At half past six in the morning, a Makati Business Club officer,
in an interview over the radio, warned us on coup d’état, terrorism
and all types of destabilization. Like a sage – solemn, serious, unequivocal.
The man on the radio apologized for having to break
the news to us. But it is their responsibility to tell us what we need to know. He said – self-righteously, patronizing, advertising.
And I rolled my eyes. Seven hours later, at one-thirty, at Eastwood, we received
a series of SMS: an LPG tank exploded in a mall.
in a restaurant. in Makati. where four died. instantly.
An hour later –No, it’s not an LPG tank, but a real bomb,
a high explosive one.
(Along EDSA, traffic was not so bad as it should,
given the situation.
Buildings line up the longest, busiest avenue.
Malls lord it over.
In a country where there are more malls being erected
than churches being built,
are you sinning if you ask:
Why are bombs get planted at malls,not in churches, bridges or schools?)
On the news the next day –
Nine deaths. A few critical. More than a hundred injured.
One missing.
Soon to be statistics. Archived news.
But first to be a subject of US, UK, Canadian, and Australian advisories.
Is this poetry?
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