There were 30 lovely girls dancing the hula with fake yellow grass skirts. The food was also superb: huge tunas from General Santos City were made into sashimi by a Japanese who has a Japanese restaurant in Marapara itself. There were oysters from Roxas City (about 25 sacks), roast calf, lechon, lechon manok, all the beer (from Asia Brewery) one could drink and so on. Too bad that it rained on Marapara’s party. Because of the rain, some 15 colegialas walked the seniors to the dining area shielding then with umbrellas to the great delight of the DOMs.

Negrenses can really throw a party. This one was thanks to Epifanio Torre, president of Marapara (formal name: Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club). According to Mark Gaston, NOGCC general manager, who managed the affair, Panio told him to spare no expense. When told that the club would make nothing from hosting the interclub, the NOCC President’s answer was: Do we need the money?

PAL also brought in Gary Valenciano. Of course, being a men’s tournament, he hardly got any notice from the audience but the wives were visibly thrilled.

Thanks to Inquirer Golf, there is now a complete history of the PAL Interclub including all the winners for each of the 61 years, thanks to the multi-year research by Jun Engracia. The founders of the tournament were Col. Ramon Zosa, Ben Gaston, Leopoldo Rivera and Buenaventura M. Veloso. The idea was to promote the various domestic destinations of the fledgling airline which was then still in its infancy. So was golf.

The first tournament was at Wack Wack with five other clubs also joining in – Manila Gold, Negros, Cebu, Army and Buayas, a course in Caloocan. (If any readers know where Buayas golf club was and where Manila Golf used to be in Caloocan, please write so that we can fill in some more blanks in our Philippine golf history.)

There were old photos on the board of Marapara that were great to look at. These too ought to be preserved and may be of interest by some golf historian of the future.

Sadly, since 1982, all of the PAL Interclubs have only been in Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro or Bacolod where before it was also held in Luzon. Since 2002, the Interclub has not been played in Cebu. It is now down to three destinations since it needs to play in at least two golf courses because of the number of participants. The other golf course in Bacolod where the 61st Interclub is playing is Hacienda Binitin in Murcia.

The first tournament in Wack Wack had 120 participants. This time, in Bacolod, there are 160 clubs entered – 83 in the 21st Senior Tournament and 77 vin the Men’s competition. This beats the record 140 clubs that participated last year in the 60th Interclub in Cagayan de Oro. This is about 1,800 participants!

Actually, considering that PAL now faces some competition even on its domestic routes, perhaps, it could make a rule that would qualify those who are in Luzon to play in the Luzon tournament if they can show PAL domestic roundtrip tickets to Mindanao or the Visayas sometime between January and the date of the Interclub. Why not? That would at least give the players (many of whom are balikbayans from everywhere in the world) a chance to play in the Manila and Luzon golf courses.

At any rate, I am glad that the PAL Interclub has survived. And this Luzon senior amateur golfer is glad to play the great courses in the Visayas and Mindanao. (There’s a new course being built in Davao as I write.)

***

Here is the kind of letter that I like receiving because it gives us all something to chew on and is not hate mail:

"Please bring us back to the barracks.

"We are soldiers. We are also citizens. We, together with our families, are so much a part of the community more than our beloved organization. We are not faceless automatons incapable of thinking, feeling and discernment. We feel the pain of our neighbors as much as their anger. We see their oppression and sense their hopelessness. Of course, their happiness is ours too. But they are not! We too can distinguish good from evil, a truth from a lie, an honest one from a cheat and a thief. But it would be our most grievous sin if we tolerate and do nothing about it.

"In the 2004 elections, a misguided and partisan few from among our ranks went out of our barracks not with a noble intent….but to commit a crime against the people. The rest of us stayed behind and watched as it happened. These criminals in uniform strayed away from barracks not to protect the people, but rather to subvert the will of the people. They are still out of barracks trying to cover up for the crimes they committed while suppressing the truth. Sadly, more are being lured out of barracks to partake of the loot.

"EDSA 1 and today are no more different. In fact, today is worse than the conditions that prevailed before. There are more compelling reasons for the soldiers to go outside of its barracks. The mess that was created in 2004 either by direct participation and/or by silent complicity needs to be cleaned. It would be the height of insensitivity and callousness to let alone the people do the cleaning when we, ourselves, were so much a part of it. Going out of barracks to join the people in communal action to rid the ills that befell our nation is a Constitutional duty. In fact, it is demanded of us, as soldiers, by the very people whom we failed. Let us not, this time, fail them. Let our voices be heard from the barracks. Let our sense of community be felt from the barracks. And let our actions be seen in and out of the barracks.

"After everything has been said and done…. We appeal to the Filipino people to bring us back to barracks and keep us there. Keep us forever in barracks by electing responsible public officials and holding them accountable, by being ever vigilant and by strengthening your sense of community. We, your soldiers, will then march back to barracks to settle to the task of keeping your worthy trust and respect. Let that be our covenant.

"Keep the spirit burning and Mabuhay Kayong Lahat!" – Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, Marines and Scout Rangers incarcerated for allegedly planning to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo two years ago.