Blue skies

Let's talk about cool stuff.

When Ate Mylene, a former co-worker in the military, told me over one of our dinners together that she's scheduled to feature the Philippine Army Parachute Team in the magazine she now works for, I begged

with all my might to join her coverage. First and foremost, I've always been attracted to liberating things. Isn't parachuting or skydiving so liberating to look at in photos and videos? When I set up this blog in 2010, I chose a photo of a guy in parachute as my avatar, which I use until now (Yun ang konek). I'm sorry I don't remember where I stole that photo. Hehehe! I've been familiar with PAPT only because they are the highlight of some military events that I cover as a defense reporter. After the pass-in-review they would suddenly fall from the sky, popping their canopies, then wild applause  from the crowd follows!! As for me, I'd always watch out for those who land on their butts. Ang cute eh. Hehehe!! Ate Mye's feature would be a good opportunity to see them work up close, diba? Also, one of my closest girlfriends in the military earned my admiration when she took up Basic Airborne Course a few years back. Not all people, and a lady at that, can jump out of a chopper (I don't think I ever would. Unless it would be tandem skydiving). She'd text me almost everyday how tired she was from training. So there, those who can fly automatically get brownie points from me and they don't know it. Let's keep that a secret lest it might be mistaken as conflict of interest in my job.

One sunny day in March, we trooped to Sta. Rosa in Nueva Ecija (Royce drop zone) for Ate Mye's coverage. While she did her work stuff, I happily stayed on the

sidelines and observed these parachute guys do their thing. It's no joke, with all those double checking before an actual jump, they really mean serious business even though these guys are already expert in the field, kumbaga, Airborne level 10 (Divine!! Sweet!! Sugar crush! Ay, Candy Crush pala yun!). My reporter instinct wanted to start formulating a story as well, but because my main purpose was just to have fun and out of respect of Ate Mye's "moment" (hahaha naks)...sige, I told myself next time na lang siguro ako naman magco-cover? Hehehehe. The highlight of the coverage was a big treat for us, at least for me. We were allowed to ride the chopper and witness how they jump! I've already mentioned that not everybody can jump from a plane, thousands of feet above the ground....but let me add this: not everybody gets to ride with them and see how they fly, too. Yehey!!! Happy moment!!

It wasn't my first time to ride a chopper. I've been on a Huey and a Sokol but I always feel the need to emotionally prepare (oo may ganon) myself every plane or chopper ride because of the sudden downdrafts (I'm not sure what it's called, basta yung biglang baba). I hate that feeling. I had a chance to ride with Airborne students that day, which gave me a picture how my friend Laila was like when she took up the course. The students were so scared!! I was so happy when all of them were out because some needed to get pushed.  Hahaha! I was also secretly terrified at first that I didn't get a seatbelt but was only tied with a rope on my waist. That's what made the experience even more fun though! Anyway I came out of it alive and I actually enjoyed the ride. And later, when I did my research on Facebook and checked photos of Army freefallers in the air, potek, gets ko na kung sino yung Peter Pan na nababasa ko sa Facebook. Hehehehe!!! I would've liked to write more about them and more technical stuff on this blog post, but that only made me realize that I don't know much. Hehehe!!! I ended up watching several videos, and my research led to HALO and HAHO stuff I was already too lazy to comprehend!! All I can say for now is that I'm just amazed with their passion for this. I mean, they have to regularly train for this on top of their tasks as soldiers (And if I'm not mistaken, most of them, if not all, are members of the elite Special Forces. As you know, I'm also partial to SF just because my former snappy boss is one. Hehehe). Not to mention that parachuting or freefall comes with a possible danger every jump. This hobby or lifestyle or mode of transport, is something to be taken seriously. I wonder though, if they have used this in actual combat or relief operations. There was one movie I saw where they used parachutes to land at an enemy target. So cool. :)

Thanks to Ate Mylene and her fellows at Travel Plus for tagging me along to this coverage. Thanks to the Army team too, for being accommodating hosts. Photos here are from JM Punzalan. There are more on my Facebook account. Travel Plus May-July is out now in newsstands, by the way. Go grab a copy!! :)