In 2009 I wrote about a local guy, Ondo Perez. Ondo is a Manobo, the local Hill Tribe and a member of BUFIL (Bungkatol Liberation Front), the paramilitary I am involved in. Like just about every family on the island his is in the middle of an ongoing family feud, or, "Rido."
Like the feud I am in, and the kind most here are involved in, Ondo's revolves around land. His family lives on a mountaintop in Prosperidad, the provincial capitol. Our cattle operation is just downhill from his mountain. A nearby Manobo family, the Tubay Clan, had begun farming abaca (used as hemp in parts of SE Asia). They had begun clearing land long held by Ondo's folks. When the Tubays were told to find another spot they killed 6 of Ondo's family members. Ondo responded by killing 5 Tubays and went looking for more. At this point local authorities decided they ought to become involved lest the 2 clans let it spill over into the lowlands where the town proper is. Like the fools they are they sent word to Ondo not to open fire, they would be traveling to his settlement to discuss the Rido. Then, a family member who happened to have been at the army garrison overheard that the authorities were actually going there to arrest Ondo on 3 murder warrants.
Let's just say Ondo was far from pleased. In fact, he and 15 clansmen stormed an elementary school and kidnapped 125 hostages, mostly young students. The authorities quickly gave in to Ondo's demands by withdrawing the warrant and vowing publicly not to pursue additional charges related to the kidnapping. After 4 days all hostages were released unharmed.
About 3 months later (the kidnapping was in December, 2009) the army suprised Ondo and his merry men and promptly deposited them into the provincial jail.
Fast forward to this past Friday, April 01. After a school function ended and locals were trekking home 5 of Ondos clansmen, all teenagers, kidnapped 15 people, among them a 10 year old and a 13 year old. They are being held in the bush uphill from our land in Prosperidad, in a grove of facalta (a tropical hardwood) during the day and at night being moved to different homes. They are demanding the release of their clansmen. On Saturday the authorities released Ondo to act as a negotiator.
Monday, April 04, two of the hostages rode a motorcycle dirtbike into town to get medicine for the 10 year old who is ill. Stupidly the authorities grabbed them and refused to allow them to return with the meds.
Life on Mindanao, never boring. Well, that's not accurate because I find it boring as fuck but you get the point.
Speaking of feuds, our feud is on the back burner for now. As long as Uncle Allan doesn't fire his Uzi into our compound he is free to do as he wishes. Noone has been killed since Samson was found. Some may remember that he was the convicted child rapist whom Allan employed at his rice mill. An alcoholic and Shabu head (methamphetamine) he would fuck with me anytime he saw me. Then they found him buried in less than a meter of mud on Allan's road (between our compound and a cousin's compound next door is a dirt road. At the end of that road, at the base of the mountain sits Allan's rice mill). A labourer was walking into Allan's mill and saw Samson's foot sticking out of the mud. He had been shot in the back of the head and hastily dumped in a pothole, after which mud was shoveled in on top of him. Actually, he was half in the road and half under a mound of rice husks.
I think Uncle Allan got the message. Since then he won't even go to his own mill.
All this thinking about kidnapping has gotten me thinking about taking another trip to Pakistan. I have only been there once but thoroughly enjoyed it. However that was at a time when white faces (like mine) were warmly received since the US was funding the Afghan mujahadin against the FSU (Former Soviet Union).
Now? Fat chance of THAT happening. However I have a hankering to spend some time up in Peshawar.
Peshawar sits right on the border of Northwest Province, 1 of the "Tribal Areas." Foreigners need special permits and armed guards to enter the zone because of the lawlessness there. In the city itself there is a place known in English as "Smugglers Bazaar." In it you can find any manner of smuggled goods. At its far end (north side) there is a metal swing barrier, of the kind used at minor checkpoints. Past it is the "Restricted End" of the market. There you can buy any long arm you want with AK47s being the most popular. Some are made right in the market but most are made further into the sector at a town named Dara. There you can simply show a photo of a rifle and within 5 days you can have a copy of best quality, unless its one they have already manufactured in which case it takes 48 hours to make.
The best attraction for me though is the drugs (big suprise). In the stalls they display kilo blocks of opium and top quality Afghan hashish, which hands down is the best hash on the planet. Creamy brown inside, black gummy outside. Better yet, under the counter are kilo bags of heroin, #2, #4, its there in any colour, absolutely unadulterated. It is the easiest place in the world to enter the top tier of the game. They even arrange delivery to most places.
