Big Events in my Birth Year
by Oliver Carlos
I was born in a very chaotic time in Philippine History — the early 70s. Marcos was the President. There was turmoil left and right. There were many rebels in the mountains, frequent street demonstrations in Manila, a handful of bombings of public places, and rumors of an impending military rule.
In 1972, my parents got married at the newly constructed St. Therese Chapel in UPLB. They were one of the first couples to be wed there.
Days before the wedding, a very strong typhoon ravaged Luzon. Central Luzon was flooded terribly. It was cut off from Metro Manila and the rest of South Luzon. My paternal grandparents who lived in Tarlac couldn’t make the wedding because of this natural disaster. My Dad’s brothers- Uncle Cenon and Uncle Angel who were Manila-based, represented my grandparents in the ceremony.
The socio-political tension of the country continued to intensify. Student activism in UPLB reached its peak. Some students joined the Left, some of whom were classmates and acquaintances of my parents.
September — The inevitable happened. On the 23rd of the month, at 7 o’clock PM, Marcos declared Martial Law. Classes in UPLB became irregular, and some even halted. Student activists were rounded up. Some were able to elude arrest and flee to the mountains. Some were never to be seen again.
November — Registration for the second semester commenced, but classes were suspended indefinitely thereafter. I was born at the newly constructed UPLB Infirmary at Forestry on November 29. I was the very first baby to be born in that building.
Classes in UPLB resumed in January of 1973. The schoolyear ended in May of 1973, around 2 months delayed compared to the usual March ending.
I asked my parents what their views and involvement were during Martial Law and the in days preceding it. They told me “zip”. They were so in love with each other to care about what their contemporaries were into. But nonetheless, everybody in that generation, including my parents, had to adjust their lives to the historical events unfolding before them.
There was couple in the Bible who were so in love with each other. They had plans of their own to get married and live happily ever after. But one day, all their plans were blown away and they had to adjust big-time. Joseph had to marry a pregnant Mary who had the Messiah in her womb. Sometime after giving birth in far-away Bethlehem, some wisemen visited them. After that visit, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had to sneak their way to Egypt and hide there from Herod. They could have settled in Joseph’s home province of Galilee, but circumstances pushed them to live a life different from the original plan.
Little did Joseph know that as he obeyed God’s word that night by evacuating his family to Egypt, he was allowing God to use him in fulfilling his beautiful plan of saving mankind from sin. We read in Matthew 2:13–15 (NLV):
“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said…. and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
Sometimes, we really need to adjust our original plans to God’s plan, because he knows best. Where is God leading you this year? Heed his word and walk into the direction he is showing you.
