I slept late yesterday, really late. Marc and I had a client presentation in Makati around 4pm, but I spent the night till lunch time working, so I had to pass. We had planned to hang out at Glorietta first before meeting our client (it would have been easier to take the train instead of bringing a car), but since I haven’t slept yet, Marc and I decided that he’ll just drive to Makati and just park the car in Glorietta so he wouldn’t have to withstand the city’s infamous traffic. I went to bed at 12:30pm, and Marc asked my dad to borrow the car to drive to Makati about the same time.
When Marc left, I was still asleep and my dad didn’t hear him leave. He knew that Marc was going to Makati, he just didn’t know what time. I didn’t either.
My dad heard the news on the radio that there was a huge blast in Glorietta around 4pm, and he woke me up immediately. Dad covered the sports beat for The Philippine Daily Inquirer, so he wasn’t contacted by the office. He immediately woke me up, and told me to call Marc ASAP to see if he was ok.
I called Marc twice, thrice. I couldn’t connect to his phone. I thought something bad happened to him, though something told me that he was ok. I don’t know why, but I felt that he wasn’t harmed. It was a gut feeling, you know? It’s hard to explain.
On the fifth try, my call finally went through. I was right. He was fine.
As it turned out, Marc left around 2PM, about thirty minutes after the blast.
Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes that made a huge difference. If he left earlier and went through with his plan to park at Glorietta, things would have turned out differently. I’m not very religious, but I can’t help but thank God for it.
Though some of my friends consider me a very logical person, I have always kept an open mind when it came to the supernatural. There are just some things you can’t explain. My husband missing the blast by mere thirty minutes may have been brought about by sheer dumb luck (or can be simply explained by laziness to go to the meeting early), but sometimes I really feel like I have a guardian angel watching over me.
Our family got lucky. All of us are safe. But there were people who weren’t.
Let’s all pray for the grieving families of those who passed away in the blast (8 were confirmed dead as reported in Inquirer.Net) and the wounded.
October 19 marks another sad day for Filipinos.
(For photos, visit Disney Cute Land. More info available at the Inquirer.Net Glorietta Blast special site).
I feel really sad for the victims kasi Glorietta is a mall I frequent to all the time when I am in Makati especially when I lived there. It must be a relief for you that marc was a bit late.
I heard the news an hour after it happened. A friend kept calling but I wasn’t answering her calls as I was busy attending to a patient. My first thoughts were my 2 sisters working in Makati. Somehow, I felt they were safe. I was more certain about S1 because she takes her lunch in the office. I was more concerned about S5 whose work is in the mall and in shifts. It crossed my mind that maybe she’s in between shifts and going around the mall. But I had patients to see. Somehow, I knew both of them to be safe. And somehow, I knew that S1 would look out for S5. After I finished with the patient, I called S1 and she assured me that S5 is safe. That’s really something to be thankful for.
My heart bleeds for the innocent people who were killed and hurt by the recent incident in Makati. I am sure theories abound how this incident is politically motivated or connected with what is happening in the country. The persons in the political arena may use the incident for their gains but the country and the Filipinos always lose in the end.
I am saddened to hear that all branches of government are now facing issues of corruption. The judiciary with the incident of one Supreme Court Justice allegedly receiving money and allegedly got the assistant fired for reporting the incident, and yet I have not heard results of any investigation on the matter; the executive branch is facing several major issues with no less than the NEDA chief secretary disclosing the attempted bribery, reporting the incident to his boss and yet the contract was signed, and as a consequence, the COMELEC chair resigned; JPEPA was signed and only now that Senate is asked to ratify it, the people learn that, to say the least, it was not negotiated well for the benefit of the Filipino people; on the legislative front, several legislators confessed to receiving money from Malacanang and yet when questioned about the incident, the reply is the President was not present when it was given! What is more shocking, victims from the Glorietta bombing allegedly received only P5,000 to P10,000 from the government when these congressmen received P500,000 for no reason at all!
Year in, year out, we see issues of corruption and yet nothing happens. Will the people who authorized the signing of the questioned deal be penalized or will its just be a headline good for a few days? What happens to people involved? Will the resignation clear the COMELEC chairman of any liability? A poor public official who commits misuse of public funds for a few hundred pesos suffers termination and loss of retirement benefits and yet, big offenders get away with not even a censure and still get their fat retirement money. Will the Philippines get a fair deal with JPEPA? What will happen to the testimonies of the legislators who received money and the person who gave the money? Will it just be one of the issues that will be recorded and archived in the halls of Congress?
When will change come?
I remember Professor Yorac favorite latin maxim, fiat justicia ruat caelum (Let justice be done though the heavens may fall). How I wish this maxim will be the governing principle in public service.
I still believe and hope that in my lifetime I will see major changes in our country but at this very moment, the chance of seeing that day is very dim.
Ummm… I’m still alive and kicking!
What happened is another sad episode in our current events. To think that Glorietta is one of the strictest when it comes to security. I hope the parties concerned will do a thorough investigation and determine what really happened.
It’s sad to see these events happening.
My heartfelt prayers for the victims.
I’m happy for you that your hubby is safe.
sana ok lang ang tagalog hehe. kakatakot namanang gloriettang yan. 🙁 muntik narin ako dyan dahil mag mimit sana kami ng kaibigan ko although kinansel nya. i was really mad kasi naman di ako pwedeng mag leave ng laeve sa work dahil bwal sa work. it turned out to be a blessing though. di ko pa talaga time ahihihi. 🙂 God is good.