in Australian libraries. Having many sources on the same issues provide strong reasons for me to share your article.
I’ve read in one of your comments that you also wrote about the Aquinos or Ninoy. May I ask for a copy of that article? I want to add that to scholarly articles I found in the course of my study.
Thank you so very much for writing on one of the most important matters that we Filipinos should concern ourselves with.
More power to you.
Franco
Thanks, Franco. Of course, I have no problem with you reposting my articles, or excerpts from them as long as you attribute them to me. The article about Ninoy is also on the blogsite. I will give you the link but you can also find it if you look back through the older posts. They may yet be other articles that would interest you there too.
https://anywhereiwander.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/memoir-blog-24-ninoy-aquino-the-boy-wonder-of-tarlac/
Hi Caroline. I hope this finds you well. I sort of wanted to send this privately. Remember I mentioned to you previously that I was trying to put together a “No” (to Bong-Bong) book for next year’s presidential elections in the RP? Well, I’ve gotten going on it — but am scouting for a possible editor. Would you be interested? We can discuss other details offline. Thanks.
Certainly would be happy to do that. Friend me on FB and message me your email.
I am an American. I married a Filippino man and lived in the Philippines from 1966 until Marco’es death. We were social friends of Emilda and Marcos and also Ninoy Aqunio. I have many good stories to tell and many bad.
Hello,
We are trying to reach the photographer Maurice Hogenboom rights holders. You mention this person in you blog page of november 5th 2009. Please let me know if you have some informations about them.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon,
Best regards,
Marie-catherine Audet
Flammarion S.A.
french book publisher
Sorry, I have no idea who might hold the rights to his photographs. Sadly he died in a car accident very soon after I left New York. Pity as he was very talented. Sorry I am unable to help you further.
Best wishes
Caroline Kennedy
I ame his neefjou
Dear Caroline,
I am trying to contact you and not sure of your current email address. Have just read part of your autobiography in manuscript and want to read the rest!
Love Anna yallop
I am happy to know you are still around. I was of those grimy barefoot kids that gaped at your being when you and a group of artists descended on our town square in Kiangan , Ifugao one market day in the ’60s and all because my father, a great Ifugao romantic , said you were a ‘bibbiyo’ (forest nymph). We were waiting for you to dissolve into thin air or do some magic but you just talked and walked and talked and walked and we lost interest. Years later, I saw you in a magazine and heard about Bencab. I guess you had done your magic- i always remember you as one of the 2 bibbiyos I had met in my childhood, the other being Gemma Cruz.
This is a truly lovely anecdote. Thank you so much. I apologize for being “boring”, just walking and talking. I was so thrilled to be in Kiangan, one of my favourite memories of the Philippines. And it is lovely to be reminded by someone who was there. Thank you.
That was a very interesting story that most Filipinos did not know until this time. But it would be more interesting if the story of one of the key players who also amassed ill-gotten wealth in the Martial law regime and whose family had been enjoying the loot would also be written.
He is none other than Fabian Ver who hired Philippine Air Line employees then to move millions of dollars to the USA.
I was so disheartened to read sometime ago that he was given full military honors before his interment during the presidency of Joseph Estrada because a thief does not deserve even a short acknowledgement from a nation he helped deprive of its wealth.
I absolutely agree with you, Gerardo. Fabian Ver was about as unscrupulous and corrupt as anyone can be. But I am not surprised he was honored by Estrada. Erap was a crony of the Marcoses and, allegedly, only managed to win the Presidential election because he made a deal with Imelda and, thus, got all her supporters to vote for him.
I was at Philippine Airlines Maintenance and Engineering during that time (about September 1982). I have so many friends among my co-employees so the shipments were not secrets anymore may be because the personnel involved thought that their happy days were going to last forever as the Marcoses had no plans of relinquishing their hold on power.
A compadre calls me up every Friday afternoon to meet him at the gate after our work shift was over and we would proceed to Roxas Boulevard where we will join the group in good times of drinking beer or anything we ordered as long as we want to and girls for those who desire worldly pleasures. Money was no object for them since they each got 30K PhP every week.
