ONE FINE DAY IN BASILAN
Christmas 2015
“Be aware of the danger and the consequences,” my sister texted me when the ferry boat pulled away from the pier and sailed out towards the island half-an-hour away from Zamboanga.
That was two days before Christmas eve of 2015, when I had another rare opportunity to visit the fabled island of Basilan. I sailed out on an overloaded ferry boat with two of my brothers-in-law. People were trying to beat the Christmas rush and the boat was weighted down full, made visible by the water displacement on the surface of its hull. Trips like these remind me of high school, when I used to go home to Dalaguete for Christmas break onboard tightly-packed buses that plied the south.
The cultural differences on this trip, however, were totally different from what we usually experience in Cebu. People talk in different dialects: Chavacano, Tausug, Cebuano, Filipino. We were seated at the upper deck and arrived without much fanfare in Lamitan City.
The last time I was there was in 2004. Lamitan was a first class municipality; now it is a city. Its economy has grown so strong that it was converted into a city in 2007. Government infrastructure has been put in place; the rubber industry is flourishing and has been producing good quality raw rubber; the bullet holes on the walls of buildings and houses have been patched clean.
Just like any other town or city, Christmas was in the air and the locals were busy preparing for the holiday rush. The much presumed “danger and the consequences” that we heard from the news were nowhere to be found. The “gun culture” is still apparent but the people, both Muslims and Christians, that I met were very hospitable and friendly.
Strong military presence paired with vigilance from the civilian community has kept the Abu Sayyaf at bay (at least in Lamitan). Our visit was only for a day and I didn’t have a chance to stop by the capital city of Isabela again. Overall, Lamitan is a growing city with all the opportunities, resources and potential for growth, same us with other cities, in industries like tourism and manufacturing. I saw only a fraction of the entire island—the people, culture and economy—but something keeps telling me to go back and discover more. May this simple note trim down the notion of fear that has marked the island - erasing the misinformation that has always positioned it within the cross-hairs of war and trepidation.
Peace prevails in Basilan
Could it be true, that there are more guns than people in Basilan? It was the day after Christmas of 2004 when I had the chance to visit the mythical island just across the sea from Zamboanga. My adventuresome spirit has always yearned to set foot on the island, and the accounts of war, extremists, beheadings, guns, and more guns, thrills the imagination.
While spending Christmas vacation with my in-laws in Zamboanga, I told my wife that I wanted to visit Basilan. She was not a bit frightened by the idea, because she was born and raised in Jolo, Sulu and had been exposed to the expediencies of war. Together with Manong Rey, my “brother-inlaw-bodyguard-guide”, I took a