5 dead, 6 hurt in Lanao Norte mall blast

[KE-25]

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I agree with Rodsky, We need to know more about the facts before we decide things. The act that was done is bad no question but there is always a right way of going about it once we understand what the true problem is. Look at the Middle East, problems there have been going on for decades, there are even courses to give you a window to the problem but to get a good view of problem it takes years of study. It seems to be a way of life.

With regards to living in a hotspot, I have relatives in Hawaii that refuse to come to the Philippines thinking its a Warzone here, seriously - Where do they get that impression ( the Press ) , not all of em have bad publicity but people sometimes need to get the facts straight before anything. My 2 cents

[cottonmouth]

It's pointless and meaningless and even moreso, utterly useless, to argue with someone who is obviously blinded by years of hate and rage against what he believes to be the source woe and misery.

-RODION

Thanks for reminding me. Kudos!

I may not have live in that place for long but I've been in Iligan many many times coz I got also a lot of relatives there and many of them are in politics (for safety reason I will not mention names). Additionally, my father and few close friends had been fighting for the government against these bastards for many years since Martial Law era.

My impression against these people comes from experience courtesy of these people close to me not just from media.

We are both at the end of the spectrum: from your end my idea is useless but from my end so is your idea. At the end of the day one of our useless ideas can be boon or bane. It is just how the world works.

Marawi? If you call that place peaceful and lawful that just proved how far apart we are in the spectrum.

[missy21]

peaceful man ang Iligan..i have been there staying for 2 years. adto na time kay dili pa man to gubot jud..ambot nganung naay mga attacks karon..pero i hope everything is fine na didto..

[missy21]

just read the newspaper...duha diay ka dept store diay sa iligan? i though isa ra?..

[tingkoy13]

hahay.... sunod ang cebu nasad ang bombahan ani nakabantay mo nga daghan na kaayo ang mga muslim dri sa cebu? especially dra sa colon ai daghan na au mga hugaw sa akong panan-aw >.<
kill all the *****s... hehehe... moros d i hehhehe....

OT: wow!!! unsa kaha ug kitang kristyano ang inanaon nila bai pag sulti? sama sa pag storya nmu karon? unsa kahay bation nmu? hilasan man lng sad ta maminaw ana bai,

[rodsky]

Thanks for reminding me. Kudos!
If you call that place peaceful and lawful that just proved how far apart we are in the spectrum.

I practically grew up in that place, that you consider to be "unpeaceful" and "unlawful", yet I'm here, law-abiding, peaceful, and I like to think of myself as a good person. So it's kinda funny to think that, me, coming from a such a "horrid" and "lawless" place (as you describe it) seems to be more capable in exercising proper decorum in message boards such as these, as compared to your brash and oftentimes tactless, bigoted sentiments scattered all over iStorya, when supposedly, you come from a more "civilized" part of the country. The rest of you, go figure.

-RODION

[vern]

eh, civil war. Please tell me who of you know anything about war. People are so enthusiastic while sitting in front of their computer.

[rodsky]

eh, civil war. Please tell me who of you know anything about war. People are so enthusiastic while sitting in front of their computer.

ca. 1979. MSU Campus, Marawi City. The firefight started at around 8:00pm. I remember the look on my dad's face, radically changing from that of a relaxed, drowsy look, after watching the news on TV, to one of stark terror. He immediately shouted to everyone in the house to keep low--the initial bursts of automatic gunfire we're still far away, but after a few minutes I realized what he was worried about--in the distance, we heard the faint, muffled thump-thumps...they were using grenade launchers.

The MNLF constantly raided the MSU Marawi campus in the late 70's and early 80's. I was just around 8 years old then. The faculty cottages (where my folks lived) had basements that people called "foxholes"--they were dug by American Peacecorps volunteers who came to teach in the university when it opened up in the 1960's. They were basically rectangular holes dug under the cottage, and lined with soil-cement, a brownish brick made of concrete and clayish soil, that tended to be brittle and damp. The walls were covered in plywood, which had to be changed every six months because it tended to warp and disintegrate through prolonged exposure to moisture from the bricks, plus the millions of gouging insects that poke it with innumerable holes. That foxhole was part of my childhood.