The happy days came to an end when a shipment of about 7 million dollars in different currencies was lost. The whole crew assigned to a McDonnell Douglas DC10 on that third shift (1630-2400H) was picked up and brought to Fort Bonifacio.
An aircraft inspector told me when he reported back to work that he was subjected to bodily torture where a military man tied a spare tire interior on his chest so there were no marks of the damaging blows that he said he thought was going to kill him. A mechanic showed me the scars of the wounds left by lighted cigarettes on his hands while another demonstrated how caliber .45 bulletes were placed between the fingers of his hands and squeezed to make him tell what he knew how the money was lost.
The ordeals of the foreman and the supervisor lasted longer while their wives waited for them at our manager’s office for maybe 3 weeks. The foreman told us that he was made to sit down on a block of ice while electricity ran through his body. The super simply kept his mouth shut.
A raid in our locker rooms then followed but the raiders were only able to shoot a mechanic in the back when he ran out to hide and never found any money or portions of it..
Well, maybe the saying in Tagalog that ‘ang magnanakaw, galit sa kapwa magnanakaw’ (loosely translated, ‘a thief is angry at a fellow thief’) figuratively applied in this situation. The general was so furious at the loss that human lives meant nothing to him anymore. Or maybe human lives meant nothing to them anymore because they thought that they will stay in power for as long as they like they could do anything that pleased them.
I wrote to President Aquino about my analysis of the death of his father when he was still a senator as per the tale of an aircraft mechanic assigned to the aircraft and the information I gathered after the assassination, how the alleged gunman could not go near the aircraft as per the procedures followed by company personnel assigned there.
There was no reply so I thought he was not interested.
This is absolutely riveting, Gerardo. Thank you so much for relating these anecdotes to me. Hopefully others too will read this and learn. I think your saying of “A thief is angry at his fellow thief” is very appropriate in this case. Please more stories if you have them.
It was my day off when the assassination of former Senator Benigno Aquino,Jr. happened so I stayed home to do some carpentry repairs and did not expect about the news on the radio and on TV. It surprised me that Imelda’s warning to him about a threat to his life was for real, and of all places that nobody expected.
So I did some sleuthing on my own when I reported back to work the next day. I learned from the office overseeing the cleaning that nobody was assigned on that aircraft so Rolando Galman, who was dressed as an aircraft cleaner, could ever come near as those cleaners come in groups, never alone as they were agency contract workers, and given assignments by a regular PAL employee.
The report then was that the military men who fetched the senator stepped out of the disembarkation tube into the service stairs and a shot rang out nine seconds after. Added reports said that Galman shot him while the group was descending on the stairs.
I walked down alone on those stairs and it took me twenty five seconds to reach the tarmac as there were about twenty steep steps to descend on so there was no way for Galman to approach his victim if indeed he was the gunman. And it was a big group who lined up the stairs which meant that the way down was crowded.
The airplane was diverted from its original assigned bay to hide the gruesome murder from the eyes of the senator’s supporters and the media. There could have been more than two mechanics to perform maintenance work if there was no change in the schedule so the pair stayed on the nose wheel while the killing happened.. They saw how the senator’s military escorts had a hard time bringing his lifeless body down the stairs because the shot was fired as they started to descend, not when they were already on the tarmac.
Then there were volleys of shots of blank bullets from the other soldiers to simulate a firefight after Galman ‘shot’ the senator. Blank bullets because there was no damage on the aircraft which was most likely to happen if real bullets were used.
One of the mechanics later told me that his companion fainted when he saw an Armalite rifle pointed at him after the shots rang out and immediately flew to the USA two weeks after due to the trauma he suffered from the incident. He added that he was aware that someone was always following him on his way to work and on going home. Which is a way of telling him to keep silent or something untoward was going to happen to him and his family.
I vividly remember that there was a news from an independent newspaper (Malaya, I think) that said that there was a black limousine on the tarmac on that day near where the assassination was brazenly perpetrated and the guess was it was Eduardo Cojuangco’s vehicle as it was reported later on that it was he and Imelda who plotted the murder. Could be true as they were the two most interested people to have the senator executed so their hold on power would stay as long as they wanted to.
