Gen. Almonte memoir ‘Endless Journey’ to be launched on Feb. 25

In his decades-long, high-flying military and government career, Gen. Jose T. Almonte was an adviser to presidents on matters of foreign policy and national security.

Now, the former National Security Adviser's memoir, "Endless Journey," will be launched on February 25 at Club Filipino in Greenhills.

As narrated to journalist Marites Dañguilan Vitug, the memoir covers decades of Almonte's eventful life—from his days as a student at the Philippine Military Academy, as a young soldier fighting the Huks in the Sierra Madre mountains, and as a member of the Philippine Civic Action Group in Vietnam all the way to his career in government after his retirement.

Almonte, now 83, served during the terms of Presidents Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos. After he retired from the military in 1986, he was named Commissioner of the Finance Ministry's Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB) by Aquino. Under Ramos, Almonte served as National Security Adviser.

A key, if controversial figure during the Ramos administration, Almonte has been described as "shadowy" and even "sinister." In his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer in 2007, however, former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban described the ex-general as "a true-blue ideologue, thinker and strategist" who was "the sentient soul of the Ramos presidency." — BM, GMA News

"Endless Journey" will be launched at Club Filipino on Feb. 25. For inquiries, contact Krizia Nhel Gayo at 09053954093.