Looking Backwards...

Okay - I swore I wasn't going to finish this week without writing an entry. I have gotten to the stage where I have so much to write about that it almost seems overwhelming. So I shall try, piece by piece, to fill in the blanks.

Mum and Dad left on Monday evening, with about 50kg of my luggage! They had been here for ten days and we had a glorious time travelling around the Philippines - this is such a stunning country. I have been waiting until I got my pictures back to write about this as I wanted to include photos. I finally did today, after three tries (I have used this particular developer twice and both times I have had huge dramas - never again!) but have run out of time to write about our travels this week, so roll on next week.

I promised to update you on the political situation as the last time I did a proper entry we had just entered into a State of Emergency (SOE). That wound up lasting almost exactly a week (to the hour!) GMA (the President) had uncovered a coup plot against her very early on the Friday morning so arrested a bunch of army and marine leaders and put the armed forces on double red alert (I think that in itself lasted for about five days?) This was all timing with the 20th anniversary of the People Power movement that overthrew Marcos after something like 15 years of military dictatorship (I forget the exact time now - but that was 25 February 1986). Every year there are a lot of rallies about this anniversary and this year they were focused a lot on protesting against GMA. Coup rumours were flying all week and Friday morning (24 Feb) it all came to a head - with enormous rallies scheduled for the day.

It was very interesting watching the international media (we have BBC and CNN on our cable service) and their spin on events - the story was that GMA had uncovered a coup attempt and as such put the country in a SOE to deal with the issue. However, the way it was understood within the Philippines was that the danger was gone - the plot was uncovered and defeated and things were okay. It was seen here more as a way for GMA to defuse opposition to herself. When she imposed the SOE she barred any mass gatherings which effectively made the planned protest marches illegal. It also allowed for arrest and detention without warrant and media censorship. (What was poignant and scary of course were the echoes of the Marcos days that people saw in all of this). But people here really saw the SOE as Gloria wanting to protect her rule and not allow public dissent. So that was interesting - realising again how much we are dependent upon the amount of information given to us and the spin placed on information by whoever is presenting it to us.

It was a surreal day, that Friday. In the office we had the radio on and we all spent the day on news websites tracking the developments as they occurred. It was quite scary for someone who has never been through such a situation, although the poor Pinoys are old hands at this! We got no work done - every few minutes people would gasp at something on the radio and everyone would stand up and start talking and babbling - all in Tagalog of course, so I had to keep asking for translation! People were defying the ban on rallies and marching (we were strictly instructed to steer clear - spoilsports!!) and the police and soldiers were waiting for a Presidential directive to go in and forcefully break up the rallies. In the end there was some violent clearing - people were arrested and there was use of water cannons and possibly tear gas, but nothing too dramatic. Luckily Filipinos are really quite gentle people - that gave a good measure of comfort in a situation like this. A friend was marching at the front of one of the rallies and he said it got pretty real at one stage - two mass groups were coming together to form one and there were police vans and shipping containers across the road and he thought they were going to be rammed - it was scary. He escaped just getting wet from the water cannons.

Most people went home from the office early that day. I loved the beauracracy - they had to wait until Dayan, in Australia, gave permission for them to leave the office!!! If I felt the need, I would have been outta there, just like that! That night the AYADs went out to celebrate Ange's birthday and the SOE in the only way we know how - food and bars! And I was delighted to discover that Emily is as bad at pool as I am - we had a great time sucking together at the pool table - with only the disclaimer that we were not allowed to laugh at each other! We managed two games in seventy minutes - although we didn't technically finish the first one. There was this poor employee standing near the table who obviously had nothing to do so was 'helping' us out. Anyway - I had sunk my last ball and had to sink the eight, and Em had one left, and I think he just couldn't bear to watch this display any more - he just grabbed all the balls and pre-emptively racked them all again!! We were goggling at each other a little, but just shrugged and started the torture again!

The Sunday of that weekend (26 Feb) was the most scary moment. I was at the gym about five in the evening and noticed on the TV that there was a kerfuffle at the marine barracks at Fort Bonifacio (the marines are apparently the biggest troublemakers in the Filipino military). One of their colonels (I think? - we all got a crash course in the personalities of the Pinoy military that week!) had either been removed or asked to be stood down - depends upon whose version you listen to (the truth has not outed to this day). And his troops were mutinying and gathering in a chapel there. Then more troops and some big name military leaders began joining and there were stories that battalions in other cities were mutinying. As the night wore on and we sat glued to our TV sets, more people began gathering at Fort Bonifacio and nuns were praying outside the chapel and the stormtroopers were gathering. It was getting more and more ominous and we were becoming quite fearful. Then Cory Aquino (the former President and widow of Ninoy Aquino, the opposition figure who's assasination began the chain that led to People Power) got on the TV and stirred up trouble (as she is wont to do - we think she should leave well enough alone - she has had her time and her main preoccupation now seems to be keeping the political landscape here unstable) calling on people to go to Fort Bonifacio and support the troops. So things kept building and were were watching TV and partaking in the flurry of text messages going around (including the rumours that Malacanang Palace - the Filipino Presidential Palace - was about to be bombed, which was a scary prospect but it was fairly unlikely that there would be advance warning going around by text message!). Ange and I were looking at each other, wondering if we were watching the start of a coup/revolution - we couldn't quite believe our eyes - that we were watching this in our own city. Anyway - about 11.30p.m. it all defused - I am still not entirely sure what happened, but the standoff was over and people started to go back home. I think there have been repercussions from this, but I have not followed that too closely.

Emily works just across from Malacanang. She didn't have work on the Friday, but went in on Monday (although the schools were closed and most people didn't go to work). She said it was scary - shipping containers and barbed wire across the road, police and soldiers everywhere. She got some pictures on her phone (discretely!) - I will try to get them and post some copies so you can see.

After that, things calmed down a little. One of the newspapers was closed and there were police outside and more incidental incidents (sorry!) but finally a week later GMA lifted the State of Emergency. Of course, this being the Philippines, the legitimacy of her imposing it has been challenged by political rivals and the issues is now before the courts...

Just another day in the life of Pinoy politics.