> The world has changed overnight. IN our case here in the Philippines, the peso dipped to an all-time low of 1 is to 55 US dollars because of war jitters. Panic buying was not reported in the papers but we are all pani-buying. The day before the planned attack, I went to a local supermarket to buy a few cola drinks and I was horrified to see a long queue of people lining up laden with grocery products. Surely, this is not just a pay-day spree. It had to be something else. The UN just granted our president emergency powers and people are worried that she might use the occasion to impose martial law (the way Marcos did in 1972), or suddenly give powers to the military and the US troops in Mindanao to do a blitzkrieg operations, without regard to the ceasefire talks currently in negotations with the government and our Moro rebels.
Things are definitely changing, too. Students in the University have this heightened awareness of things that may go bump suddenly anytime. People in the metropolis, too are a nervous lot. Just yesterday while I was holding classes, two low-flying planes passed by the academic oval that had 2/3 of the students jumping off their seats, and then realizing its a plane, they nervously laughed and went back to their seats. With the threats that the Mindanao wars will escalate in the Metro because of the all-out support of our government to the US-led war, bus terminals, malls, cinema, public places are strangely quiet. Generations later, I hope the people will not forget the atrocity of this war and not forgive the those who left long-lasting scars in our psyche. Joseph in Manila
