The Rotary Balita no. 721 (May 21, 1953)

Col. Benito N. Ebuen, commanding officer of the Philippine Air Force, declared that although Philippine aviation has progressed much since the war, this country cannot compare favorably with others because of our inability to support the aviation industry. He said that while the airline business has developed to respectable proportion, the aviation industry is nil. He admitted that the aviation industry needs the help of manufacturing elements who can turn out the various components that go into a complete aircraft. Col. Ebuen stated that the kind of aviation industry in this country need not be characterized by supersonic interceptors or inter-continental jet bombers or plush or luxurious liners. A company does not have to turn out complete aircraft to be an integral part of an aviation industry, he continued. A progressive aviation industry, he said, can be built through the interrelation of other enterprises to produce the parts for an aircraft. He traced the progress in the field of aviation of the neighboring countries like Japan, Korea and Formosa. He claimed that these nations are more advanced than that of the Philippines. He continued further that despite the disadvantages caused by the last war, Japan's aviat.on industry has shown such a great recovery that by itself it can meet the requirements of the Korean war theater. Ebuen added that the oil refineries of Taiwan can supply fuel for all her vehicles and for a limited number of aircrafts Korea, he said, has expanded her air industry to such an extent that her production has increased to a thousandfold in two and a half years. He recalled his first visit to Korea at the time that country had only six propeller driven F-51 fighters and a few trainers. But on his second visit, he found out that Korea has a complete fighterbomber wing consisting of 75 F-51 fighters, one complete training wing with over 100 51s, T-6s and L-5s and an air training program that turns out 200 pilots a year. He suggested the creation of a chain of industries dependent upon one another for the production of the 2,000 parts which make up an airplane. At the same time with this, he said, would be the training of pilots and technicians to meet the needs of aviation technology. A one-minute silent prayer was observed in memory of the war deads of Corregidor. Leroy Young was the finesmaster. For an error in the "Balita" Ramon Ordoveza was fined ₱10.00. Long Ortigas, who celebrated his birthday, was given a big round of applause. In connection with the 2nd anniversary of the Philippine Paper Mills, Aleco Adamson was fined ₱20.00. KC Wu who just arrived from abroad was fined ₱100.00. Charlie "Matchmaker of the Year" Hollmann was fined ₱20.00. Others fined were Danding Romualdez, Willie Dy Buncio, Arsenic Luz, Yan Yanzon, ₱10.00 each, while Jimmy Velasquez was fined ₱50.00.