Davao

I went to sleep upset, no, angry, and Leonelle was right. She said, 'mamaya sumusulat ka na naman tungkol dyan'. It was about the bombing in Davao. We were talking about it, how the bandits could be so coldhearted as to do such horrific thing to innocent people who were just out in a night market having a relaxing Friday evening. Of course I am aware of the violence there were in other countries as well. Those incidents disturbed me at the very least. But for it to happen here, in Davao, particularly, stirred more than just 'disturbance' in me.

Davao is a favorite place of mine. I always tell my friends who have not been there about how clean the city is, how courteous the cab drivers are, how safe it was there that I could probably withdraw from an ATM at strange hours in the evening and not get killed for the cash. Its people are charming, food is cheap and really good, fruits abound (although I do not eat Durian). I made it a goal for me to bring my children there, to show them how lovely Davao is. And we did go. It was where we made the most beautiful memories. 

It breaks my heart to see these photos in the news, the aftermath of this hedious, vile and worst-of-the-devil's-work crime against innocent people. I feel violated. Like I was raped, it is that extreme. So I find it so sickening to see and hear comments on social media twisting this incident to dirty politics (Is there any other kind?, recalling Jack Nicholson on 'A Few Good Men'). I mean, really? And when one says something like, 'this is not the time for divisivenes....' yet again, other will say, 'hyprocrite' or 'plastic'. So what are we supposed to feel, to say, as a nation? What does the world out there want from us? And goodness, what the hell is happening to all of us?