Forgotten and Lost 2

That day ended with his life shattered. They had nothing left. The dream was dead.

Before February 4, 2006, life was hard. After February 4, 2006, life was difficult. Existence had become hand-to-mouth. The bike was gone. The bottles were gone. A means of living, difficult though it was, was now gone. Begging was what remained.

The man put his mug of coffee on his desk; took his coat, which was draped on the back of his chair; and followed his assistant out. It wasn't wise to keep Lord Ethan waiting.

The Right Honourable Sir Ethan, Baron Lam, was an important figure in the banking industry. Born in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, his family obtained British citizenship. He later became a friend of Eric Ong, who entered the financial market in Hong Kong by buying a controlling share in a large bank. This bank, later renamed The Bank of the Empire, expanded its operations deeper into China than it had ever been, and even entered the Philippines and Latin America. It developed a stunning reputation for promoting grassroots finance. Ethan Lam was knighted and became a member of the House of Lords.

The man continued his reflection as he headed down the corridor.

After the ULTRA stampede life became a mindless, dreary existence. Nobody knew what would happen the next day, the next week... even the next moment. Everybody in the family became irritable. Fighting was an almost daily occurrence. It was heartbreaking.

They were forgotten. They were lost.

And then it happened.

The Takeover came.

It was unbelievable. It was as if a foreign invasion was taking place. A battlecruiser appeared off Sangley point and shelled naval installations. Airstrikes directed at targets like the army and air force headquarters happened. On radio and television, it was reported that fighting was going on in Cebu and around Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao with government forces on the losing end. A pair of aircraft carriers appeared in Manila Bay. They were the ones that launched the airstrikes. And the finale came beams of light came shooting down from the sky, destroying many buildings, including the homes of government people. Tanks came rolling into the city, larger and more powerful than those of the army. A new president was forced into office. Many members of congress were machinegunned on the grounds of the Batasan.

There were those who escaped. But their escape was only physical. They fled, only to be killed abroad. After the Takeover, Manila quickly went into decline. In less than five years, it was nearly a ghost town.

It was then that his father decided that they should pack their belongings. They were heading to Mindanao.

Forgotten and Lost 1

The man stood at his office window, a mug of coffee in his hand. The sky was growing dark as night was coming down softly upon Cagayan de Oro. It would be a long night ahead. Lord Ethan was coming to Cagayan for a few days. The bank's branches were preparing for his routine inspection. Thoughts turned toward the past; to distant and painful memories.

He was not born here. Indeed, he came from another place, far up north.

February 4, 2006

That was how he remembered it. That day tore his life apart. He was just five years old when the stampede happened. It was at the ULTRA Stadium.

For days they had camped outside; hoping to take a chance at instant riches. A million pesos... a jeepney... a taxi...

His father bought and sold used bottles to junk shops for a living. Hi bicycle, with its improvised side attachment used for collecting the bottles, was his only means of living. His mother had no income. Her days were spent washing clothes by the Pasig River.

They had very little money. They loved Wowowee and regularly watched it in a neighbor's house.

When it was announced that the show was celebrating its first anniversary, they decided to stake all their fortunes in order to leave a life of poverty. His father sold his bicycle. They knew that they had to be at the stadium early so they could snatch a ticket that would let them participate in the Pera o Bayong portion of the show, where they expected to make anywhere between Php10,000 and 50,000. They bought food and set up a makeshift tent. The days passed and the crowd grew.

And then it happened; the big day came. They were told that only the first 300 people to line on the walkway would be given the tickets. The crowd became frenzied; pushing, tugging, pulling, fighting. He and his family were no different. They rushed in, arms linked together; father, mother, younger brother and sister. The stampede broke out. Pure madness.

When it was over, there was nothing left. They weren't even able to enter the stadium. Some 400 people were injured and 78 were dead. He and his family were still standing outside. They were aghast. And a feeling of despair set in. They had lost everything

The man looked down, into his coffee. He took a sip and turned around. Behind, on the wall, hung a massive painting of Cardinal Zhang; the one who saved him and his family. He gazed at the portrait almost reverently and looked down again.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door. Another man opened it.