And the rest is history.
Well said Ms. Kennedy in your article about the Marcos regime. I still remember those days when student activism was at its height and streets demonstration was a daily occurrence. I was in my 1st year of law school when Martial Law was declared. The human rights abuses, corruption and plunder that followed was hard to forget. It is sad to see that the Filipino people easily forgets and never learned the hard lessons of Martial Law. We continue to elect government officials that are inept and whose main agenda is only to serve their own interest. Election results are always based on popularity and the amount of money the candidates are willing to spend. This is the reason why corruption continue to exist.
You are correct, the growing population is scary but until the Filipino people will fully realized that the constitution provides for separation of church and state, the clergy will continue to exert tremendous moral influence in the way our government address this issue. Politicians are scared to offend the church leadership least they don’t get the endorsement comes election time.The resultant poverty due to over population made our country rank among the highest in the world.
There are many ills that besets our country today and it will be a long journey to cure these problems but I think the first step is change in peoples attitude. We must learned to be disciplined and courageous to accept change. History is the testimonial to the transformation of Taiwan and other countries who have embraced change in order to improve the economy and peoples standard of living. My fervent hope is that someday, I will see my country change for the better.
More power to you.
Very eloquently written, Jun. Your response is very insightful, very objective and absolutely correct in my opinion. Thank you.
Thanks Gerardo Vergara, that is a fascinating account. I had heard about the black limo and, of course, Cojuanco’s and Imelda’s names attached to the murder. But I had not heard the view that Ninoy was shot on his way down the steps. Certainly Galman was a useful stooge. So, as with President Kennedy when Jack Ruby assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald we will never really know. It will be one of those enduring mysteries unless someone speaks out eventually on their death bed!
A friend shared on FB a copy of the last minutes of the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr’s life when he was fetched inside the aircraft by military men. The video showed how he was led to the door and there was complete pandemonium when the military prevented the cameraman to pass through their cordon but the first shot that killed him about 7 to 9 seconds after the group exited was still audible despite the noise of the commotion.
The video that panned outside the aircraft showed military men walking on the tarmac before the senator was fetched which meant that there could be a whole platoon of them and which subsequent pictures on newspapers attested to.
The sister of my mother-in-law at the time was a Blue Lady and she told my MIL that a psychic or fortune teller had warned “Madame Marcos” that the return of Ninoy Aquino would be the downfall of the Marcoses. That is why the assassin had specific instructions to kill him BEFORE he stepped foot on Philippine soil. At least, that’s how the story goes.
Interesting anecdote if true. I wouldn’t be surprised. Physics, astrologers and fortune tellers were all the rage in those days. Nancy Reagan (Imelda’s great friend) did absolutely nothing without consulting her fortune teller.
But Jun, there are more lies about the monster now proliferating. I get sick to my stomach when ignorant morons would post on one of the latest videos they’re circulating around right now that the lies Marcos told the American Press were true. Most of the dumb asses are extra impressed about him not reading his speech from notes, and not minding the teleprompter in front of the lectern. It was very excruciating for me to watch that video with him doing his condescending way of delivering all the lies. i just hope that there are much more of people like us than the ignorant ones who would be satisfied to reinstall another Marcos so that they know exactly which one is actually stealing from them. I’m crying and laughing at the same time when I read from one of them that they didn’t mind if Marcos stole everything as long as they have artificial peace and prosperity. If that is not a complete moron saying that, I don’t know what is…
Obbie,
Those people who say that they ‘didn’t mind if Marcos stole as long as they have artificial peace and prosperity’ are those who keep on voting the likes of the Estradas and the Binay’s but who are the ones who are loudly complaining and shouting when stories about corruption come out and they could not do anything. Those are the voters who outnumber the ones who think and choose wisely and who wouldn’t also mind if another thief comes along and makes promises meant only to be broken.
I had been proposing to people who are posting on Facebook about an idea that I think is a better alternative to electing trapos and stopping political dynasties. I told them that it is time that we search for a candidate for president that comes from the middle class and whose victory would come from the middle and lower classes.
This idea is based on what Aristotle wrote about people governing themselves whose meaning resonates to this day that we are all waiting for meaningful changes to happen. He said that, “Democracy is when the indigent and not the men of property are the rulers”. Another one reads as follows: “In a democracy, the poor will have more power than the rich because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.”
This is a very powerful and timeless idea that should be the basis for any action to completely end the rule of the few who are not thinking of making life better for the majority because that majority is ignorant about their power to uplift themselves and bring about the reforms that will benefit them.
The tentative title would be Lapiang Kauri which denotes that it is a coalition of groups of the same classes, distinct from the rich and moneyed class, that will represent the B, C, D and E classes.
Should this be of interest to you, please contact me at my email: gerardovergara29@yahoo.com or my cellphone #09177061035. I could elaborate on the action plans and the platform that I envision for a totally free country.
There is still enough time for is to act till election 2016.
The Imee Marcos in London article was a good read 🙂
Thank you, Bam.
Dear Miss Kennedy,
I had the pleasure of reading your articles. Your vivid recollection of the Philippines, it’s culture and the places that you have been to, is such pure Joy to read. (Props on the curtain that you got from Bambang).
Are you based in London now? If you fancy some good old Filipino dishes, me and my wife would like to invite you to dinner at the Flat we are renting in Caledonian Road. 🙂 Hope to hear from you.
Best Regards,
Juancho
Thank you so much Juancho, that is so kind. I am, in fact, not living in London but am currently mostly in LA and Newfoundland. But I do visit London every year as my son, my siblings and my stepmother live there. So I would most definitely love to visit you and taste some real Filipino food when I am there. I had my birthday dinner recently in a Filipino restaurant in LA, the LA Rose Cafe. It was wonderful. And all my friends had a great time, some of them experiencing Filipino food for the first time. Thank you again.
Dear Miss Kennedy,
It was good hearing from you. Please do let me know when you are in town, by the way, Happy Birthday!
I am glad that you have introduced Filipino cuisine to some of your friends, it should have taken off in the culinary world, but it hasn’t. One hungry belly at a time.
Wow, what a contrast, LAX and Newfoundland.
All the best,
Juancho
Just chanced upon your blog, Caroline. Quite excellent and fascinating. Just up my alley, especially with all the rich Marcos, Imelda bits, gossip and lore. Will soon be preparing a “30 Years After…” tome in sync with the 1986 fall from grace of the Dictators’… May have to pick your recollections and your blog.
How fascinating, Myles. I would be happy to help you in any way I can. I look forward to reading your book.
Hi Miss Kennedy,
Just thought you might find this interesting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29611565
Best Regards,
Juancho
Thank you, Juancho. I actually know about this and am planning to see it in London in December when I’m there. Thanks for pointing it out though, I appreciate it.
Best wishes
Caroline
Hi Caroline, Am preparing a piece on the nasty inheritance wars of the Ilusorios. Is there anything in your blog that tells more about them or the patriarch (Nanoy) and his days in the Dark Regime, that do not appear anywhere else on the web?? The main purpose of my article in POSITIVELY FILIPINO is to explain and unravel the internecine legal squabbles that only billionaire families (with questionable origins) indulge in. Of course, private replies are fine too. Thanks in advance.
You have amazing memory, and you are an exceptional writer. I find “IMEE in LONDON” so incredible, but then again, how would I know? I’m 34, born in the 80’s. Your accounts are so fascinating, I feel so lucky I stumbled into it thru Manila Nostalgic FB page. Am I wrong the deduce your ex-husband is BenCab? I met him at his gallery in Baguio 2 years ago. Maybe someday I’ll be able to afford one of his works. Will be waiting for your published memoir. All the best!
Thanks for your kind words, Jem. I’m glad you enjoyed some of my articles. I’m afraid the one about Imee is absolutely true! And, yes, my ex husband is BenCab. I am in awe of the Museum he has built. It truly is a legacy for him and a gift for the people of the Cordilleras. You’re right, I must push on with the rest of my memoirs!
