Francis then messaged: “May boom boom po Sir sa paligid but flight is on schedule.” He said he could not tell if shells were landing inside the airport complex but the point of impact, according to him, was somewhere near as he could feel the ground shaking. A few hours ago, we said goodbye to … Continue reading Repatriation via Mitiga
Diplomacy
Unsung Heroes
Today, we honor one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines—Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the revolutionary society Katipunan. We will commemorate this day by paying tribute not only to the Great Plebeian but also to the unsung heroes of the Philippine foreign service—the men and women who risked their lives by serving in conflict … Continue reading Unsung Heroes
That Boy Bogs
The last time I saw Bogs was five years ago at the Tunis Carthage International Airport. He was eight years old then when we took him, his mother, and several other kababayan on a grueling 12-hour journey by land from Tripoli. They were among the more than 300 Filipinos who we were able to escort … Continue reading That Boy Bogs
The Search for the Missing
Shortly before leaving Manila for Tripoli in 2019, we met with the family members of four Filipino oil workers who have been missing and presumed dead since they were abducted by Islamic State extremists in southern Libya on 6 March 2015. We met them at the conference room of the Office of the Undersecretary for … Continue reading The Search for the Missing
The Road to Garabolli
We had reasons to be worried. For us to be able to get to Misrata, we would have to take the Coastal Highway and that highway cuts through Garabolli. And with clashes reportedly taking place there, the highway is no longer passable.
Misadventure at Mt. Pinatubo
"A US Navy SEAL is supposed to be missing in Pinatubo,” Lieutenant Miraflor told us. Apparently, the American service member, who was among those taking part in ongoing bilateral exercises in Subic, failed to return from a trek to Mount Pinatubo and was presumed missing.
Encounters with Amang
From where he was seated, Blas Fajardo Ople, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, asked me where I was being proposed for my first foreign assignment. I told him I was being groomed as Vice Consul at the Philippine Consulate General or as Third Secretary at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Exile
Fly Dubai FZ211 bound for Baghdad was half empty compared to the flight to Jeddah that was scheduled to leave the same time from Terminal 4 of Dubai International. As the Boeing 737 taxied, the onboard entertainment system began showing "American Sniper." Quite timely, I told myself. Is it an indication of things to come? In my bag was the book "Green Zone" that Chuchay and Butch Fernandez gave as a going away present.
Welcome to Baghdad, Sir!
I have run all sorts of worse case scenarios in my mind before I left for Baghdad but nothing really prepared me for this. These are scenes that one would typically see in the movies but when confronted with these situations in real life, it is completely different. I have never felt so vulnerable, so helpless. I have never been so afraid. And I have never prayed so hard in my life.
United Against Daesh
I looked at them and saw that unspoken expression of sympathy and solidarity written in their faces. And they went even further. Talking through one of our Iraqi local hires, they told me: “We will fight and defeat Daesh wherever they are, whether here in Iraq or in the Philippines.”
Lito and the Sniffing Dog
Lito already had an assignment order even before I volunteered to go to Iraq but as head of post I still had the final say. I really wanted to make sure I get the right people to serve with me in Baghdad—one of the most challenging posts in the foreign service because of, among others, the average of five terrorist bombings that take place there everyday.
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTLINE 