Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator
Eduardo Jose L. Aliño recognized the United States Sailors Alliance of the
Philippines (USSAP) for paving the way for the construction of a commemorative monument
of Filipino-American naval history and friendship, as well as the strong bond
between them.
“Here in Subic Bay, a place rich in maritime history, it is fitting that
we honor their contributions. Subic has long been a bridge connecting our two
nations, and today, this monument shows the strengthening of this bond even
further. It tells future generations that Filipinos played an essential role in
safeguarding peace and freedom across the seas,” he said.
Led by the USSAP, the monument was built to symbolize the
dedication of Filipino sailors who were recruited by the United States between 1901 and 1991 in the Philippines.
According to the USSAP, over 35,000 Filipinos were recruited through
centers like the US naval bases at Subic Bay and Sangley Point during this
period, leaving a significant legacy of service.
The USSAP has been instrumental in preserving and recognizing this
history, including the funding and presentation of a Filipino Shipmate statue
to honor these sailors in Olongapo City.
Olongapo City Mayor Atty. Rolen Paulino Jr., Bases Conversion and
Development Authority (BCDA) Director Rolen Paulino, officials from the USSAP,
and the US Embassy in the Philippines were present during the unveiling and
ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The USSAP is strongly committed to celebrating the deep history and
contributions of US-Filipino sailors, especially in Subic Bay, Olongapo, where
many were recruited, honoring significant personalities such as Medal of Honor
recipient Telesforo Trinidad, and recognizing Filipino contributions to U.S.
maritime forces.
The Filipino Shipmate monument memorializes their services. (MPD-SBMA)
[1] Olongapo City residents lay flowers and light candles at the Inang Laya Monument in Subic Bay Freeport to honor and to show respect for former Senate President Jovito Salonga who passed away last Thursday (March 10) at the age of 95.
[2] Flowers were laid at the handprint cast of former Senate President Jovito Salonga at the Inang Laya Monument in Subic Bay Freeport on March 11, to honor and show respect for the former statesman who passed away last Thursday at the age of 95.
Salonga is one of the 12 senators who voted for the rejection of the RP-US Military Bases Agreement in 1991, paving the way for the conversion of this former American naval base into a bustling industrial and tourism hub. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)
Officials and employees of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Wednesday night paid their last respects to a former chairman of the agency, RAdm. Feliciano G. Salonga, PCGA, who passed away last January 29 at the age of 86.
In a necrological service held at SBMA Gym here, SBMA officials led by Chairman Roberto Garcia paid tribute to Salonga who headed the Subic agency from 2006 to 2011.
Former SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza, who served with Salonga, was also there to recall fond memories of the former official who was known among SBMA employees for his punctuality and colorful language.
Former Zambales governor Vicente Magsaysay and his son, former SBMA director Jesus Victor, also attended the ceremonies.
Gerard Salonga, conductor, musical arranger, orchestrator, as well as founder, musical director and conductor of FILharmoniKA, also paid his last respects to his father and, along with his symphony orchestra, offered a musical tribute to the former SBMA Chairman.
On Monday night, SBMA Deputy Administrator Randy Escolango, who is also commander of the 111th Squadron of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA), also led PCGA officials in a necrological mass to honor their former comrade.
A graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, Salonga held the rank of a Rear Admiral in the PCGA, and organized the PCGA 103rd Squadron (Zambales) in Subic and became its commander.
Among the PCGA officials who gave their final salute to their former comrade were Commodore Gerry Reyes, who read a poem in Salonga’s honor, Vice Admiral Jose Lito Aseniero, VAdm Joseph Dy and VAdm Valentin Prieto.
Salonga’s wife, Luz, received the Philippine flag presented by PCGA officials.
Salonga served as the fourth SBMA chairman and head of agency and was credited with steering the agency towards further development of its maritime business sector.
