Back To The 70's

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

What is now the POEA Bldg. in Ortigas/EDSA was Ricardo Silverio's Delta Motors Corp. head office. Across the street was Tropical Hut Restaurant.

Yes that's right. And for the longest time, the site where Tropical Hut used to stand became a deep hole which threatened the stability of the general area.

[Bugatti Veyron]

The 70's was a time when Metro Manila was called Greater Manila. Traffic wasn't so bad, populations in the various cities weren't so dense and crime was much lower back then. At least that is my perception as I was growing up in that decade.

[KayaK]

In December 7, 1972, Imelda Marcos survived a bolo attack from Carlito Dimahilig at the Nayong Pilipino.

[Bugatti Veyron]

In December 7, 1972, Imelda Marcos survived a bolo attack from Carlito Dimahilig at the Nayong Pilipino.

I saw this on television. The attacker had his long knife concealed in his long-sleeved shirt and pulled it out as soon as he got within stabbing range of the former first lady. The attacker was shot dead.

 

 

 

 

 

[sonnyt111]

No internet, no cellphones, no 3-D HD TVs, no PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, no fax, no GPS, emails, digital cameras, personal video cameras, no cable, digital programming, no blu-tooth, no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media apps. We didn't even cordless phones back in the 1970's.

 

Yet, what we didn't know about, we never missed. Today we feel helpless without these modern technological inventions.

 

 

 

[KayaK]

8-Track tapes covering almost the entire windshield of jeepneys in metro manila

[BudzOrg]

Few people in Metro Manila so less pollution

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

My brother bought me a cd of Bread. Listening to the music brought me back to the 70's.

[clandestinecuddles]

Jukebox ang modern day videoke

[BudzOrg]

Less crimes then

[sonnyt111]

Drugs of choice back then were marijuana (still popular today), LSD, and Heroin. Right after martial law was declared in 1972, heroin trafficker Lim Seng was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in what is today Bonifacio Global City. BGC used to be called Fort Bonifacio. McKinley Road, which links EDSA to BGC, hardly had any traffic because the road ended at Fort Bonifacio which had a gate manned by military police. No one could enter Fort Bonifacio without being a member of the Armed Forces or having some sort of security clearance.

 

So there wasn't much traffic on that road in the 1970's. The only ones who passed there were military personnel, members of the Manila Golf Club/Manila Polo Club, and certain Forbes Park residents and their visitors.

Edited January 22, 2014 by sonnyt111

[KayaK]

Four semesters of ROTC was mandatory for male college students. Then there was YADO (youth action development organization) founded by Alex Villalon offering alternative to ROTC. No fatigue uniforms, no drills and parade formations under the hot Sunday morning sun. And one can keep a "gupit-binata" haircut.

[BudzOrg]

ROTC was beneficial to me and my family of course. Nice training for future responsibilities

[Bugatti Veyron]

Four semesters of ROTC was mandatory for male college students. Then there was YADO (youth action development organization) founded by Alex Villalon offering alternative to ROTC. No fatigue uniforms, no drills and parade formations under the hot Sunday morning sun. And one can keep a "gupit-binata" haircut.

I had to undergo 4 semesters of ROTC back in college. Haircut regulation was 2 fingers from the ear and 3 fingers from the collar. Coming from a generation that treasured long hair, that was just awful. Then one day an officer from the marine corps went around asking for volunteers. He said the training would be held at Fort Bonifacio instead of the school grounds. And the haircut regulation would be relaxed.

 

Of course I volunteered. Fort Bonifacio is much closer to my house and I liked the less strict haircut regulation. But there was a price to pay. First, the hours were longer. Regular ROTC cadets trained from 1 pm to 5 pm every Saturday. We were made to drill from 12 noon till 6 pm.

 

Regular ROTC cadets marched without carrying heavy M1 Garand rifles. We were made to march with said rifles which weigh like a ton after several hours.

 

Whenever it rains, regular cadets were allowed to break off from training and seek shelter inside classrooms. We were made to march with our rifles, rain or shine.

 

Then of course we had this bivouac where we had to march 2 hours up a mountain which was said to be infested by NPA rebels. Even heard several gun shots and I was afraid the NPA would mistake us for regular Army soldiers.

 

After 2 hours of hiking up and down the mountain, my canteen was empty. I was expecting to see sari-sari stores close to the camp site but there was nothing around except forest. The camp site was located near some beach in Cavite.

 

I was extremely thirsty and I saw a guy who lived near the area. I asked him where I could fill my canteen with water. He told me to follow him into the forest. After about 20 minutes walk, he directed me to this filthy pond with mud underneath and insects crawling on the surface.

 

When you're thirsty, believe me when I say you'll drink that water. I could even feel some gravel going down my throat but I didn't care.

 

When I got back to camp, I saw some of my fellow marine cadets holding several bottles of Coke. A speed boat carrying bottles of Coke had arrived while I was at that water hole and by the time I got back, all the bottles had been sold and the speed boad had left.

 

I asked my tent mate if I could buy a bottle from him. He had several bottles but refused to sell me one. I offered him P50 (the equivalent of probably P500 today) and he relented.

 

Spent the night in the tent after some night time reconnaissance training with the use of a compass. Couldn't sleep either because we were told to keep awake lest someone enter the tent and steal our boots.

 

Following day was like what you see in a movie featuring a boot camp. From rappelling, to target shooting, to crawling on your back in mud, push-ups, getting screamed at, etc. we were made to do all that. In hindsight, it makes me appreciate movies where cadets are made to run obstacle courses, do pull-ups, push-ups, etc. because I've been there before.

 

Then our commandant said during the next bivouac, we wouldn't be allowed to bring anything except a knife. He was going to teach us how to live off the land.

 

In my mind I just said "yeah right." Graduation from ROTC was just a few months away so, thankfully, I was spared from having to do a "Rambo."

Edited January 24, 2014 by Bugatti Veyron

[maxiev]

Learning how to drive and being caught for the first time by a motorcycle riding cop (they had highway patrols back then).