Hi Caroline,
I very recently read your excellent book on Stephen Ward. With regards to Stephen Ward and John Lewis and Stephen’s threat to sue for slander, Stephen did follow through on this, and sued Lewis and three others. He lost, and then appealed. Please feel free to contact me and I can provide proof of this.
Thanks Karen, I would be fascinated to learn what you have to say about this. I will email you to make contact.
Just “friended” you on FB.
Thank you Ms. Kennedy for posting this blog which i wanted to share on facebook. All that you have said here in my opinion are true . I was a teenager when Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972. I was in college and also was a student activist, joining rallies against the corrupt Marcos/Imelda conjugal dictatorship . I have that book written by Mr Steve Psinakis a Greek journalist? who is or was married to one of the children of the Lopez family who owns the Meralco . It was hard in those days when the Military was in cohorts with the Marcoses. A lot of journalists, students were tortured, killed and some became as statistics in the “desaparicidos”. Yes, they were saved by the US government from being lynched by the angry Filipinos in 1986 but the People Power was all in vain because they were allowed to come back and again they are there in our Congress still raking in money . They have never stopped these leeches .
Up to now our country is still very poor, earning a slot on that so called Third World countries .. three words which I vehemently detest . It was all Marcos fault that we have the non-stop exodus of OFWs .. overseas Filipino workers which help our economy afloat and the pockets of the present corrupt politicians bulge together with their tummies.
It saddens me that our politics are the same , nothing has changed, old oligarchs are still there, corruption is the cancer of our society, Being poor is numbing in the Philippines. Vote buying is rampant, too much partisanship in politics . I feel very sad about the plight of the poor, no new schools built for the millions of young children, no hospitals built for the poor, no new infrastructures, but a lot of giant malls built by the Chinese businessmen who cheat on taxes. Quo Vadis Pilipinas?
Again, i thank you for posting this which i hope Filipinos on Facebook would read and never forget why we are in such dire strait.
from a Working Class Hero,
Maria Lourdes Appel
New York, NY
Wow, Maria Lourdes, what can I say to answer that? The love of your country is obvious and heartfelt. And your despair for it is tangible. I understand your dismay and sympathize. The Philippines is an amazing country. The people, in general, are extremely warm and very wonderful. That’s why I, too, have a soft spot for it. I wish the Chinese developers would build something worthwhile rather than huge shopping centres that only encourage people who have very little money to spend it unwisely on expensive goods. It is very sad how many ugly buildings are going up in Manila, housing for those who cannot afford it. But, take heart, it is not only in your country that this is happening. It is a global problem. And one that is very hard to solve. The willpower must be there if it is going to be done successfully.
What a shame! You blog about the Marcoses and your short encounters that make you feel you know them? You are too assumptive. You met them, so what? You write about how envious you are of another woman’s jewelry? How you displayed your rude talent in insulting guests? Her jeans? How could you even write about something you did not see? No thank you? For your rude mouth? And the only truth you wrote is you are very disgusted because you were not offered a lift back home? SPPPPPEEELLLLLLCCCCCHHHHEEEAAAAPPPP for me please!
Your blog is looking for traffic and attention and their name is your easy access to that…. Clap, clap, and more clap… It does not change the fact you write about the cheapest things. A Licensed CHISMOLETA who makes money out of gossips. I pity Irene to have listened to you. You again showed how weird and annoying you are! Another woman’s milk??? SICK pervert! Who goes to another woman and asks about her sisters milk… I think you think you are bright…I’m not sure why you did not catch her sarcasm about the PAL flights…. Listen well and start researching better! Read court files and all documents in the US courts… So you can make better things. President Marcos to this day is still the best president we ever had. This is my challenge to you. Write about yourself, how good you are and the many lives you have changed. Your contribution and kindness to humanity. Did you breast feed? Better topics! I would love to read.
