Col. Hermogenes P. Pobre (Ret.), president and chairman of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) has lauded the publication of Twilight Glory: A Tribute to Filipino Heroes and Veterans by Philippine Veterans’ Affairs Office (PVAO) and Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. (MTVi).
According to Pobre, the book, authored by Melandrew T. Velasco, PVAO Administrator Ernesto G. Carolina and Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo N. Bataoil, is a welcome addition to the tribute books to heroes and veterans who contributed to nation building.
He exhorts Filipinos to help preserve and enhance what the veterans’ sacrifices in the past have gained for the nation.
Pobre is himself a veteran. As a young man, he and a cousin, Tomas Diaz, joined the 98th Chemical Mortar Battalion (CMB) of the United States 32nd Arrowhead Division at Guimba, Nueva Ecija as maintenance crew of camps. Activated on 18 December 1941 at Fort Lewis, Washington, the 98th CMB was part of the U.S. Army forces that landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
Although civilian members of the maintenance crew, they were allowed to wear the herringbone twill uniform of the U.S. Army. His stint with the 98th CMB gave the young Pobre the opportunity to join an Army aviator aboard L-4 Piper Cub Grasshopper which provided fire direction for the battalion during the ongoing operations in Nueva Ecija against Japanese forces.
Pobre’s father was also a Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War freedom fighter.
Col. Pobre belongs to the PMA class of 1952. He served in the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 1948 to 1977. He was a faculty member and Dean of the Corps of Professors at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the premier military school for future officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). In 2012, during the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association homecoming, he was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is a lecturer at the AFP Command and General Staff Colleges, consultant/research fellow at the Office of Strategic and Special Studies, and a fellow of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP). He is also the President of the Cavaliers Association of Veterans, Inc. He was NDCP’s Vice President for Research and Studies and has served as President of the Philippines Historical Association.
A military historian and author, among Col. Pobre’s works are: History of the Armed Forces of the Filipino People; The Resistance Movement in Northern Luzon: 1942-1945; History of Political Parties in Pakistan; In Assertion of Sovereignty: The 2000 Campaign Against the MILF, Vol 1; In Assertion of Sovereignty: The Peace Process, Vol 2; The Freedom Fighters of Northern Luzon: An Untold Story; Victory in Northern Luzon; and, Filipinos in the Korean War.
He was also Deputy Secretary-General and later served as Sergeant-at-Arms at the Batasang Pambansa.
Twilight Glory chronicles the nation’s struggle for independence beginning with the pockets of revolts in the Spanish era to the shown their resilience.
It is not only in times of war when heroes are recognized, for in times of peace many Filipinos stand out as heroes too, worthy of recognition. Former President and retired General Fidel V. Ramos once said “Heroism is not passé. Heroism is alive and well in my own country.” Indeed heroism is alive in the country as acts of bravery and courage by Filipinos are manifested every day.
The COVID-19 pandemic, along with natural calamities in the past has given rise to new heroes and they are not limited to the uniformed men and women of the AFP and the PNP. “We have modern day heroes who sacrificed their lives to save others in times of calamity and national emergency like those doctors, nurses and other frontliners to minister to the sick and keep our communities safe,” wroteVelasco, principal author of the book. Velasco is president and CEO of MTVi.
Launched last year on National Heroes’ Day, Twilight Glory also covers national shrines, memorials the government entity mandated to ensure the welfare of veterans, PVAO, and the VFP.
VFP is the umbrella organization of all veterans’ organizations. It has been working for the interest and welfare of all veterans and their dependents for more than 60 years now. It aims to perpetuate the veterans’ heroic deeds, foster patriotism and love of country among the citizenry, especially the youth, and inculcate civic consciousness among all members.