I just feel like taking that kind of a trip. Unlike the first time I will take a digicam and start documenting my travels.
Like the feud I am in, and the kind most here are involved in, Ondo's revolves around land. His family lives on a mountaintop in Prosperidad, the provincial capitol. Our cattle operation is just downhill from his mountain. A nearby Manobo family, the Tubay Clan, had begun farming abaca (used as hemp in parts of SE Asia). They had begun clearing land long held by Ondo's folks. When the Tubays were told to find another spot they killed 6 of Ondo's family members. Ondo responded by killing 5 Tubays and went looking for more. At this point local authorities decided they ought to become involved lest the 2 clans let it spill over into the lowlands where the town proper is. Like the fools they are they sent word to Ondo not to open fire, they would be traveling to his settlement to discuss the Rido. Then, a family member who happened to have been at the army garrison overheard that the authorities were actually going there to arrest Ondo on 3 murder warrants.
Let's just say Ondo was far from pleased. In fact, he and 15 clansmen stormed an elementary school and kidnapped 125 hostages, mostly young students. The authorities quickly gave in to Ondo's demands by withdrawing the warrant and vowing publicly not to pursue additional charges related to the kidnapping. After 4 days all hostages were released unharmed.
About 3 months later (the kidnapping was in December, 2009) the army suprised Ondo and his merry men and promptly deposited them into the provincial jail.
Fast forward to this past Friday, April 01. After a school function ended and locals were trekking home 5 of Ondos clansmen, all teenagers, kidnapped 15 people, among them a 10 year old and a 13 year old. They are being held in the bush uphill from our land in Prosperidad, in a grove of facalta (a tropical hardwood) during the day and at night being moved to different homes. They are demanding the release of their clansmen. On Saturday the authorities released Ondo to act as a negotiator.
Monday, April 04, two of the hostages rode a motorcycle dirtbike into town to get medicine for the 10 year old who is ill. Stupidly the authorities grabbed them and refused to allow them to return with the meds.
Life on Mindanao, never boring. Well, that's not accurate because I find it boring as fuck but you get the point.
Speaking of feuds, our feud is on the back burner for now. As long as Uncle Allan doesn't fire his Uzi into our compound he is free to do as he wishes. Noone has been killed since Samson was found. Some may remember that he was the convicted child rapist whom Allan employed at his rice mill. An alcoholic and Shabu head (methamphetamine) he would fuck with me anytime he saw me. Then they found him buried in less than a meter of mud on Allan's road (between our compound and a cousin's compound next door is a dirt road. At the end of that road, at the base of the mountain sits Allan's rice mill). A labourer was walking into Allan's mill and saw Samson's foot sticking out of the mud. He had been shot in the back of the head and hastily dumped in a pothole, after which mud was shoveled in on top of him. Actually, he was half in the road and half under a mound of rice husks.
I think Uncle Allan got the message. Since then he won't even go to his own mill.
All this thinking about kidnapping has gotten me thinking about taking another trip to Pakistan. I have only been there once but thoroughly enjoyed it. However that was at a time when white faces (like mine) were warmly received since the US was funding the Afghan mujahadin against the FSU (Former Soviet Union).
Now? Fat chance of THAT happening. However I have a hankering to spend some time up in Peshawar.
Peshawar sits right on the border of Northwest Province, 1 of the "Tribal Areas." Foreigners need special permits and armed guards to enter the zone because of the lawlessness there. In the city itself there is a place known in English as "Smugglers Bazaar." In it you can find any manner of smuggled goods. At its far end (north side) there is a metal swing barrier, of the kind used at minor checkpoints. Past it is the "Restricted End" of the market. There you can buy any long arm you want with AK47s being the most popular. Some are made right in the market but most are made further into the sector at a town named Dara. There you can simply show a photo of a rifle and within 5 days you can have a copy of best quality, unless its one they have already manufactured in which case it takes 48 hours to make.
The best attraction for me though is the drugs (big suprise). In the stalls they display kilo blocks of opium and top quality Afghan hashish, which hands down is the best hash on the planet. Creamy brown inside, black gummy outside. Better yet, under the counter are kilo bags of heroin, #2, #4, its there in any colour, absolutely unadulterated. It is the easiest place in the world to enter the top tier of the game. They even arrange delivery to most places.
I just feel like taking that kind of a trip. Unlike the first time I will take a digicam and start documenting my travels.