Category Archives: Maco in the Days of Armed Struggle
Closer to Death
[ad#468_60_banner_aligned_center] How closer we were to death while growing up in Maco? I mean meeting death caused by external elements like New People’s Army’s and abusive military at the height of martial law and several years thereafter? As far as I can recall, it was just a norm when a helicopter gunship pounded the mountains … Continue reading
The Lenten Raid
[ad#468_60_banner_aligned_center] A tiny screech from motor blades made the vibrant mood of the usual sultry Lenten afternoon. It was too good, thought one of the boys who made the electric toy project for school. From the window, the sky was visibly bluish and added the tone of the afternoon. So quite and people lacked the … Continue reading
Sympathy
In the aftermath of an ambush early at dawn, primary students talked about what they saw. Virgilio proudly said his eye-witness account, “I saw the attacker. He ran so fast. I haven’t seen any man move like him.” Unknown to us, that signaled the long and winding history of insurgency in the town. At first, … Continue reading
Rugged But Pretty (mid-1980′s)
She went down by the stairway of a house overlooking the town’s bay side houses. The house stand all alone and it was beautifully landscaped with green Bermuda that prevent the grown of long bush surrounding the house. Her countenance was fairly unique. A kinky dark hair seemed to emphasize her whitish complexion. Pretty cute … Continue reading
The 1992 Town Attack
It was just like any other day one afternoon in town where people did their usual routine – chatting with friends, playing basketball, procrastinating or doing some household chores – when all the sudden a sound of first machine gunfire reverberated just too close to ignore. People rushed to their protection though not all them … Continue reading
A Payback Presumptions
Whence are you from?”, the man in fatigue uniform asked in strong tone a man gathering a firewood. “I live in Purok 1 about 500 minutes away near the main highway”, replies Tot. “You look pretentious and nervous. You must be a rebel, don’t you?” “No, no. Look I only got a machete here for … Continue reading
The Smell of Candle
“You’ll surely smell smokes of candles* today!”, informed the combatant who hurriedly picked up his rifle and aimed at a distance. When the Cadiong heard him, he rushed to the uppermost window of his house overlooking the hills. Too good that the old man knew for a fact what the metaphor was all about and … Continue reading
Maco Four and the Game of Lie and Deception
In 2003, four gruesome murders of a student and local activists landed on Philippine Daily Inquirer editorial page. It was beyond imagination the kind and degree of deaths the activists suffered in the hands of alleged military liquidators. The news item highlighted the story where it seemingly implied the people were totally undisturbed or totally … Continue reading
Vilma Santos, Sharon Cuneta, Lorna Tolentino et. al.
The man in fatigue uniform thrown his first story. He narrated that there was a young boy who asked one of his friend to test him whether the chick he was hiding at his back was either dead or alive. We the audience kept our peace about what really was the story all about. I … Continue reading
The Legend of Nonoy
When he saw I was holding a binocular, he asked to try it. He peeped through the lens and looked to test the magnification of an object at a distance. “Can I borrow this on my rounds?”, he inquired. “No, sorry”, I replied and adding it wasn’t mine and a classmate owned it. That was … Continue reading