Post by VeeVee on May 20, 2008 5:52:32 GMT -5
Cross-posting from Timawa...
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JOSE FRANCISCO was a 17-year-old student at the Manila South High School. After topping both the civil service and qualifying tests for the US Naval Academy, he left for America aboard an Army transport vessel, the USS Thomas, the same ship that brought to the Philippines the American school teachers who would be collectively known as the Thomasites.
The young boy had no travel documents, no passport, no visa. All he carried with him was a letter of appointment signed by the governor general and a safe conduct pass.
At that time, the purpose of sending scholars to Annapolis and West Point was to produce Filipino officers for the Philippine Scouts. We had no Navy to speak of.
Unfortunately the Great Depression resulting from the stock market crash in 1929 left no money for commissioning a young Annapolis graduate and so in 1931 after his graduation, he found himself jobless. Strangely enough, his counterpart at West Point, Rufo Romero, who was later convicted of selling Bataan maps to Japanese intelligence, was commissioned immediately in the Philippine Scouts.
Francisco returned home a civilian with only an Annapolis diploma in his hand. He joined the Lopez-owned Iloilo Negros Air Express more as a mechanic because of his background with airplane engines as a midshipman. After a while, he began to have flying lessons and soon piled up 90 flying hours, one half of which were solo.
After three years with Iloilo Air Express, he joined the air section of the Philippine Constabulary and was sent to Randolph Field in Texas for formal flying training. He became the first Filipino to graduate from the US Army Air Corps Training Center in Randolph. Returning home in 1937, he served as a flight instructor with the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) Flying School. It was here that he met a Maj. Dwight Eisenhower, chief of staff of Douglas MacArthur, and after a while he became Ike's regular instructor as the American pilots were often not available. Their relationship became so close that at times Ike would confide in him about his policy differences with MacArthur which to Francisco meant his impending relief and return to the United States.
After World War II, he rejoined his old unit at PAAC, but later was enticed to serve in the Offshore Patrol. Fourteen years after graduating from Annapolis, he was finally in a naval organization.
The Offshore Patrol became the Philippine Naval Patrol (PNP); in 1951, the PNP was re-designated the Philippine Navy. As head of the organization, Francisco was promoted to the rank of commodore and became the first flag Officer in command (FOIC) of the Philippine Navy. In a conversation with the Commodore, he related the following story: One of the minor issues facing the Navy at that time was the proper title for its commander. With the promotion of Francisco to flag rank, the most logical designation would have been flag officer commanding (FOC) but Francisco was not too happy with the initials so he tasked his chief of personnel, Capt. Quirico Evangelista, who incidentally composed the alma mater song of the PMA, to come up with some other ideas for the position. Evangelista found out that in Singapore the No. 2 man in the British Navy Headquarters carried the title flag officer second in command (FOSIC) and suggested something similar--flag officer in command (FOIC) for the Philippine Navy. Francisco readily agreed to the recommendation and to this day the chief of the Navy is known as FOIC.
In 1957 Gen. Alfonso Arellano was the AFP chief of staff. Jose Francisco was the most senior service commander and when Arellano left for Australia with Vice President Carlos Garcia, Francisco was designated acting chief of staff. Earlier, he had been informed by Defense Secretary Eulogio Balao that President Ramon Magsaysay had already decided on his designation as the new chief of staff upon the retirement of Arellano.
Unfortunately, with the death of Magsaysay in Cebu and the assumption to the presidency of Carlos Garcia, events in the AFP took a different turn. Gen. Manuel Cabal, the PC chief who was junior to Francisco, was elevated to chief of staff succeeding Arellano and the Navy lost its chance to fill up the C/S AFP position. Francisco did not venture any explanation for the bypass. When I asked him what his greatest disappointment in life was, he was silent for a few moments after which he replied, "The golf course always wins." I took it to mean that someone else decides our fate and there is not much one can do about it.
Last week, Commodore Jose Francisco passed away just five days short of his 98th birthday.
Somehow I am reminded of a line from the novel "Don Quixote" by the great Spanish writer and poet Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. "There is a strange charm in the thoughts of a good legacy which wondrously removes or at least alleviates the sorrows that men would otherwise feel for the death of friends."
What then has been the legacy of Jose Samosa Francisco? He left behind a strong and modern naval organization. It was during his term that significant changes were made in the organizational structure of the Philippine Navy with the creation of the Naval Training Command and the Naval Operating Forces which became the source of many future FOICs. He established the Philippine Marines with the activation of the First Marine Company, which became the nucleus of the present-day Marine Corps, one of two elite fighting units of the AFP. He nationalized practices in the naval command using the names of provinces, inland waterways, and ethnic regions to replace the code numbers of navy ships. So we had, for instance, RPS Cotabato, which stood for "Republic of the Philippines Ship" Cotabato. During his watch, the Navy got its combat pay, specialist pay, hazardous duty pay, sea duty and flying pay along with other benefits which greatly improved Navy morale.
The other legacy for which he will be remembered was his strong conviction regarding duty, honor and country. He stressed: You follow orders from your superior officer, you give your word and stick by it and you put the country before the individual.
But more than anything else, his greatest legacy to the nation and to his family in particular will be a respected name untarnished by scandal or by any hint of impropriety. He was the Grand Old Man of the Philippine Navy--its longest serving chief. The entire AFP mourns his passing.
