The Man Behind Sabine

The man behind "Sabine - The Movie" and "Sabine - The Book" is no other than Amazon bestselling author and friend of mine TOM ANTHONY.

I asked him ten special questions. Tom's answers are here - exclusively on my blog.

1.     Who or what inspired you to write SABINE?

I first wrote what I saw driving along MacArthur Highway every day. A foreigner in any country sees differently from a citizen who lives there. Perspective matters and is interesting. But that was only background. I made up a fictional story including moral issues of the day.

2.     Why is your novel is entitled SABINE?

I heard a similar name in Visayan, but made up this name and a different pronunciation (Sa – bean) so it would be new and cause people to ask this question.

3.     It's an interracial story. Why does your story take place in the Philippines?

It is a story about people. Race does not matter; race is not an issue in the movie or the novella. The characters are all unique individuals, reacting to each other and the situations in which they find themselves.

4.     Can SABINE help minimizing being unbiased regarding prostitution especially in the Third World?

A good question. I think, yes. In the movie the prostitutes are good, caring people. This is an essential element of conflict. In fact, the character Adriana not only overcomes her situation but teaches others along her path to be better human beings.

5.     SABINE ends happily. Can you imagine a continuation of this story?

Oh yes. Of course – I am a writer! I have a treatment for the next movie, but will not tell you the title yet. Hope to film next year in Davao. What will happen next to Sabine?

6.     What are your next movie plans? Details?

To film “Rebels of Mindanao” next year in Mindanao. Based on my novel of the same name. Most of the world has no idea of what or where Mindanao is. This movie will put it on the map.

7.     Personal: who or what is your greatest inspiration in life and why?

The definition of “irony”: my personal hero growing up was General MacArthur. I was inspired by him to attend West Point. He returned to West Point when I was there to make his farewell speech. I marched in his funeral in New York City. Now I live along the Highway named after him and wrote a book and movie about what that highway looks like today. I wonder what he would think to see this place now. MacArthur Highway is often even spelled wrong.

8.     What are you doing, "if you have nothing to do"?

Voltaire (the last line in Candide) wrote, “That is well-said, now let us go work in the garden.” When I take a break from writing, I plant seeds in my garden.

9.     Which place comes first: Philippines, Europe, US?

No place is first. Any place you go, you are given a bag full of stuff, some good stuff and some bad stuff, but you have to take the whole bag.

10.  How come, you know how to speak German very good and fluently?

I always liked to cross over the next hill to see what was on the other side. I studied German at West Point and placed first in my class in the three-year course. I was sent on an exchange to the German Military Academy. In business I lived 15 years in German-speaking countries. I am still looking forward to crossing over and seeing what is on the other side of the next hill and language gives you the eyes to see things differently.

He's Back! Ja, er ist wieder da!

 

Congratulations Manny!

Philippines Announces YOLANDA Typhoon Toll Tops 5,000

The Philippines national disaster agency has announced that Super Typhoon Haiyan has killed more than 5,200 people. That total makes the November 8 storm the most deadly natural disaster ever to hit the country.

Rescue efforts continue after Haiyan...

Haiyan killed 5,209 people, injured about 23,500 and displaced 4 million, officials said Friday, with 1,600 still missing. The storm destroyed more than 1 million homes.

"It's not impossible that the number will increase, but as to how high we don't know," Interior Secretary Mar Roxas told reporters on Friday. "It's very sad, but we can say that we have passed the worst stage in this tragedy," he added.

Haiyan killed 4,919 in Eastern Visayas. Another 290 died in central and southern provinces affected by the November 8 typhoon, the national disaster relief agency announced. One of the strongest typhoons ever recorded, Haiyan caused more deaths and destruction than a 1991 storm that killed 5,101 people in flash floods in Ormoc, in the same hard-hit province of Leyte.

'Fine-tuned plan'

Called Yolanda locally, Haiyan brought winds of over 300 kilometers per hour (180 mph). The majority of victims either drowned or died under collapsed structures and trees, as storm surges 6 to 7 meters high (20-23 feet) swallowed coastal areas of Tacloban on Leyte island, the commercial, education and government hub of the Eastern Visayas. Disaster agency officials said the death toll could still increase, with only about 52 percent of the city of Tacloban cleared of debris.

Typhoon Haiyan also caused about 12.5 billion pesos ($274 million, 200 million euros) in damage to crops and infrastructure. A major concern for the authorities remains the resettlement of survivors, who have stayed in cramped, unsanitary evacuation centers or camped out in makeshift shacks near their flattened communities.

 

On Friday, President Benigno Aquino set up a task force to "hasten the transition of relief efforts into the full-scale rehabilitation and rebuilding of typhoon-damaged areas," said his spokesman, Herminio Coloma. "The president emphasized to the cabinet that a fine-tuned plan responsive to the specific needs at the community level is necessary," Coloma added.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the government had also begun preparations for the construction of bunkhouses using prefabricated buildings "more comfortable" than tents. Singson said the government would make an inventory of public land suitable for use as resettlement sites for survivors whose former communities officials considered dangerously close to the sea and vulnerable to future storms.

 

"There will probably be areas that will be declared no-build zones because of the high risk, and we will have to relocate the affected people to safe ground," Singson said.

mkg/ng (Reuters, dpa, AP)