Hitch Philippines

08/09/2026

AERIAL VIEW OF BORACAY ISLAND 🇵🇭🏝️

You can see the stretch of the famous white sand beach of Boracay on the rIght side of the island.

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07/09/2026

Sumilon Island, just off Oslob in southern Cebu, is famous for its ever-shifting white sandbar that changes shape with the tides and currents. It's also historically significant as the site of the Philippines' first officially protected marine sanctuary, established in the 1970s.

Which part surprised you most?

07/09/2026

Patterns of Cordillera. 🌾

07/09/2026

07/09/2026

400 years ago, our ancestors crossed the ocean. Today, we found each other. 🇵🇭🇲🇽

Nelvine and I thought our connection started when we met. Turns out, the Philippines and Mexico had already been connected for more than 400 years. 😂🇵🇭🇲🇽

In the early 1600s, ships sailed from Manila to Acapulco. Filipinos crossed the Pacific—some by choice and many by force. Some stayed, built families, and made Mexico their home.

More than 400 years later, researchers found traces of that history in the DNA of people living in Guerrero, where Acapulco is located.

And this wasn't recent. Everyone in the study had four grandparents born in the same region. Researchers traced the connection back about 13 generations—to around 1620.

I always thought Nelvine's Filipino history and my Mexican history were two separate stories. Turns out, they've been connected this whole time.

Maybe our paths were crossing long before we ever met. 🥹

The ships are gone, but the connection remains—in the culture, the families, and even the DNA. 🇵🇭🇲🇽

Source: Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., "The genetic legacy of the Manila galleon trade in Mexico," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (2022)

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07/09/2026

Lieutenant Benedicto Nijaga (also known by the nickname "Biktoy") was a Filipino soldier and revolutionary who was part of the Katipunan movement. He is known as one of the 13 Martyrs of Bagumbayan who were executed by the Spanish during the Philippine Revolution.

He was born in 1864 in Calbayog, Samar. In his youth, he worked as a sacristan before later moving to Manila.

He joined the Spanish army where he worked hard and rose from corporal to second lieutenant of infantry.

While serving in the Spanish army, he secretly joined the Katipunan. He became a collector of funds or contributions for the revolutionary movement in his area. He also became a neighbor and close to fellow patriots such as Apolinario Mabini, Domingo Franco, and Moises Salvador.

When Spanish authorities raided a printing house in Binondo, they discovered a list of Katipunan members with his name on it. He was arrested while raising funds, put through a summary trial, and tortured.

On January 11, 1897—just days after Dr. Jose Rizal was shot—Nijaga and twelve other Filipino patriots were executed by musketry in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park).

06/09/2026

Imagine finding out your hometown is literally out of this world. 🇵🇭🪐

Not Manila. Not Cebu. Not Davao.

Six craters on Mars carry the names of Philippine towns: Taytay, Naic, Daet, Camiling, Solano, and Bacolor.

Some of these names have been on Mars for decades—quietly carrying a little piece of the Philippines across millions of kilometers.

And honestly, if my hometown had a crater on another planet, I’d bring it up in every conversation. 😂

From small towns to the Red Planet—Pinoy pride really has no limits. ❤️💛💙

Which Philippine town should make it to Mars next?

06/09/2026

"I DO NOT FEEL SAFE FLYING TO MANILA" — THE HISTORIC JOLO MEETING

On September 5, 1986, President Corazon "Cory" Aquino flew to Jolo, Sulu alongside Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel Ramos to meet MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari. Returning from a decade of exile, Misuari refused to fly to Manila, fearing he might suffer the same tragic fate as Senator Ninoy Aquino in 1983. To give peace a chance, President Cory Aquino took a massive political risk by traveling directly into rebel territory to meet him.

Here are key takeaways from this historic milestone in Philippine diplomacy:
* A Bold Risk for Peace: Official accounts state they met at a Carmelite Convent in Jolo, though Enrile later claimed Aquino waited hours before meeting Misuari at his residence. Regardless of the exact venue, Aquino became the first modern Philippine president to meet a rebel leader on his own ground.
* Broken Promises & Unraveling Deals: Misuari claimed Ninoy Aquino and his brother Butz Aquino promised full fulfillment of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement. However, subsequent negotiations and the 1987 Jeddah Accord resulted in a reduced autonomous area, sparking frustration and internal splits like the formation of the M**F.
* The Long Road to 1996: It took another decade before the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (Jakarta Accord) was signed under President Fidel Ramos. This landmark agreement paved the way for the ARMM and was recognized globally, earning Ramos and Misuari Nobel Peace Prize nominations.
* A Continuing Covenant: From the early petitions of 1921 to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) today, the pursuit of self-determination in Mindanao remains a vital journey toward lasting peace.

06/09/2026

ECKWOOD HAROLD SOLOMON JR (+) PMA '63
An American graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (Class of 1963)

He entered the PMA since it became a 4-year institution in 1936.

From BGEN Ramon Ong (Ret.)

Eckwood was the 1st American to enter the Philippine Military Academy. I was his counterpart exchange student at the US Military Academy at West Point at that time, so we both belong to PMA Class '63.

He adjusted quickly to his new Asian environment. He was well liked by everyone and even received the nickname "Kiko" which stuck with him the whole time.

He learned to enjoy the Filipino diet, complete with rice, salted shrimp sauce, dried fish, eggplant and squash soup, even our famous "blood'n'guts" dish.

He even learned to speak the Filipino language which endeared him to everyone in the entire garrison. He was a consistent "star man" in academics so nobody was surprised to find out that he would graduate Number 1 in the class.

His classmates applauded loudest when this American received the Commander-in-Chief's Saber personally handed to him by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army and went back to his country to report for duty but in a short while, he would return to the Far East to meet his destiny in Vietnam.