The usual SOP, that my dad formulated, was that if the gunfire was sporadic and distant (we actually learned by ear, if a firefight was happening just outside the street, if it was on the edge of the campus), we would just keep our heads low and just continue doing our thing, like my dad watching Newswatch (with Harry Gasser), my mom making Banana Cake, and me and my siblings playing with Tupperware Build-O-Fun toys. But, if my dad sensed that the gunfire/exchange of gunfire was approaching, rather than receeding, then it was time for the foxhole. My dad would get my baby brother, my mom my little sister, and I'd scurry along behind them towards the kitchen, where the entrance to the basement was. This scene, my dad told me, was repeated in all the identical cottages that lined our street, for those too, had similar foxholes. There was particular urgency this time around, due to the fact that the ominous sound of those grenades kept getting nearer--we weren't sure if it was being fired by the government soldiers or the rebels, but who cared--we just wanted NOT to near the point of impact.

The steps leading down were very steep, and occassionally, more than once, we had minor mishaps/accidents while descending them, primarily due to the tension and nervousness that we felt as we scampered for the safety of the depression. Once inside, my dad would turn on a dim incandescent bulb in a corner of the hole. The floor, also made of soil-cement, was cold and damp. Various insects crawled here and there, a place that a bug-hater will surely learn to love as the sound of intense gunfire approached. Here, in this sanctuary, we simple waited until the gunfire, and grenade explosions died down.

Once, during an especially rapid firefight, that was very close to our house, my dad led us to the bathroom instead of the basement, because the bathroom's walls was made out of solid concrete (hollowblocks were not used), and he was afraid that stray bullets might get into the house while we were in transit towards the basement. During that time, the rebels were so close I could hear their anguished cries out on the street, and the sound of the brass hitting the concrete road as they fired their automatic weapons. Soon, the air was filled with that strange and unique smell of burnt gunpowder.

It was only two or three times that we got "stranded" in the CR, on the way to the basement. The basement had a slit that allowed one to take a peek outside, but due to the intense vegetation of my mom's garden, all you could see was sky and treelines. But once, I saw tracers lighting up the sky, and an occassional flash and huge BOOM from a grenade.

Sometimes, while we were spending a few hours in that hole, during rebel harrassments, I learned more about warfare from reading my dad's collection of Ballantine War Books. Ironic. And when we emerged from the hole, it was always a pleasant experience, parang you feel very fresh and renewed. Almost like being born again.

I feel thankful that no untoward incident ever happened to any of my family members, and myself during those raids.

-RODION

[mosh]

Haayz heres what happened, yesterday, I was building my new rig. Yes I was excited to build it. 2 hours past 12pm there was a blast in UniCity this is a small shopping place owned by Koreans. Wala pako kadungog ani.

Next blast happened in Jerrys shopping center. Nakulbaan jud kaayo ko kakusog sa nibuto. Niuyog gud ang amo balay. And we live just 2 blocks away from this shopping center.

Ang nakabati ani kay ang bomb gibilin sa baggage counter, now ang gabantay diri mga batan-on mao ang mga casualties, mga innocente, naay pamilya and buros ang asawa sa isa. Ang nagbilin sa bomba "muslim" dressed up pareha ana ninja (all black robe) thats what we call it. I know because naay cameras ang city unya gipakita sa news.

Now today, another blast happened again same area in Jerrys shopping center, but just across the road. Ang bomb gibilin sulod sa kapayas (papaya) na dako. Nag panic na sab ang tao karon. Daot nasad negosyo sa market. Yes, these areas are near a public market. Karon naa na pud threat that there are still 3 bombs na gi plant "daw". Near the market area lang gihapon.

I hate terrorists. Ngano mang damay pa man ug innocente kung i directa na lang diay nila ang ila "lost cause" sa root ana problema / government.

[vern]

@rodsky ... that is a sad story ... but that is not war. Raids and regional conflicts cannot be compared to war that engulfs whole nations.