Just like in the Ted Bundy (Serial Killer) confession, a mysterious force might have prevented the rebels from lifting their weapons… https://youtu.be/phqDYbHY5f8 It is only after watching this video clip that without doubt, my survival from a vehicular ambush in Jolo, Sulu on the evening of 10 July 1981 (Friday) can be attributed to praying […]

By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers There is a quiet but unmistakable satisfaction that settles in a leader’s heart when subordinates show genuine happiness upon seeing him. It is not merely courtesy or protocol; it is something deeper—something reflected in their eyes, in the warmth of their greetings, and in the ease of their […]

Just like most of us, General Nick Ojeda and many others, we began as an infantrymen — trained to fight face-to-face with the enemy, to hold ground, and to prevail through courage. That identity never leaves us. But warfare has changed. Today, battles are fought not only on hills and streets, but across networks, satellites, […]

This is a story about the kidnapping and rescue of the late BISHOP FEDERICO O. ESCALER,
S.J., when he was the curate of the Diocese of Ipil in 1985. He was abducted together with
eleven companions; brought and held as hostages by the Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) inside their stronghold.

By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers Ipil had already learned how to whisper before it learned how to scream. In the weeks before the massacre in 1995, fear moved quietly through the town—passed from market stalls to parish pews, from fishermen to teachers. Men with guns had been seen too often, their faces hidden […]

By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers As mistahs, our shared memories began in the same company barracks, classrooms, on the same parade grounds, in the same noisy corridors of youth. Back then, as plebes, the world was simple: reporting to upperclassmen, compliances, punishments, escape and evasions; then, as yearling and an uppie: exams, weekend […]

Reference Book: Yuson, Alfred. In the Footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola (The Life of Bishop O. Escaler, S.J., D.D.). Jesuit Communications and Ernest Escaler. 2017. —————– By the time I finished writing the manuscript of my book (The Expired Valor), I stumbled on an article (from Philippine Star webpage dated 27 August 2017) of […]

By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers Many asked me, “Why just now? Why are you so passionate to recommend Boy Bolo for the Medal of Valor when the three-year prescription period has already lapsed?” It was not an easy question to answer. Time has its way of dulling memories, but not the truth. The […]

By J. Irving General Sobejana and Distinguished members of the AFP Awards and Decorations Board — May it be in your sins of omission that you made a terrible mistake for denying a true hero. In every generation, there rise men who stand against overwhelming odds—heroes who face their giants not for glory, but for the […]