I obviously have a troll here, someone who makes assumptions about me without ever having met me. I write what I saw and I stick with it, no apologies. As far as other things I have done in my life. I can’t be certain but I would happily challenge you that I have done more to help others than you have. If you scroll through my other articles, you will find I worked in Bosnia and Croatia during the war there where I helped refugees. Ditto in Azerbaijan. In both countries I helped people with disabilities, victims of landmines and people with medical problems. I don’t need to prove anything to you. And your style of writing does nothing, I’m afraid, to convince anyone reading your comments that they are the words of a rational man.
Caroline,
Your blog deserves respect from people who knows how to use words that command respect. That troll’s comment should not see the light of day in your blog!!!!
Thank you, Geng.
As a regular reader (and sometimes poster on your blog), Caroline, I urge you to delete Hartendorp’s screed. It is NOT worthy of you — nor of our time to write of such trash. Well, even the leftist The Guardian monitors their readers’ comments (I am one of those). 🙂 (My cousin knows a relation of this poster (if he is using that real last name. I’ve tried to have the name vetted.)
May I suggest that you delete his post, and put in something like …Deleted due to…whatever.” Your readers here will understand. I’d even go so far as to banning him outright.
Maybe you’re right, Myles. I do believe, however, that everyone should have a voice. I am against censorship. And i believe that any rational person reading his remarks will come to the same conclusion as we have. I will give him one more chance and if any more venom appears I will delete it and block him, as you suggest.
Caroline,
The guy has a page on FB – https://www.facebook.com/seth.hartendorp?fref=ts
He has either a cousin or some other relation who (nice guy) was my cousin’s mechanic (and friend from U.P. who settled in the LA area.) I used Siba too when I lived in LA in the late 1980s. Seth seems to have taken his degree from UST. The name is Dutch-descended.
BTW, I’ll probably be sending you a chapter or 2 for your perusal sometime after Oct 10. Would that be OK?
Myles
Thanks Myles…And,yes, I look forward to your chapters very much.
Back in early 70’s a writer name Primitivo Mijares wrote a book on Conjugal Dictatorship. He was in Chicago trying to raise money to publish the book. We helped him do it. The book was publish. I read the book. But days after the book was publish the author disappear in Chicago. They lives in the apartment in my building. Mijares and another person name Cris Ibarra (who was travelling with him disappear too. Do you have any clue what happen to them? Can you still see the “Conjugal Dictatorship”. Thanks
Thank you, Ernesto, for reminding me of this incident. I remember the disappearance of Primitivo Mijares quite well. I read his book, of course. But I never did find out what happened to him. Doubtless, he was ‘disappeared’ like many others. All the current crop of pro-Marcos acolytes have no understanding of how easily people were eliminated for their political views during the Marcos regime. Either they don’t want to hear it or they are in denial.
That’s strange about Mijares trying to raise money in Chicago. Never heard that before–and am not dismissing it; but Mijares eventually got the book published thanks to the late Alex Esclamado of the SF Bay Area-based “Philippines News.” I believe Esclamado and the other Bay Area anti-Marcos forces (Steve Psinakis, other Aquino relations, Raul Manglapus, etc.) helped Alex and Tibo publish the book.
One version of Mijares’ fate, to answer your query, Ernesto Garcia, is that he was lulled into believing that the Marcoses had forgiven him and all was well. But when he fell back into their clutches, naturally he was made to pay the price of “betrayal.” First off, they picked up one of his sons, tortured him in front of the older Mijares, including supposedly gouging out the son’s eyes, etc., etc., And as for the older Mijares himself, picking up a cue from the generals in Argentina, Mijares was supposedly pushed alive from a plane into the ocean — and thus there is no trace of the man.
How Mijares was lulled into thinking his former taskmasters had turned a page, I’ll never understand. But certainly, could one have expected any less from Ferdinand Marcos and his henchmen??
We must be vigilant. The news today that Grace Poe is launching her own presidential campaign is NOT good for Mar Roxas. And it’s even worse if Bong-Bongita decides to run for Vice. Grace Poe is going to gum up the works. Luckily, that MIGHT split the Iglesia vote vs. Binay, too. Let’s pray that might be one of the better repercussions of her decision.
The Mijares book, which is nearly 600 pages long, has just become available in Kindle format on amazon.com.
