I Am Buraot

During the term of Richard Gordon as mayor of Olongapo City, there were at least 26 cases of “salvagings” or summary executions that victimized at least 28 people. The killings were believed to have been made to cleanse the city of undesirable elements and maintain its allure as the center for the R & R [...]

When I came to Olongapo, I was very hopeful. I just had a daughter, her mom is a native Olongapena, and I decided to go there to start a new life. It’s a bustling city yet with a small town feel. The night life is not as good as Manila but having been a fan [...]

Here they come again. I knew what I’m about to take when I decided to write personal experiences about my life in Olongapo, or at least parts of it. Heat. I’m about to take some unnecessary heat. Of all the searches online regarding the 2010 presidentiables, presidential wannabe Richard Gordon had the most positive posts [...]

Ganito pala sa Olongapo, parang war zone. This was the surprised remark from one of the media personnel from GMA-7 who witnessed what happened that fateful day in November 1996. All the action were going on inside the SBMA where the APEC forum was being held, so it only makes sense for all the media, [...]

In just a matter of minutes, after that quick anesthesia-less operation and humiliation inside the operating room, I was in a wheelchair being pushed by that UP volunteer all the way to the x-ray room and unto my assigned room, which was the orthopedic ward. Weird. I don’t think I had any broken bone or [...]

It was November 1996. The APEC Summit was being held in Subic Bay, Philippines. It was a time for the country to show off its newly established Subic Bay after the former bases were left by the Americans under piles of ashes brought by the Pinatubo eruption. It was also the time for then President [...]