I had the scare of my life yesterday while traveling by bus from Dipolog to Zamboanga.
I had to go home to Dapitan last Sunday to attend to my father's 60th Birthday celebration the next day. It was a perfect schedule because Monday was declared holiday. I was planning to take the last trip of Rural Transit on Monday. However, news broke out that the MILF rebels ambushed 2 Rural Transit buses in Lanao. I had to cancel my trip and decided to take a morning bus on Tuesday.
Everyone was "praning" while in the bus. When we reached the Municipality of Ipil, we heard a siren from a police patrol car. I can remember the faces of the people on the bus as they checked what was happening outside. Good thing it was just a motorcade.
When we reach an area almost in Zamboanga, I observed that there were people in military uniform. It's quite alarming to see that it is now very difficult to distinguish a military personell from an MILF rebel because they both were the same camoflage uniforms. My judgement tells me that the men scattered in the place were rebels.
Fortunately, I came back to Zamboanga safe and sound. Everyone in Zamboanga are fearful on what might happen in the coming days. I only blame the goverment for putting us in this situation. People in Mindanao has always been the government's sacrificial lamb. But I know that someday, somehow things will change.
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