Like other Filipinos working overseas, Apple must have imagined sending a box full of goodies to her family in Lupon, Davao Oriental. And they would be very happy.  She must have imagined sending them money and they will use this to develop their house, buy a farmland, or for the education of her younger siblings and relatives.

Instead, she sends herself back, inside a wooden box, to a grieving family—seven days after she officially started working as a domestic helper for a family living in one of those high-rise buildings in Singapore.

On April 30, on her facebook she wrote: “Final destination to Singapore–May 04.2012. It’s Friday.”

On May 2, she wrote: “One more day to go…you can still talk to me.”

She arrived in Singapore May 4. Five days after, she started working as a domestic helper. The next day—May 10—she was found dead. The employer said she committed suicide, jumping from the 6^th floor unit to the fourth floor.

Apple fought for her life in the hospital for two days. In the morning of May 12, she died.

A document on her death says Apple’s employer, who was apparently in correspondence with her agency, the JDM Management Services, it’s Philippine counterpart is the Greenworld Placement Services, said: “Yes, the first morning after she arrived, she went missing and later found fallen from height and passed away in hospital. Sir sms and called you yesterday but no reply. Fortunately, nothing happened to Oliver and baby. Does she have a history of depression that we were not told of?”

But Apple’s brother could not believe that Apple committed suicide. She describes her as someone who is outspoken, someone who does not harbor anger and ill-feelings to herself.

“It’s far from suicide,” he says.

The document on her death also contains statements from people who were around Apple before the incident. An email from jesscsk@singnet.com.sg dated May 11, 2012, says:

“I just found out from my maid Michele that April (Apple) had left some notes with her and me; expressing her appreciation to our encouragement and assistance during her station with us. So far, she was found normal and satisfactory during that few days of orientation….”

It adds: “She sounded normal and co-operative during her training with us.”

Another OFW, Rhea Herradura, was also quoted as saying: “She was excited to come to Singapore and found to be normal while staying in Manila.”

“She is OK before departure,” said Lyn of greenworld (through greenworld.singapore@yahoo.com)

Her family only learned about her death after her friends started posting messages of condolences in her facebook account.

Now it pains the family that they are yet to receive words from the concerned agencies of the Philippine government.

Apple Gamale, 23, is a shattered dream. She is a grim reminder of the plight of millions of Filipinos who seek better fortune in other countries. She is yet another statistic to the country’s policy of labor exportation. If only there’s job for her in the Philippines.

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Abuse, Apple Gamale, Dabawenya, Davao, death, Facebook, Filipina, Labor, Labor Exportation, OFW, Philippines, Singapore, Suicide, unemployment

Unlike two days ago, the water is clear today. It sparkles against the sun. The flood left only drift woods at the banks of the river, like the ones used by these three women to dry the white clothes they have done washing. They go on washing the colored ones silently as they listen to the early afternoon radio drama.

My 8-year old cousin and his friends, most of them older than a year than me, are glued on the TV. So except for the three women, one of them unimaginably plump, the river is all mine this afternoon.

Then comes the man we all only know as Intol. From the other bank of the river, I can see him pulling his pants up to his knees, apparently to avoid them being wet.

I always though Intol is weird. And his face has this bizarre, almost unforgettable kind of feature: cheekbones protruding from his skin, his mouth swollen, his ears sticking out to prominence. Intol rarely speaks. I can’t remember ever hearing him speak. He, too, does not look at people in the eyes.

Slowly he crosses the river. And upon reaching the other bank, there appears my Uncle.

Uncle Antonio is my mother’s cousin. He is very soft-spoken. He loves to drink, yes, but he is very gentle. He just recently came out of jail, my mother told me. He is unemployed. He usually mumbles something to himself and my father said uncle Antonio can see dead people.

From the water, I can see them two talking. Intol hands down his knife to uncle Antonio. Uncle Antonio carefully looks at the knife. He runs his fingers through the blade.