Prior to his appointment to the SBMA, Salonga served in various capacities for other maritime-related companies: president and general manager of Philippine Shipyard & Engineering Corp.; vice chairman of the Bataan Shipyard & Engineering Co., Inc.; managing director of Marine Consultancy Division of B.P. Mata & Co., Inc.; marketing director of MLD & Associates, a marine consultancy firm; and executive chairman of Sabah Shipyard Philippines, Inc.
He also became chief of the Aids-to-Navigation Group, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA) National Command; and a commissioned officer (LT. SG) of the Philippine Navy who at one time served as TF-04 Intelligence Officer, Patrol Force Staff Engineering Officer, and Division 21 Chief Engineering Officer.
In 1998, Salonga was named "Outstanding Professional Achievement Awardee for the year 1998" by the alumni group of his alma mater, the United States Merchant Marine Academy Alumni in Kings Point, New York.
In 1994, he was also awarded a presidential citation by President Fidel V. Ramos for the successful privatization of the Philippine Shipyard & Engineering Corporation in Subic, Zambales.
In 1989, Salonga was named an adopted son of Subic in recognition of his service to the community. A similar honor was bestowed on him on October 24, 2015, when he was made an adopted son of Zambales for his goodwill and support to the people of the province "with the common vision for excellent service and development of the (Subic Bay) Freeport and the Zambales Province.”
After the wake at the SBMA Gym, Salonga’s remains were brought to San Felipe, Zambales, where he was buried at the Fiñones Memorial Garden Cemetery on Friday, February 5. (RAV,HEE/MPD-SBMA) VIDEO: IN MEMORIAM: A video tribute in memory of former SBMA Chairman Salonga, produced by the Media Production Department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (DMS,FLP/MPD-SBMA)
RESPECT: SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia (right) lines up along the way with security officers from the SBMA Law Enforcement Department to pay their respect to PO3 John Lloyd Sumbilla, one of the slain SAF commandos in Maguindanao. Sumbilla’s funeral procession passed through the Subic Bay Freeport on Friday from Morong, Bataan on the way to Olongapo City where the fallen hero was cremated. (AED/MPD-SBMA)
The huge Philippine flag in front of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administration building flies at half-mast on Friday in keeping with the National Day of Mourning ordered by President Benigno Aquino III in honor of the 44 police commandos who were killed in Maguindanao last Sunday. (AED/MPD-SBMA)
Sixty-seven years after the sinking of “hell ship” Montevideo Maru off the coast of Luzon, Australian nationals led by their ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith went all the way to Subic Bay to honor their fallen countrymen.
In a simple ceremony held at the Hellship Memorial fronting the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administration building, Smith and World War-II veterans, as well as relatives of those who perished onboard Montevideo Maru, unveiled a plaque memorializing “Australia’s greatest disaster at sea.”
Smith said “hell ships” refer to vessels used by the Japanese Imperial Army to transport Allied prisoners of war (POW) to places where they would be used for forced labor.
As Allied forces closed in at the end of World War II, these POWs were transferred in cargo holds of hell ships with little air, food, or water for journeys lasting for weeks.
These hell ships, or “Jigoku Sen” in Japanese, were unmarked, making them legitimate targets for the Allied forces.
The ill-fated Montevideo Maru which took off from Rabaul, Papua New Guinea on June 22, 1942 has 1,054 people onboard, including 71 Japanese crewmen and guards. It was torpedoed by the American submarine Sturgeon nine days later, as it was on its way to Hainan Island..
“There was no trace of these men taken prisoner, and the families of these men still grieve,” said Smith.
The Australian nationals consoled each other through prayers, and laid wreaths during the ceremony here which started at 11:00 a.m. and ended promptly at noon..
“This is ample proof that emotional wounds never really healed,” said a teary-eyed Clive Troy, member of the Australian Return Service League (RSL), who promotes Australian support for the Hellships Memorial here.