Inq7.net
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JOSE FRANCISCO was a 17-year-old student at the Manila South High School. After topping both the civil service and qualifying tests for the US Naval Academy, he left for America aboard an Army transport vessel, the USS Thomas, the same ship that brought to the Philippines the American school teachers who would be collectively known as the Thomasites.
The young boy had no travel documents, no passport, no visa. All he carried with him was a letter of appointment signed by the governor general and a safe conduct pass.
At that time, the purpose of sending scholars to Annapolis and West Point was to produce Filipino officers for the Philippine Scouts. We had no Navy to speak of.
Unfortunately the Great Depression resulting from the stock market crash in 1929 left no money for commissioning a young Annapolis graduate and so in 1931 after his graduation, he found himself jobless. Strangely enough, his counterpart at West Point, Rufo Romero, who was later convicted of selling Bataan maps to Japanese intelligence, was commissioned immediately in the Philippine Scouts.
Francisco returned home a civilian with only an Annapolis diploma in his hand. He joined the Lopez-owned Iloilo Negros Air Express more as a mechanic because of his background with airplane engines as a midshipman. After a while, he began to have flying lessons and soon piled up 90 flying hours, one half of which were solo.
After three years with Iloilo Air Express, he joined the air section of the Philippine Constabulary and was sent to Randolph Field in Texas for formal flying training. He became the first Filipino to graduate from the US Army Air Corps Training Center in Randolph. Returning home in 1937, he served as a flight instructor with the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) Flying School. It was here that he met a Maj. Dwight Eisenhower, chief of staff of Douglas MacArthur, and after a while he became Ike's regular instructor as the American pilots were often not available. Their relationship became so close that at times Ike would confide in him about his policy differences with MacArthur which to Francisco meant his impending relief and return to the United States.
After World War II, he rejoined his old unit at PAAC, but later was enticed to serve in the Offshore Patrol. Fourteen years after graduating from Annapolis, he was finally in a naval organization.
The Offshore Patrol became the Philippine Naval Patrol (PNP); in 1951, the PNP was re-designated the Philippine Navy. As head of the organization, Francisco was promoted to the rank of commodore and became the first flag Officer in command (FOIC) of the Philippine Navy. In a conversation with the Commodore, he related the following story: One of the minor issues facing the Navy at that time was the proper title for its commander. With the promotion of Francisco to flag rank, the most logical designation would have been flag officer commanding (FOC) but Francisco was not too happy with the initials so he tasked his chief of personnel, Capt. Quirico Evangelista, who incidentally composed the alma mater song of the PMA, to come up with some other ideas for the position. Evangelista found out that in Singapore the No. 2 man in the British Navy Headquarters carried the title flag officer second in command (FOSIC) and suggested something similar--flag officer in command (FOIC) for the Philippine Navy. Francisco readily agreed to the recommendation and to this day the chief of the Navy is known as FOIC.
In 1957 Gen. Alfonso Arellano was the AFP chief of staff. Jose Francisco was the most senior service commander and when Arellano left for Australia with Vice President Carlos Garcia, Francisco was designated acting chief of staff. Earlier, he had been informed by Defense Secretary Eulogio Balao that President Ramon Magsaysay had already decided on his designation as the new chief of staff upon the retirement of Arellano.
Unfortunately, with the death of Magsaysay in Cebu and the assumption to the presidency of Carlos Garcia, events in the AFP took a different turn. Gen. Manuel Cabal, the PC chief who was junior to Francisco, was elevated to chief of staff succeeding Arellano and the Navy lost its chance to fill up the C/S AFP position. Francisco did not venture any explanation for the bypass. When I asked him what his greatest disappointment in life was, he was silent for a few moments after which he replied, "The golf course always wins." I took it to mean that someone else decides our fate and there is not much one can do about it.
Last week, Commodore Jose Francisco passed away just five days short of his 98th birthday.
Somehow I am reminded of a line from the novel "Don Quixote" by the great Spanish writer and poet Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. "There is a strange charm in the thoughts of a good legacy which wondrously removes or at least alleviates the sorrows that men would otherwise feel for the death of friends."
What then has been the legacy of Jose Samosa Francisco? He left behind a strong and modern naval organization. It was during his term that significant changes were made in the organizational structure of the Philippine Navy with the creation of the Naval Training Command and the Naval Operating Forces which became the source of many future FOICs. He established the Philippine Marines with the activation of the First Marine Company, which became the nucleus of the present-day Marine Corps, one of two elite fighting units of the AFP. He nationalized practices in the naval command using the names of provinces, inland waterways, and ethnic regions to replace the code numbers of navy ships. So we had, for instance, RPS Cotabato, which stood for "Republic of the Philippines Ship" Cotabato. During his watch, the Navy got its combat pay, specialist pay, hazardous duty pay, sea duty and flying pay along with other benefits which greatly improved Navy morale.
The other legacy for which he will be remembered was his strong conviction regarding duty, honor and country. He stressed: You follow orders from your superior officer, you give your word and stick by it and you put the country before the individual.
But more than anything else, his greatest legacy to the nation and to his family in particular will be a respected name untarnished by scandal or by any hint of impropriety. He was the Grand Old Man of the Philippine Navy--its longest serving chief. The entire AFP mourns his passing.
Inq7.net