And as Intol bends over to fix the edges of his pants, uncle Antonio powerfully swings his arm. The blade rips through Intol’s abdomen. My uncle repeats this six times, seven times, many times.

The scream of the women, as they run, is overheard.

Intol rolls down to the river, his blood blends with the white froth of detergent that spilled out from the basins left by the women.

And Uncle Antonio crosses the river for home.

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alcohol, Davao, Davao del Norte, dead, death, detergent, die, drink, father, Filipina, flood, jobless, knife, mother, murder, pants, river, unemployed, unemployment, water, women

My former paper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, stirred the pond once again after the public took offense over its photo which was apparently discriminatory against Muslim women.

The photo–showing a woman wearing a burqa and shaking the hand of President Benignon Aquino III during an event in Malacañang Palace–read: “Security Risk.”

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines demanded that the paper apologize to the public and to the Muslims. Not too long ago, the paper also drew flak after it printed a series of unflattering photos of Demetrio Vicente, a stroke victim who was called to the witness stand in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. The photo was captioned: “Character witness.”

Someone I know believes that there was nothing wrong about the caption. Burqa, he says, has been used to assassinate leaders around the world.

Following the over-insensitivity and ultraparanoia on women wearing burka or burqa–that they are  threat to security because they might have strapped explosives around their bodies, I propose that:

Nuns and priests, bishops and all those who go around with big clothes–including models and beauty queens–must not be allowed to be anywhere near the president. Big clothes, especially if these are made out of black materials, must be banned in the Philippines. Big women must be declared illegal, too. Yes, big women–even if their bigness is because they are pregnant. The world today is not as safe as before.

Big women might have ingested some explosives and had them hidden inside them that they look swollen or pregnant.

The world, really, is not safe these days.

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Bomb, Burqa, Davao City, Explosive, Moro, Muslim, Philippines, President Aquino, Terrorism, Terrorist, US

Not that he wants to spite the church or play the devil that teases away the attention of the faithful away from religious teachings and standards of morality. But if only Rodrigo Duterte has the power, Filipino gays would live happily ever after.

Duterte, who is the Vice Mayor of Davao City, tough and macho, clearly does not look at gay marriages with disgust or opposition in the eyes.

“It is a choice and gays are supposed to have the equal freedom (as heterosexuals have) to marry each other. It is supposed to be part of our being a tolerant society. Allowing gays to marry each other is an  act of accepting them for who they are and the choices they make in their lives,” he says.

To be able to have a family and the desire to build a home is something personal that is not supposed to be diluted by the teachings of the Catholic church, he says.

The only problem, he says, is the law of the country.

“The law does not recognize gay marriages. That’s the problem,” he said adding that “if I were to decide, they can go on marry whoever they want to.”

Duterte tells me this in an apparent casual talk about gays, the government and the church—-about a week before US President Barack Obama publicly supported insistent proposals to allow gay marriages.

And days before this, I also chanced upon the Vice Mayor inviting a couple of gay university students to attend the public hearings on an ordinance banning discrimination in Davao. He stresses the need for gays to participate in the discussion, although the ordinance will not exclusively cover gay rights.

“See you,” the Vice Mayor tells the two.

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Catholic, Davao City, Duterte, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Obama, Philippines, US

It breaks my heart to hear that the village of New Visayas in the town of Trento in Agusan del Sur is now gripped in fear. Some of the residents even had to leave their homes for fear that they will be caught in the crossfire.

I have been to the village twice before for a coverage. It is a village where people sleep in poverty but wake up with hope that they will be able to, at least, eat thrice a day. Now, 150 residents of New Visayas are at the evacuation center in the nearby Pulang Lupa.

At the evacuation center, they surely think of home–now battered by at least eight rounds of bombs dropped by attack planes of the military.

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Another broadcaster was killed in the Philippines. His name is Nestor Libaton. He’s another case on top of the already long list of journalists murdered in a country where democracy is dearly held. The Philippines is a dangerous country for journalists, alright.

