dispatch from Manila

dear tita chi and uncle jean,

the country woke up this morning to find tanks barrelling down the streets of makati. a group of disgruntled young officers have taken it upon themselves to air the grievances of the people, supposedly, against the way the government is being run.

the last time we had this sort of trouble, we had tanks and soldiers walking in the neighborhood. it lasted days i think. i can't remember it all that much. except that as a child, i remember peeking from the veranda outside and seeing tora-tora planes in the
sky. Malacanang was literally just a stone's throw away.

And now Makati. Again, if we stand at the balkonahe, we can clearly see the sharpened tips of the RCBC building. So they got oakwood suites and the hotel intercon. the analysts are predicting bad business for the philippines again. we don't know yet what's going to happen. the president has given them--the Magdalo group--until 5pm to surrender. that's when the action is going to start, my friend says.

All we can do right now is to wait. I turned on the television this morning and there was Inday Badiday,
calmly interviewing young actor Piolo Pascual about his so-called relationship with Judy Ann Santos. At the other channel, some rap group was shouting their songs to bleeding ears. How calm and ordinary it was. Of course I realize that these are canned shows. But for the moment, I want updates, I want a full frontal on what's happening. Yet the television insists on regular weekend fare.

No definite news yet. I am online to check on other developments. And the entire inq7 website has been
turned to a running update on the coup. I hope this gets resolved very quickly.

For the meantime, we are still safe. I don't know if I should still push through with going about the regular Sunday routine: groceries, errands, a coffee out and a stroll. When all this is happening. But all we can do for the meantime, is wait.

Hugs for everyone, and hoping to be safe.