Connections

On our trip to Bohol earlier this year I found out that the very first Filipino hijacker is a provincemate of ours. Mario Rabuya hails from our hometown of Bilar. Talk about close to home, but that’s not all. It turns out that the NBI agent who arrested Rabuya for committing the very first aviation crime in Philippine history is also from Bohol. Boy Sagun, also from Bilar, is not just a relative of ours; he is also my godfather.

Mario Rabuya served time in jail and was released; he died a free man. Today his younger brother is a respected guitar maker in Bilar; he also repairs pianos. A few years ago when we were in Bohol my older brother wanted a guitar. My parents bought one for him from Rabuya.

Ninong Boy is now with the airport police in Los Angeles. A few years ago when my parents visited the States for the first time, he gave them a pair of brown shoes to be given to me as a gift. As far as I know that’s the only gift I ever got from him.