Libaton was a reporter of dxHM, a Catholic church station based in Mati City, Davao Oriental. He was shot by an unidentified gunman onboard a motorcycle Tuesday afternoon in Sitio Bitan-agan in Barangay Enrique Lopez, Mati.

Before the incident, Libaton, along with fellow broadcaster Nieldon Cruz, attended the fiesta in Barangay Ompao in Tarragona town. They were supposed to be on their way home to Mati.They, too, were onboard a motorcycle.

A source said that the suspects, who could have been waiting for the two, first fired warning shots after the two passed by the highway. As the two journalists sped up, the suspects tailed them. But Libaton got down from his motorcycle upon reaching Sitio Bitan-agan, apparently to confront them.

One of the suspects immediately shot him. He suffered from seven gunshot wounds. Cruz was left unharmed.

One of them shot him seven times, killing him immediately. Cruz was left unharmed.

Local authorities are looking at all angles in their investigations. Mayor Michelle Rabat said the death of Libaton was “unfortunate.”

“We will exhaust everything to bring justice to the victim.

Libaton is the 152nd media worker killed in the country since 1986. Under the Aquino administration, he is the 12th.

On June 14, 2010, another broadcaster in Mati City,  Desiderio Camangyan, was also killed. He was murdered while hosting an amateur singing contest. The suspect in the Camangyan murder, PO1 Dennis Jess Lumikid, is still being tried.

The killing of Libaton came just five days after the commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day.

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Ampatuan Massacre, Media Killings, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, NUJP, Philippines, World Press Freedom Day

Advocates have recorded five deaths related to Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in Davao City for 2012.  As of today, at least 42 new cases have been recorded. Of the said number, 41 were males who had sex with fellow males. Local government interventions are given to 299 people with HIV-AIDS.

Alma Mondragon, executive director of the group Alliance against AIDS in Mindanao or Alagad Mindanao, said the rising number of cases could be attributed to two things.

“People are now more aware about testing and where they could possibly go to for counselling and intervention.  They are now aware of the services (extended to people living with HIV-AIDS)…Those who were reached through community awareness voluntarily have themselves tested. So the statistics is rising,” she says.

“Second, there are still those who do not practice safe sex,” she added.

This news has elicited reactions.

Christian Bernal, a student, says: “Iwasan na lang. Mag-focus na lang sa pag-aaralan (Avoid and instead focus on your studies.”

Rain Baco, a mother, says: “I am sad.”

She says the cases of HIV-AIDS alarms her.

“I am a family woman. I am a mother. I am concerned about what the future would be for my child.  I just hope that the public will also be alarmed and will become cautious. I also hope that the public will be open about the issue and here should come in education, especially for the youth,” she says.

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AIDS, Davao City, HIV, Philippines

Two years ago on June 19, I met Job Castro. He was 17 years old but he looked even younger, his body very frail and too small for his age. His mother, Luzler, showed me a copy of the birth certificate. He was born November 7, 1992.

Surrounded by journalists and some strangers, he silently sat on a wooden chair, apparently anxious of what was happening. It was a few hours after he was released by the New People’s Army or NPA. It was a few days after he was captured by the rebels.

Castro’s story was a table turned on the claims that it is the Maoist revolutionary government that is employing child soldiers–a counter claim as the rebels often suffer from the claims that most of their recruits are minors.

Whatever happened to Job Castro?

This is Job’s Story:

The time when he was supposed to be dribbling balls, Job Castro–who looks exactly like a boy—was chasing rebels.

Two years ago, while waiting for their reception in a military camp in Mawab, Compostela Valley, Castro began to worry if he will be allowed to undergo a training which was obviously designed only for the big boys.

Sixteen other young boys, the oldest of them 17, were just as worried. Job was the youngest among them. He was only 15 years old.  They came from the different villages of Compostela Valley—communities that are considered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as sympathetic or supportive of the armed revolution of the NPA.