Also present at the ceremony, aside from members of the Australian Embassy and SBMA officials, were Papua New Guinea Association of Australia representative Andrea Williams, Olongapo City Mayor James “Bong” Gordon Jr., and members of the Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles Association, RSL Subic Bay, and RSL Angeles.
The Subic memorial, which was built through private donations and inaugurated in 2005, commemorated the sinking of the hell ship Oryoku Maru that limped into the Subic Bay after being attacked by U.S. Navy aircraft on December 13, 1944. On board were 1,600 American prisoners en route to Japan.
The Oryoku Maru burned off Subic’s Naval Station after additional attacks, then sank about 100 yards off the site where the hell ship memorial stands today. (SBMA Corporate Communications)
PHOTO: Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith pays tribute to compatriots who perished in the “hell ship” Montevideo Maru, which sank off Luzon during World War II.
Ailsa Nisbet, 82, along with her daughter Marg Curtis and cousin Ron Hayes, will represent one of 15 Australian families at the July 1 memorial at Subic Bay (Freeport) in the Philippines.
THE hardest thing for families who lost relatives in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru during World War II was not knowing the fate of their loved ones.
But for those families, closure may finally come on Wednesday when a plaque is unveiled at an official ceremony marking Australia's worst maritime tragedy.
Melbourne, Australia - Ailsa Nisbet, 82, along with her daughter Marg Curtis and cousin Ron Hayes, will represent one of 15 Australian families at the July 1 memorial at Subic Bay in the Philippines.
They leave Melbourne today to pay respects to Ms Nisbet's brother, Private John "Jack" Groat, who was on board the Montevideo Maru when it sank on July 1, 1942, carrying 845 prisoners of war from Australia's Lark Force and 208 civilian men.
The troops had been taken prisoner after Japan invaded Rabaul in Papua New Guinea in January 1942.
The unmarked Japanese ship left occupied Rabaul on June 22, 1942 but nine days later an American submarine, unaware it was carrying allied prisoners, torpedoed it off the Philippines coast.
The sinking of the ship was not reported back to Australia, and for several years the fate of the prisoners of war was unknown.
Ms Nisbet said for years her brother's fate was a mystery.
"The family was first told he was missing," she said.
"Then they said 'missing presumed dead', then we got a message he was a prisoner of war, then we got a letter from Jack saying he was being looked after by the Japanese.
"But that's all. Mum didn't hear what happened until late 1945. And there is still doubt about it," she said.
In 1997, Ms Nisbet visited Rabaul to see where her brother was stationed and this year Ms Curtis and Mr Hayes completed a three-day trek retracing the escape many Lark Force men made during Japanese occupation.
"It's a very emotional trip," Ms Nisbet said.
"It's been many, many years and nothing has been heard of the Montevideo Maru and it's just all coming out now.
"I'm the last member of the family and it will be a closure for me to go up there."
Former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley, whose uncle Reverend Sydney Beazley was lost on the ship, is the patron of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee.
Phil Ainsworth, in the Philippines for the event, said the committee aimed to get more national recognition for the tragedy.
"This memorial will give the families some comfort because even now 67 years later they still feel discomforted and in grief," he said.
Another attendee is Andrea Williams, whose grandfather and great uncle were on board. She wants a government response similar to that for the recently found HMAS Sydney, another World War II sea tragedy that claimed 645 lives.
"There is a fair amount of literature on the Montevideo sinking but there are some nagging specifics, like why there was no inquiry into the fate of these men," she said.
Australian archives had several passenger lists but they were inconsistent and there was no passenger manifest, she said.
"What has happened to the nominal roll of the men apparently on board?"
Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin marked the 67th anniversary of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru in a speech to Parliament last Friday.
Mr Griffin said the Australian Government put $7200 towards the memorial and the Australian ambassador to the Philippines, Rod Smith, will attend.
"I've spoken to individuals who lost family members as part of the Montevideo Maru and I know these things remain with people forever," he said.
"I express my heartfelt sympathy for their loss." (Ilya Gridneff AAP, The Age)
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