Today is Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 and it is now 759 PM here in Cebu, Philippines.
As we resume our regular programme in progress, I had just arrived in Manila (Makati), because Jackie had unexpectedly "run away" from home (despite being 26). I was in the process of getting her from the hotel she was staying at.
The day after I arrived I went to the port and bought a roundtrip plus a 1 way ticket, for Manila to Cagayan del Oro on Mindanao, a 33 hour cruise for 1100 miles including the 3 stops that line makes. I initially tried flying down, to Cagyan's airport which is 75 km from the city but found that it is nearly impossible to get a flight at less than 2 weeks booking.
Butuan, 7 hours by auto from Cagayan del Oro had an open flight 4 days later but I figured that since the ferry would get me there in 2.5 days including the wait for departure, I should just take the time to get my bearings straight, my emotional compass as it were.
I sailed Economy, which as I have described in my BL Journal involves a berth in a bunkbed, aboard an open deck (since it is not the top deck there is a ceiling but no sides, you are open to to the elements. If it rains very hard they throw up very thin plastic tarps which keeps out some of the rain). As a white skinned foreigner I am always the centre of attention outside of Manila. In Economy? On an Asian ferry? I am like a Sasquatch or since it is Asia after all, maybe a Yeti hahahaah. People run and grab cameras to photograph me, they stare for hours and so on.
The ferry left at 730 PM. Jackie was having terrible signal problems with the Blackberry so I didn't expect to hear much from her until my arrival at Cagayan Port a day and half later.
At 1130 PM, thereabouts, I was awaken from a pleasant methadone nod to the beeping of my Sidekick (phone with full internet like a mini-laptop). Jackie came on, and here is an approximation of our conversation.:
The cast:
Rachamim aka "Raki"
Jackie
Muhammed (pseudonym for Jackie's ex)
Jackie: "Baby..."
Rachamim: "My love, you are in a cafe?"
J: "Yes, I am in a cafe. Baby, Muhammed is at the hotel!!!
R: Whatttttttttt????
J: "Yes! The Houseboy (male house cleaner/guy friday), a Gay [sic] took me here! I am so scared!"
R: "OK,OK, calm down baby, tell me slowly how you know he was there."
J: "I was in my room when the Gay came and softly told me that 2 men were at the front desk asking about me! He helped me to look at them from corner by mirror. I saw Muhammed from the rear, with another man I did not recognise. The other man was in camoflauge fatigues. Baby I am so nervous my body is shaking!"
NOTE: At this point, I was on an ocean going ferry that was just passing the island of Mindoro, off of Luzon, meaning that I was about 29 hours from where she is, as 2 armed men are nearly catching her.
Rachamim: "OK, baby, just listen to me, very carefully! Do you have your things with you?"
Jackie: "Not all, only some"
R: "Uh, OKkkkkkkkkkk, help me out here baby, WHAT do you have? Blackberry? Cash? ID? Clothes? What, WHAT?"
J: "Just my ID.
R: "Baby, I want you to have the Gay go back, VERY carefully, give him Muhammed's plate number (from his motorcycle, the most fommon form of transport in SE Asia). Have him casually find out what the clerk told them, if anything. Then have him ask for a refund on the days you stayed ( she refused to accept money from me and only had 1500 Pesos- 23 US. Budgeting carefully she had paid 900 of it towards 3 nights and had 600 Pesos left-7.50 US). Then tell me what he says. I will be offline for a couple of minutes as I call some people near you. I will be back on shortly. In the meantime I want you looking towards the entrance. If he comes in scream as loud as you can."
J: "But baby he has his 45 (pistol), Im sure!"
R: "My love. He is not a killer. He is a punk, stop worrying, just do as I say! Do you understand me baby?"
J: "Yes, I do."
R; "OK, I will be back on in a couples of minutes ."
NOTE: I called 4 numbers, only was able to connect with 1, and only his wife was there. I asked her to have call me, it was an emergency.
Rachamim: "Baby, are you still here?"
Jackie: "Yes I am..."
R: "Tell me, what's going on..."
J: "The Gay is back but he says they can't refund the money. I have my money from what I had left in the room, 1200 Pesos (more than I had thought), my ID but Muhammed broke into the room and stole the Blackberrry and some of my clothes!!!"
NOTE: I knew right away he didn't do that, that the gay guy had robbed her, but she had enough stress on her pretty little head so I went with the flow.
Rachamim: "Baby girl materiel things do not matter. As long as you are safe, that is ALL I care about.