“Samtang naghulat mi, gilain mi sa uban. Nabalaka na mi kung madawat ba mi o dili. Pero gisultihan mi nga ayuson daw ang among birth certificate (While waiting, because we were separated from the older recruits, we began to worry about our chances of being admitted. We were only assured of this when our recruiter told that they will take care of our names and our birth certificate),” he said.

He said he did not know about the law—that minors like him are not supposed to be allowed to enter the military. What he was thinking, he said, was that he must be admitted.

“We did not know that it was illegal for us to be a member of the group but they told us that they will fix our birth certificates and come up with new ones,” he said.

And soon enough, Castro and the other minors—who are supposed to be in school— found themselves playing guns with the big boys for 45 days.

Asked if he knew what he was up to, he said he did not care.

“What was important was for us to earn money,” he said.

The soldiers offered Castro and the other children P2,790 monthly salary.  Castro said his sister, 19-year old Ivy Rose, needed the money to go to school.

“My grandmother could no longer send my sister to school. I was thinking, my salary could help her finish her studies. I just wanted my sister to finish her studies,” he said.

Ivy Rose was a second year high school student in Monkayo.

Working as a militia, the boy found himself often used a guide. He was always at the frontline of the battle—the battle between regular soldiers and the NPAs.

That the 10^th Infantry Division of the Southern Mindanao Command of the military was employing minors was exposed when Castro was captured by the Merardo Arce Command of the NPA on June 19 in a checkpoint set up by the rebels in Sitio Mabatas, Barangay Upper Ulip in Mt. Diwalwal, Monkayo.

Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesperson of the Merardo Arce Command, said Castro was a living proof that recruitment of minors is a “matter of official policy in the Armed Forces’ own ranks, long practice in their counter-revolutionary theater.”

“We found the smoking gun, so to speak, in so far as the evidence of the AFP’s covert policy of minor recruitment is concerned.  It turns out in reality that AFP black propaganda against the people’s army is a matter of official policy long implemented and practiced in its own dirty backyard,” Sanchez said.

And the military, through Maj. Gen. Carlos Holganza, the commander of the 10th ID, denied the allegation.

“I would like to stress that it is not the policy of our military organization to bring in underage people. What they are saying are lies,” said Holganza.

Then spokesperson of the 10th ID, Capt. Emmanuel Garcia said it not a policy of the military to recruit minors.

He said: “Training and arming of minors is against the policy of the AFP. That’s not our business. The NPA instead is known for doing that. However, if he (Castro) is indeed a minor, the more that he must be released immediately.”

Those who wish to become members of the militia, he said, pass through stringent screening process, including getting nominated by their village officials.

The rights child group Kabiba was alarmed. It said the case of Castro was only the “tip of an iceberg.”

“It is not the first incident because previous monitorings have indicated that the military are involved in using children in their operations. Recruitment of minors is also happening and clearly, these are violations of Philippine laws and international laws,” said Honey May Idul-Suazo of Kabiba.

But a few days after Castro’s story came out, his mother, Luzler, came out with a different story. Bizarrely, her new story came out when she was presented by the military at a press conference. She said her son was turning 20 on November 7, contrary to what was indicated in the birth certificate.

I called her up and she said the birth certificate she showed me was not correct.

“I was waiting for you to ask me what I thought about the birth certificate that I showed you. You did not. The birth certificate was not correct. My son was born on October 7, 1990 and not November 7, 1992. So he became a member of the Cafgu when he was already 18.”

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AFP, Child Rights, Child Soldier, Children of War, Compostela Valley, Davao City, Family, human rights, Maoist Revolution, NPA

It is midday in Dahican but a number of children are under the sun, chasing the white foam formed by the crashing of the white sand and the frantic waves twirled by the Amihan or the northeastern monsoon wind.

One by one, shirtless teenagers, called Amihan Boys—their skin the color of burnt olives, their hair squash yellow—run for the water and happily ride the waves.

