i was awaken by several text messages at around 5am in the morning yesterday (Aug 18, 2008, monday). the message tone beeped non-stop so I knew there's something wrong going on, I knew the unusual text messages at that hour could be an emergency. so I got up quickly to get my cellphone, it was my boyfriend, he repeatedly sent a message to wake me up (he has no load to call me but was using unlimited texting), but I never expected it to be horrifying. the text message was "beh, ga boto2x na dri gisulong nami sa mga m.i.! (beh, there are loud gunshots everywhere, the milf are coming!)" anxiety immediately dawned on me-- I feared something bad might happen to him, I feared the milf might be in our town any time from now (my bf's town - kolambugan is just a 15-minute ride from here), I feared for the lives of my love ones, worse I fear death.
I called my bf to check the situation and when he answered his voice was shaking and he was running for his life and I heard several gunshots of armalites in the background. I was shaking. I woke my parents to alarm them about the situation (last saturday and sunday, there were reports that milf might attack some of the municiplities of lanao del norte, militaries were deployed in marawi and iligan but oversee kolambugan and other towns next to it) so mom called my cousins... dad got up to listen to the news in the radio -kolambugan was attacked by milf troops and were burning several houses and school buildings. they killed civilians and militiamen. they ransacked stores and pawnshops. I was slowly processing what was happening I never thought this could happen to me.
I packed my things in one backpack just incase the rebels would invade our place. we wouldn't panic like this if our house isn't located at the highway... sentro- the business district. if ever the milf will attack this place we will be one of the many hostages like those captivated in kolambugan. (we resided just right above our 2-storey 1940's house. the ground floor as our tindahan. a typical chinese store like those in colon or divisoria.) It was kind of a relief for me that my bf always texted and updated me of the situation. there were times he was unable to text me, there were moments he would text me that they (the civilians who went to the coastal area) were hunted by the troops. he told me he saw them, some of the members are still very young (15-17), some of them are girls. He told me they killed civilians and he saw dead bodies at the highway later that day. we were exchanging messages most of the time so that we will know what's the situation and so that I won't worry about him and his safety. I kept on praying.
at around 8:30 am, we received a text messages that MILF will attack Tubod (adjacent to our town-baroy). news scattered like wild fire. some of my friends and relatives evacuated to ozamis city by land and by boat. we planned to evacuate to ozamis, but we heard news the barge was stopped and land trip is very risky from ambush, so we decided to stay at my aunt's house just a few meters away from the hot spot. towns became ghost towns before lunch time. we stayed there overnight, my dad and my uncle were left at our house because they wanted to, it's hard to leave it empty.
people were exchanging infos, my bf stayed in kolambugan in spite of rescue operations and evacuation plans. I was really stressed out that day. my eyes were already very heavy but I couldn't sleep, the people of tubod were already getting ready. civilians who have their own guns were at the streets for defense. several brgys in tubod at the mountain area were attacked that night. intelligence reports, news were driving us crazy and I was so worried about my dad, my uncle and the dogs being left at our house. I didn't noticed I was already fast asleep, when I woke up, it was already 4:30 am, my heart pounded, it was a dreadful hour, I was expecting war and gunshots, I slept. my mom woke me up at 7am, she said I have to drive them off back to our house to open our store. I couldn't believe I woke up safe and sound. we went home. the town was still bare. no classes today and banks didn't open.
my bf visited me today. he told me what had happen yesterday. I made him go home early because of the on going situation. I am ready for an all-out-war, it's much better that way than giving mindanao to the MILF. fuck the government. and may MILF burn a hundred times in hell.
up to now, lanao and iligan city is still on red alert. dipolog city retrieved a bomb planted at their bridge just this morning. this is driving us crazy. how could the government not order an offense assault when there were damages already and innocent civilians killed. how could they give mindanao to the MILF without asking the residents' opinions first? why would they allow muslims to dominate this land when the fact is the population of muslims are only 10% of the total population in the entire country? ancestral domain claim means giving our lands to the muslims. ancestral domain claim means a bigger problem and a chaotic mindanao.
I hope and pray that this traumatic crisis will be over and everything will be back to normal. God bless the people and the used to be peaceful land of mindanao.
and at the end of this journey, my wonderful story begins...