Excellent, thanks for the tip. Everyone should read that book.
hello there!i am marissa and i happened to read what you have written about imee marcos breastmilk and more about her luxurious spending(i love the emerald and the diamond jeans). a former student in one university in iloilo posted it on my wall. i was so intrigued by your identity that i searched on who you are. i greatly admire your courage in writing against the marcoses atrocities.unlike other writers you are fearless and you aren’t bought by them.how i wish there were be more like you.please, i want to read more on what you know about philippine politicians . you are not a filipino and you look at issues without any biases. Godbless u!!!
Thanks Marissa. I love your country.
excellent blog, caroline!
reading your ‘about’ page and its comment section, in particular, brought me to tears.
the world needs more people like you.
~ steve
Wow, Steve, that’s very kind, thank you! You may be interested I’m bringing out an anti-war CD this Christmas, entitled, “NOT IN OUR NAME”. It will have some wonderful actors reading original poems about recent wars forced on us by lying politicians. The proceeds will go to the child victims of the Iraq War.
i’m anti-war, -murder, the whole spectrum of human folly and frailty on top of my own, personal shortcomings, and i’m trying my best to do what is good or right in this battle i have with my self. i’d love to acquire a copy of that if i can afford it, caroline, as i’m technically a member of the marginalized. i’ve lived in the philippines my entire life — maybe a correspondence on fb would be a good start? how do i find you there?
thanks.
😉
No need to be marginalized among people as as warm and generous they are as in the Philippines! I am on FB on my two FB pages, “How the English Establshment Framed Stephen Ward” and “Impeach Tony Blair”. You may find something of interest on those pages. Best wishes.
thank you. finally found you.
😉
I love reading your story and agree on it…its true.
Thank you, Donovan.
As a Filipino millennial, I grew up with people who periodically talk about that crazy period in Philippine history (especially when political topics surface), it is refreshing hearing an outsider’s point of view on the period. Kudos to you for not pulling any punches when recounting (as honestly as possible) your personal experiences with the big figures of the time, whether the Marcoses or the Aquinos, etc.
I heard many people call you an “Honorary Filipina”, and I’d say the term fits you because you bravely seized the opportunity to know the country and its people when most expat women would happily lock themselves in a “bubble”! I wish more foreign women here are like you in this regard because you all can contribute to the betterment of this country in your own littles way if given the chance.
I am looking forward to hearing more from you. Thanks.
Thank you, Antonio, I am very touched and humbled by your generous comment. I am currently visiting the Philippines again and, hopefully, will be contributing some more articles to Philippine Esquire.
Thanks for your appreciative response to my comment. I definitely am looking forward to keeping some form of correspondence with you (perhaps via FB), and reading whatever articles you get published in our local magazines.
You’e welcome, Antonio. Best wishes, Caroline
Many of my happiest memories of my time in Costa Rica include this brilliant woman. I’m so privileged to have had an opportunity to know you, Caroline! I miss you and wish you much joy and wellness. xoxox
Thanks darling, where and when can we meet up?
FYI
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/29/the-trial-of-christine-keeler-review-another-very-english-scandal?fbclid=IwAR3nEtEI5xSeAAYVS_caTOXcvqzqIb6gE4qG3C4SwukNTpyD5KQ6Cm3UwRs
Thanks for this. I have actually been interviewed for a BBC Panorama Special to be aired after the series has ended.
Hello Caroline, I have just read your piece regarding Benjamin Mendoza.
I’m making a zine about him at the moment and I’d really like to get an interview with you.
Hi Zaccariah, many thanks for reaching out. I would be interested to help but not sure what angle you are approaching this from – a human interest story or a religious one. If the latter, I am not so interested! Send me your email and I will let you know my contact details. Best wishes. Caroline
Perfect, it is a human interest piece.
Please email me here: zac@iname.com
HI Caroline – i’m making a documentary for BBC radio about the Beatles trip to the Philippines in 1966. I wonder if it’s something you might be interested in taking part in? Especially considering Paul brought one of Bencab’s paintings! If so my email is johnathanianson@yahoo.com. Many thanks – Johnny