Gabriel Segovia hails from Laguna, Philippines. The youngest son of a wealthy family, he was raised with Christian values of daily prayers, respect, humility, and community service. Everything is going well for him in his quest for a future as a mechanical engineer until his final year of college. Broken with devastation when a freak accident takes his two childhood friends, he is left wondering what he could have done to save them. Under the provisions of the Military Bases Agreement between the United States and the Philippines, Filipino nationals are recruited to serve as stewards on US Navy ships. Most Filipinos enlist in the United States Navy for one purpose: an opportunity for a better life. But for Segovia, it is different. He feels the Navy might provide what he needs in search of a panacea for the emptiness and pain that haunt him. With his family's blessing, he enlists in the Navy. And like most minorities, he faces bigotry and abuse on board the ship. However, his commanding officer develops a certain admiration for him, even inviting Gabriel to a life-changing Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Love abounds, and as other family members grapple with their past, the adventure leads us back to the Philippine islands in search of closure and new beginnings. A deployment to the Western Pacific during the Vietnam War and a kidnapping motivated by vengeance push Gabriel to the limits of his endurance, faith, and call of duty. His unquestionable courage, his caring for the welfare of others, his unselfishness, and his devotion to God, country, and duty make him an inspiration to his family and his shipmates, touching the lives of many and leaving behind a legacy to be shared with generations to come as he finds peace within himself.
Gabriel Segovia hails from Laguna, Philippines. The youngest son of a wealthy family, he was raised with Christian values of daily prayers, respect, humility, and community service. Everything is going well for him in his quest for a future as a mechanical engineer until his final year of college. Broken with devastation when a freak accident takes his two childhood friends, he is left wondering what he could have done to save them. Under the provisions of the Military Bases Agreement between the United States and the Philippines, Filipino nationals are recruited to serve as stewards on US Navy ships. Most Filipinos enlist in the United States Navy for one purpose: an opportunity for a better life. But for Segovia, it is different. He feels the Navy might provide what he needs in search of a panacea for the emptiness and pain that haunt him. With his family's blessing, he enlists in the Navy. And like most minorities, he faces bigotry and abuse on board the ship. However, his commanding officer develops a certain admiration for him, even inviting Gabriel to a life-changing Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Love abounds, and as other family members grapple with their past, the adventure leads us back to the Philippine islands in search of closure and new beginnings. A deployment to the Western Pacific during the Vietnam War and a kidnapping motivated by vengeance push Gabriel to the limits of his endurance, faith, and call of duty. His unquestionable courage, his caring for the welfare of others, his unselfishness, and his devotion to God, country, and duty make him an inspiration to his family and his shipmates, touching the lives of many and leaving behind a legacy to be shared with generations to come as he finds peace within himself.
Established in 1611, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, Philippines--one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the world--was transformed into the largest internment camp by the occupying Japanese forces during World War II. Over seven thousand civilian foreigners considered enemies by Japan, Italy, and Germany, their spouses, and their children, together with several American military medical personnel, were imprisoned, brutalized, and starved. Its campus, founded to promote knowledge and cultivate academic progress through Christian-based curriculum and instructions, became a silent witness to Japanese atrocities. Prisoners were subjected to constant harassments, endless abuses, physical attacks, and starvation, which resulted to severe injuries, diseases, long-term illnesses, and deaths. Meager help from other foreigners, the locals, and the Red Cross flowed over and through the fence but came to a halt after the Japanese sealed the entire perimeter. To survive, they clung to their faith on the US military, on one another, and in God. However, they never felt more helpless and more isolated than when the American forces surrendered to the Japanese after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor. Dr. Celeste Craig, her husband Adam, and their two young children were brutally arrested, and their home severely ravaged by the Japanese. Celeste and the children were interned at Santo Tomas; Adam was taken someplace else. As their lives intertwined with others, they experienced the most horrible, horrifying, and desperate circumstances that brought them into the brink of despair. On the other hand, countless acts of kindness and compassion from unexpected sources kept their hopes alive. Celeste made a promise to survive the war, reunite with Adam, and become a family again. Adam made a vow that he would not give up finding his family at all costs. However, wishing and praying were not enough. Survival became a challenge. Death was knocking on the door. They needed a miracle!
Presents an account of the author's over twenty years in Fidel Castro's tropical gulag as a result of his philosophical and religious opposition to communism. This book gives a picture of the Cuba that he lived in and tells of how his deep Christian faith kept him from abandoning hope during the most evil treatment.
This book addresses a puzzle in political economy: why is it that political instability does not necessarily translate into economic stagnation or collapse? In order to address this puzzle, it advances a theory about property rights systems in many less developed countries. In this theory, governments do not have to enforce property rights as a public good. Instead, they may enforce property rights selectively (as a private good), and share the resulting rents with the group of asset holders who are integrated into the government. Focusing on Mexico, this book explains how the property rights system was constructed during the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship (1876-1911) and then explores how this property rights system either survived, or was reconstructed. The result is an analytic economic history of Mexico under both stability and instability, and a generalizable framework about the interaction of political and economic institutions.
Son of the Orient Seas: An Autobiography by Armando A. de la Cruz, Ph.D. Son of the Orient Seas provides a telegraphic history of the Philippines and brings light to the oppressive Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II. The author shares his own childhood experiences during such times of upheaval as well as his struggle to achieve a decent early education. Perseverance wins him a world-class education and an academic profession that most have only dreamed of. Complete with charming tales of a personal “love boat” meeting, long distance courtship and lucid memories of strange dreams, de la Cruz provides a window into the life of his hard-working and determined immigrant family. Though written as a tangible legacy for his family and friends, Son of the Orient Seas offers interesting, amusing and even heart-warming stories of one remarkable man’s life.
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