Jackie: "I am so scared, I do not know what to do."
R: "OK, this is what we will do. You will go to Agora (The main bus terminal in that city). You will take a Jeepney, NOT a bus, to Butuan. It is 200 Pesos, you will tell the man you want to be let off at Santos Hospital on Roxas. You will tell the guard you are waiting for your husband who is coming right away. The jeepney probablly won't leave until 4 AM, and you will get at Santos 11 AM or perhaps noon, with traffic. After an hour or so in the small waiting area, ask the guard where there is the closest net cafe, if he doesn't know, find any young girl, they will know. Then get on line and tell me what is what. OK mami?"
J: OK, I will tell you when I get to the nush station. I love you Daddy.
R: Be safe little girl, be very safe.Take a taxi to Agora, but have the Gay stand with you when you get in, this way the taxista (taxi driver) knows someone withnessed you getting in, this is very important, so you hear me?"
J: "Yes, I will. I love you so much!"
R: "OK baby, but I love you more."
To say that I was stressed like crazy is to not even come close to the feeling I had. I did finally get in touch with my friend who unfortunately was in Gen San (General Santos City, the opposite side of the island, about 18 hours by auto ). This means he couldn't do anything more than I could. I COULD ask someone from San Franz (a.k.a. san Francisco, Rizza's hometown and the town I have lived in since 2007) but that would be insane.
In the end I had her go to a cheap but safe hotel that I knew of, for 1 night and she had the equivalent of 1.25 US the next morning, at 12 PM she would officialy be homeless and hungry.
Mindanao has no "soup kitchens," "food banks," any social welfare net of any kind, public or private. Like most nations in the Developing World ("3rd World"), you could be dying of a heart attack on the floor of the ER and noone will help unless you can pay cash.
When the ferry landed I paid a taxi to take me straight to the airport a 2 hour drive. I chartered a copter for 300 US to get me there in 20 minutes, as opposed to the 7 to 10 hours by auto.
Landing at Butuan Airport, about 6 km from where Jackie was, I took a taxi into town, and saw her standing next to a barber shoppe. Taking her in my arms for a priceless moment...
Sadly, it soon turned into a nightmare, but that is getting a bit ahead of myself...
(Edited for spelling)
As we resume our regular programme in progress, I had just arrived in Manila (Makati), because Jackie had unexpectedly "run away" from home (despite being 26). I was in the process of getting her from the hotel she was staying at.
The day after I arrived I went to the port and bought a roundtrip plus a 1 way ticket, for Manila to Cagayan del Oro on Mindanao, a 33 hour cruise for 1100 miles including the 3 stops that line makes. I initially tried flying down, to Cagyan's airport which is 75 km from the city but found that it is nearly impossible to get a flight at less than 2 weeks booking.
Butuan, 7 hours by auto from Cagayan del Oro had an open flight 4 days later but I figured that since the ferry would get me there in 2.5 days including the wait for departure, I should just take the time to get my bearings straight, my emotional compass as it were.
I sailed Economy, which as I have described in my BL Journal involves a berth in a bunkbed, aboard an open deck (since it is not the top deck there is a ceiling but no sides, you are open to to the elements. If it rains very hard they throw up very thin plastic tarps which keeps out some of the rain). As a white skinned foreigner I am always the centre of attention outside of Manila. In Economy? On an Asian ferry? I am like a Sasquatch or since it is Asia after all, maybe a Yeti hahahaah. People run and grab cameras to photograph me, they stare for hours and so on.
The ferry left at 730 PM. Jackie was having terrible signal problems with the Blackberry so I didn't expect to hear much from her until my arrival at Cagayan Port a day and half later.
At 1130 PM, thereabouts, I was awaken from a pleasant methadone nod to the beeping of my Sidekick (phone with full internet like a mini-laptop). Jackie came on, and here is an approximation of our conversation.:
The cast:
Rachamim aka "Raki"
Jackie
Muhammed (pseudonym for Jackie's ex)
Jackie: "Baby..."
Rachamim: "My love, you are in a cafe?"
J: "Yes, I am in a cafe. Baby, Muhammed is at the hotel!!!
R: Whatttttttttt????
J: "Yes! The Houseboy (male house cleaner/guy friday), a Gay [sic] took me here! I am so scared!"
R: "OK,OK, calm down baby, tell me slowly how you know he was there."
