Even The Grass Bleeds

“Rose! Come! Quick!” Mrs. Lee, her mistress, called her.

  Rose was in the kitchen, cooking food for dinner.

  She quickly walked to the living room where Mrs. Lee was seated on a sofa, watching the 6:30 p.m. Chinese news on television.

  “Look! Your country! Horrible! Horrible!” Mrs. Lee exclaimed.

  News footage showed a cargo vehicle half-buried in a big fissure.

  Then a collapsed building.

  Next was a collapsed hotel.

  Rose was horrified. She bit her lip.

  The collapsed hotel was very familiar to her.

  “Ma’am, that’s the Hyatt Terraces Hotel,” she nervously said.

  A footage also showed the collapsed Baguio Park Hotel.

  Footage of a crashed plane was also shown. Then the body of the pilot.1

  “What’s the newscaster saying, Ma’am?” Rose asked.

  “Plane crashed. American plane. Pilot killed, and co-pilot seriously wounded,” Mrs. Lee replied.

  The last footage about the Philippines showed Mrs. Aquino. She was caught laughing on camera after the earthquake.

  “Your President, right?” Mrs. Lee asked.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Why is she laughing? Many killed already, but why is your President laughing?2”

  Rose felt embarrassed at Mrs. Lee’s question.

  “I don’t know, Ma’am,” was all she could say.

  After the news about the earthquake in the Philippines, the Chinese newscaster broadcast news events in other countries: Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein’s threat to send hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks to its border with Kuwait; the decision of the Soviet Union and Hungary to accept the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) offer to establish diplomatic relations with the alliance; deployment of the United States’ planned space based missile defense system in 1993, popularly known as “Star Wars”; the decision of the United States to withdraw recognition of the Cambodian resistance’s coalition against the Vietnamese-backed government of Hun Sen; and the threat of South Korea’s opposition parties to resign from parliament and attempt a merger to challenge President Roh Tae Woo’s government.

  When the newscast was over, Rose asked Mrs. Lee for a favor.

  “Ma’am, I’m worried about my family in the Philippines,” she said. “May I make a long distance call to the Philippines tonight?”

  Mrs. Lee understood her concern.

  “Go ahead. Call your family.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am. I’ll just finish what I’m doing.”

  Mrs. Lee nodded.

  Rose went back to the kitchen to resume cooking.

  Calling Marianne Alonzo was what she had in mind, a friend in Baguio whose family had a phone.

  After dinner, when Mrs. Lee and her husband were already resting in their room, Rose asked the telephone operator for a long distance call to Baguio City, Philippines. The female operator called up Baguio City.

  “Miss, Afable, the line is out.”

  “Kindly make another call,” Rose requested.

  The female operator dialed the number again.

  The line was out again.

  “Miss Afable, something is wrong with the line to Baguio City. It’s out.”

  There was no way they could call up Baguio City. Communication lines to that area were down at that time. Baguio City had been isolated since the killer quake struck.

  “Thank you, Ma’am,” Rose said.

  She hung up the phone.

  Worried and sad, she was on the verge of tears. What would she do?

  She remembered her Aunt Mely, the sister of her father.

  Her aunt, a widow, had been residing in an apartment in Sampaloc, together with her children. They had a telephone in the house.

  Rose called back the telephone operator.

  “Ma’am, kindly call up Manila, 721-976. Collect Hong Kong. Our phone number here is 5-836-429.”

  The operator dialed the Manila number. This time, the line was working.

  “Long distance call from Hong Kong for Mrs. Mely Nicolas,” the operator said.

  It was Thea, Aunt Mely’s eldest daughter, who answered the phone. “Si Mommy, tawagin mo, long distance,” she told Helen, her younger sister. Soon, Aunt Mely was on the phone.

  (“Call Mommy, tell her it’s a long distance call from Hong Kong.”)

  “Auntie, si Rose ‘to,” she said, worried. “Kumusta kayo d’yan?”

  (“Auntie, this is Rose.” “How are all doing?”)

  “Naku! Ang lakas ng lindol dito. Akala ko, katapusan na ng mundo.”

  (“Oh no! The earthquake here was very strong. I thought it was the end of the world.”)

  “Auntie, tumawag ako dahil makikibalita sana ako tungkol kina Inay. Tumatawag po kasi ako sa Baguio, ngunit wala namang sumasagot.”

  (“Auntie, I called because I wanted to find out if you had any news about my mother and siblings. I tried calling Baguio, but I couldn’t get through.”)

  “Rose, isolated ang Baguio ngayon! Cut-off ang telephone lines.”

  (“Rose, Baguio is isolated right now! The telephone lines are cut-off!”)

  “Auntie, anong pwede nating gawin? Gusto kong malaman kung ligtas sina Inay.”

  (“Auntie, what can we do? I just want to find out if they’re safe.”)

  Aunt Mely, who had been listening to the marathon broadcasts of DZRH, thought of seeking the help of the radio station.

  “Bayaan mo. Bukas, pupunta ako sa DZRH. May mga field reporters sila sa Baguio. Hihingi ako ng tulong sa kanila. Nakakatawag ang mga taga-Baguio sa DZRH sa pamamagitan ng kanilang mga field reporters. Patatawagan ko ang inay mo. Kung may balita man sa kanila, tatawagan kita. Ano ba ang telepono n’yo d’yan sa Hong Kong?” her aunt asked.

  (“Don’t worry. Tomorrow, I’ll go to DZRH. They have field reporters in Baguio. I’ll try to ask for their help. People in Baguio are able to call DZRH’s main station through these field reporters. I’ll see if we can reach your mother this way. If I obtain any news about them, I’ll call you. What’s your number there in Hong Kong?”)

  “5-836-429, Auntie.”

  “Sandali’t kukuha ako ng ballpen.”

  (“Wait, let me find a ballpen.”)

  She was immediately back.

  “Ano nga ‘yun?”

  (“What was that again?”)

  “5-836-429, Auntie.”

  “5-836-429,” her aunt repeated the number as she wrote it.

  “Opo.”

  (“Yes.”)

  “O sige, Rose, tatawagan kita kung may balita ako tungkol sa Inay mo’t mga kapatid.”

  (“Okay, Rose. I’ll call you once I have news about your mother and siblings.”)

  “Please, Auntie,” she appealed.

  “O, ikaw? Kumusta ka naman d’yan?”

  (“What about you? How are you?”)

  “Mabuti naman po. Kayo po, Auntie? Kumusta po kayo d’yan?”

  (“I’m okay. And you, Auntie? How are you?”)

  “Mabuti naman sa awa ng Panginoon.”

  (“They are doing well by God’s grace.”)

  “Ang mga bata po? Kumusta sila?”

  (“And the kids? How are they?”)

  “Okay naman sila. Ikaw, mag-ingat ka d’yan. Wag mong pababayaan ang sarili mo.”

  (“They are fine. You take care of yourself, alright? Don’t neglect your health.”)

  “Opo, Auntie,” she replied. “O, sige po. Pakibalitaan na lang ninyo ako tungkol kina Inay.”

  (“Yes, Auntie.” “Again, if you hear news about mother, don’t hesitate to call.”)

  “Sige,” her aunt answered.

  (“Okay,”)

  Rose hung up the phone.

  Her thoughts were on her family in Baguio City.

  And on Daniel.

  Back to Table of Contents

  . . . CHAPTER . . .

  9