From under the shade of the coconuts lining up the white-sand beachline emerge Portuguese Hugo Moura and his Filipina girlfriend, Sisi. A surfer, Hugo says he fell in love with Dahican the first time he visited the place two years ago.

“It’s beautiful here.  Look at that blue water,” he says.

Facing the Pacific, Dahican is a paradise for those who desire to detach from the crazily fast-paced city life.

Not that it is secluded because it is only about 15-minute drive from downtown Mati, where inns, restaurants and cafes are starting to sprout around. Some parts of the road to Dahican remain craggy—if not finished with limestone—but the place is very popular among backpackers and surfers.

Even before summer or during the cold and rainy months, many would still go to Dahican and leave, after a day or two, feeling not really wanting to leave at all, certainly enamored by its beauty.

Thing is—Dahican is a world within a world. It has its own way of slowing down things.

People going to Dahican and intend to stay here for a couple of days must ready themselves of the rawness of the things that it can offers. No soft beds or hotels but only the earth where they can pitch their tents or the bahay kubo of the Amihan Boys.

Here, the silence is interrupted only by the frantic union of the white sand and the sparkling green water that explodes into foam as it reaches the shore.

The same silence can at times be spoiled by the excited giggles of girls learning to skimboard or surf.

This is a place for those who want to forget or finish an almost forgotten song. Perhaps this is the same silence that calls back on endangered sea turtles to lay their eggs on. On this particular Saturday, three spots have been cordoned by the Amihan Boys as nests of the turtles.

“You can do a lot of that here. Write and travel to another world, a different world. Something is in Dahican that makes you fall in love with something, someone, or even with yourself,” says journalist LA Cascaro.

And she adds: “You can even be whoever you are here. No pretensions. You go here and be yourself. This is a space that can own.”

Environmentalists will also be mystified by how the coastlines of Dahican continue to become a nesting ground for the endangered pawikan. Dahican’s name was taken from the word ‘dahik’ or lay eggs.

Once in awhile, dolphins put up a show. Sometimes, the dugongs take the centerstage.

Poets, even those who have the penchant for bleak, would be swept away by the dryness of the amihan—the wind—as it manipulates the waves. Or the warmth of the Amihan—the boys and the poetry behind their lives of constant romance with the sea and the lacking opportunity for them to go to school.

They are the sons of the fishermen who sail every night and go back shore, with their fresh catch, finding their wives waiting for them.

The Amihan Boys have, over the years, made a name in the national skimboarding community following a number of triumphs in various competitions.

The water, the sand, the silence, and the people in Dahican apparently are what complete the ingredients that make up the charm of the place. These were the reason why Manila girls Rain Bautista and Jessica Edora flew to Mindanao.

“We wanted to go to Mati and experience Mati ourselves,” says Jessica, a medical student.

The girls spent for almost two weeks in Dahican, sleeping under a tent set-up close to the bahay kubo of the Amihan Boys—who did not only become their instant tour guides and surfing teachers but their friends.

Rain, a teacher in Quezon City, says she loves the fact that Dahican has not been influenced by commercialization yet.

“It untouched and the people, the Amihan Boys, are very friendly and will surely take care of you,” she says.

Mayor Michelle Rabat says she’s proud about the reputation of Dahican.

“Dahican is really exceptional for me. No biases. I have been to other beaches and in fact, it is comparable to these world class beaches. They’re saying that Malaysia’s beaches are really beautiful but I think Dahican is more,” she says.

As for accommodation, she admits, it is something that must be improved.

And as for me, with pristine water, the white sand, the place is safe, the silence, the pawikan, the dugongs and the dolphins, and the friendly people—who really gives a damn about accommodation?

 
(Special thanks to Freddy Uy of Mati City for allowing me to use his photos.)

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Amihan, Backpack, Beach, Blue Waters, Dahican, Davao Oriental, Mati, Pawikan, Philippines, Surfing, Turtles, White Sand