J: "I was in my room when the Gay came and softly told me that 2 men were at the front desk asking about me! He helped me to look at them from corner by mirror. I saw Muhammed from the rear, with another man I did not recognise. The other man was in camoflauge fatigues. Baby I am so nervous my body is shaking!"
NOTE: At this point, I was on an ocean going ferry that was just passing the island of Mindoro, off of Luzon, meaning that I was about 29 hours from where she is, as 2 armed men are nearly catching her.
Rachamim: "OK, baby, just listen to me, very carefully! Do you have your things with you?"
Jackie: "Not all, only some"
R: "Uh, OKkkkkkkkkkk, help me out here baby, WHAT do you have? Blackberry? Cash? ID? Clothes? What, WHAT?"
J: "Just my ID.
R: "Baby, I want you to have the Gay go back, VERY carefully, give him Muhammed's plate number (from his motorcycle, the most fommon form of transport in SE Asia). Have him casually find out what the clerk told them, if anything. Then have him ask for a refund on the days you stayed ( she refused to accept money from me and only had 1500 Pesos- 23 US. Budgeting carefully she had paid 900 of it towards 3 nights and had 600 Pesos left-7.50 US). Then tell me what he says. I will be offline for a couple of minutes as I call some people near you. I will be back on shortly. In the meantime I want you looking towards the entrance. If he comes in scream as loud as you can."
J: "But baby he has his 45 (pistol), Im sure!"
R: "My love. He is not a killer. He is a punk, stop worrying, just do as I say! Do you understand me baby?"
J: "Yes, I do."
R; "OK, I will be back on in a couples of minutes ."
NOTE: I called 4 numbers, only was able to connect with 1, and only his wife was there. I asked her to have call me, it was an emergency.
Rachamim: "Baby, are you still here?"
Jackie: "Yes I am..."
R: "Tell me, what's going on..."
J: "The Gay is back but he says they can't refund the money. I have my money from what I had left in the room, 1200 Pesos (more than I had thought), my ID but Muhammed broke into the room and stole the Blackberrry and some of my clothes!!!"
NOTE: I knew right away he didn't do that, that the gay guy had robbed her, but she had enough stress on her pretty little head so I went with the flow.
Rachamim: "Baby girl materiel things do not matter. As long as you are safe, that is ALL I care about.
Jackie: "I am so scared, I do not know what to do."
R: "OK, this is what we will do. You will go to Agora (The main bus terminal in that city). You will take a Jeepney, NOT a bus, to Butuan. It is 200 Pesos, you will tell the man you want to be let off at Santos Hospital on Roxas. You will tell the guard you are waiting for your husband who is coming right away. The jeepney probablly won't leave until 4 AM, and you will get at Santos 11 AM or perhaps noon, with traffic. After an hour or so in the small waiting area, ask the guard where there is the closest net cafe, if he doesn't know, find any young girl, they will know. Then get on line and tell me what is what. OK mami?"
J: OK, I will tell you when I get to the nush station. I love you Daddy.
R: Be safe little girl, be very safe.Take a taxi to Agora, but have the Gay stand with you when you get in, this way the taxista (taxi driver) knows someone withnessed you getting in, this is very important, so you hear me?"
J: "Yes, I will. I love you so much!"
R: "OK baby, but I love you more."
To say that I was stressed like crazy is to not even come close to the feeling I had. I did finally get in touch with my friend who unfortunately was in Gen San (General Santos City, the opposite side of the island, about 18 hours by auto ). This means he couldn't do anything more than I could. I COULD ask someone from San Franz (a.k.a. san Francisco, Rizza's hometown and the town I have lived in since 2007) but that would be insane.
In the end I had her go to a cheap but safe hotel that I knew of, for 1 night and she had the equivalent of 1.25 US the next morning, at 12 PM she would officialy be homeless and hungry.
Mindanao has no "soup kitchens," "food banks," any social welfare net of any kind, public or private. Like most nations in the Developing World ("3rd World"), you could be dying of a heart attack on the floor of the ER and noone will help unless you can pay cash.
When the ferry landed I paid a taxi to take me straight to the airport a 2 hour drive. I chartered a copter for 300 US to get me there in 20 minutes, as opposed to the 7 to 10 hours by auto.
Landing at Butuan Airport, about 6 km from where Jackie was, I took a taxi into town, and saw her standing next to a barber shoppe. Taking her in my arms for a priceless moment...
Sadly, it soon turned into a nightmare, but that is getting a bit ahead of myself...
(Edited for spelling)