He’s always been angry. Angry at what government has done to our lives… at economists for messing up our finances… at politicians for impersonating Barbie. Huh, why Barbie? Well… go figure! I like it that Tito Ding is always angry. It makes for good soundbites when we interview him. LOL He’s always been nice to me. Never mind that it took years from the last interview before I contacted him again. And he hates it that I always lose his number, have to go through the phone directory listing of all his relatives before I finally get through to him.
Oh, he digs the fact that I have read his books about nationalism, imperialism, hunger in a land of plenty, among others. Somewhere in the back of his optimistic mind, he says, he feels I can help save this generation of losers from going farther down the road of apathy by taking up where he and his fellow nationalists left off. Oh, I don’t know, I said… I don’t wanna land in jail just like you all did. Haha..!!
Alejandro “Ding” Lichauco belongs to a near-extinct breed, along with Claro M. Recto, Jose Diokno, Renato Constantino, name them… they’re immortalized in your Philippine History books! This year I called him again to say I needed an interview for the piece I was doing for FYI-TV, “The Politics of Oil”
“Okay, meet me for breakfast at Sulu Hotel. No, make it breakfast at Dulcinea.”
“Deal. I’ll pick up the bill.”
“No way! I know I’m gonna make a killing from my oil stocks today, so I’ll treat you and your crew.”
Fine. Thank God for old-world gentlemen who know about oil and economics!
I had to wake Ben to say I haven’t bought a good microphone, don’t have a cable PL that suits the small miniDV cam. I didn’t wanna rattle Tito Ding with the Canon XL2, monitor and plenty of lights that Reynold brings along to our shoots. For one, he’s wary of the media (though he’s been out of jail since the 70s 
) For another, he’s always worried about his receding hairline showing on video! “Don’t worry”, I said, “I’ll avoid your forehead!”
The interview lasted an hour and a half, covered lots of topics from the 60s to present, from what he called the “EDSA Aberration”… not “EDSA Revolution” as it is popularly known… to how the CIA intervenes in our elections… to the 1948 top-secret US State Department Policy Planning Staff memorandum 23, which defined US post-war policy in Asia, detailing how the Philippines and Japan had been assigned specific roles to play in the overall scheme of things! This, he says, explains why Asian governments can never really take off until we learn to cut ties with Uncle Sam and chart our own course, even if it entails a lot of sacrifice.
By the time we tackled the real subject of my interview (oil politics), Ben had forgotten to check if the mic was still securely attached to the cam. And so what I got was an “incidental sound” on the oil soundbites. Mercy!!!
As anticipated, Tito Ding made money from his oil stocks transactions that day and treated us to breakfast. In return, I promised to teach him how to fetch his email, search google & chat on yahoo:))
Mr Ding`s views are widely held in Europe,where there`s a rising tide of anti-Americanism,more precisely anti-American Government feeling.American meddling and political intereference has been responsible for the deaths of millions(2 million in Vietnam alone),chaos,anarchy and mis-rule all over the globe.America,ably assisted by it`s poodle Britain put Saddam in power,armed and financed the Taliban,Noriega and Bin Laden.The C.I.A. has been responsible for assassinating democratically elected heads of state,funding fascist guerilla groups,subverting elections and meddling in the affairs of supposedly friendly countries like Australia,Italy and Britain,they are possibly one of the most efficient and ruthless terrorist groups ever.
After WW2 many Nazis went straight to work for the C.I.A.,most famously Rienhard Gehlen who helped wanted Nazi war criminals escape from justice as a side-line.Other notable employees include Carlos the Jackal,Klaus Barbie and all manner of other fanatics,murderers and hired guns.Take a look at how many wars Iraq has started,then Iran,then the U.S.A. then decide who`s the aggresor nation by a considerable distance.
Mr Ding`s views might raise eyebrows in Manila,here in the U.K. they`d be fairly mainstream.
And what about Ph`s “Special relationship” with America?
This from the Los Angeles Times yesterday:
http://www.tickermyfeed.com/news.php/iraq_isnt_the_philippines_-_los_angeles_times/?link=aHR0cDovL25ld3MuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS9uZXdzL3VybD9zYT1UJmN0PXVzLzYtMCZmZD1SJnVybD1odHRwOi8vd3d3LmxhdGltZXMuY29tL25ld3Mvb3Bpbmlvbi9sYS1vZS13ZWluZXIzMGF1ZzMwLDAsNzg2NTUyNC5zdG9yeSUzRmNvbGwlM0RsYS1vcGluaW9uLXJpZ2h0cmFpbCZjaWQ9MTEwOTE1NjIwMyZlaT1wMEgyUk1yc0tZanlvUUt1eE15ekJR&title=SXJhcSBJc24mIzM5O3QgdGhlIFBoaWxpcHBpbmVzIC0gTG9zIEFuZ2VsZXMgVGltZXM=