"Sir?" it was his deputy. "Lord Ethan's plane has arrived." he said

The Cardinal and the Taipan

Anselmo: That's Eric Ong on the left, the man with the power and the vision.

He's the EOGC's founder. The guy on the right is Cardinal Zhang, the Archbishop.

He's also a member of the EOGC's Board of Directors. Pretty scary for a priest if you ask me.

Lorenzo: Don't talk about the Cardinal like that!

Anselmo: Uh, yeah. Sorry, Father.

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 7

"Aw, crap!" I whisper to myself loudly as I set my glass on the bar. I've been rejected left and right! The only ones looking at me are... hey, I'm straight.

All I can do is drink. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Seems to me you've had it pretty rough," says a voice  at my left.

I look to my left and I see a gentleman in gray pants, a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, collar loosened and a black tie folded and tucked into his shirt pocket. He's smoking and the smoke kinda obscures his face. He seems to notice but he's not looking.

"Listen, I-"

"I know, I know," he says. "You're straight; so am I."

He takes out a pack of cigarettes and holds it out to me. "Want one?" he asks.

"No thanks, I don't smoke. But I do drink."

"Okay," he says and motions the bartender. "Hey bro," he tells him, "get us a couple of glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon."

The bartender complies, but he seems nervous. He puts two wineglasses in front of us and pours the wine in. The hand that's holding the bottle is trembling. I guess my benefactor's some kind of bigshot.

The guy next to me then puts the cigarettes back in his pocket and hands me a glass. Whoa... wine...

"So what brings you here, sir," I tell him, "if you don't mind me asking?"

"Business," he replies. "High profile meetings don't always take place in the boardroom. Sometimes it's best to hold them in a less-stressful atmosphere."

"And so, you're done"

"Pretty much," he says and puffs out a huge cloud of smoke. "Then I have a glass of wine or two and it's off to my home."

"So you'll be leaving in a while." I conclude. I set the glass down after a sip. This wine's pretty good.

"Yep." He turns to me and crushes the cigarette in the ashtray. "You're a newbie here,"  he continues. "I can tell. Hey, don't let your 'newness' be hidden. Let it shine."

The smoke starts to clear slowly. An eerie feeling comes over me. Where have I seen that face before?

A Janitor (remember what I told you about Maintenance and Security?) in a black business suit approaches the guy. "Mr. Ong," he says. "The car's ready. Shall we move along?"

Eric Ong!

I start.

"You work for me, do you? Tell you what, kid," Eric Ong says, taking a gray coat from another Janitor and reaching into the right pocket of his pants. I can see a gold chain hooked to his belt. "Allow yourself to shine. You'll go far if you work hard. Work hard, and work smart. Those two things should go together. And girls? don't worry. You'll find 'her' eventually."

He pulls something out -it's attached to that golden chain. He unhooks the chain, takes my right hand and puts the thing in it. It's a gold pocket watch!

He turns over to the bartender. "Hey bro," he says. "Put the kid's drinks on my tab."

"Yes sir, Mr. Ong, sir."

He slings the coat over his left shoulder. "We'll talk this over some other time," He says, taking a step back. "In the meantime, adieu."

He turns around and heads for the door, escorted by his bodyguards.

"Th-th-th-th-thank you, s-s-s-sir." I mumble. I'm trembling.

I can barely control myself. I was drinking right next to the most powerful man in the Philippines and I didn't even notice it.Oh, I'm gonna keep this pocket watch for as long as I live!

I can't believe it! I was actually given a present by Eric Ong!

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 6

Oh yeah! I love the disco lights!

I can't wait to hit the dance floor! Singing to myself and dancing while still in the shower. Good thing there's more than one shower room in the boarding house so no one's complaining (unless you stay in the showers for thirty minutes or more!)

So what to wear? What to wear? Hey, I'll use my faded blue jeans and white shirt; just roll the sleeves halfway, keep it untucked and leave the upper half unbuttoned. I'll use that gold necklace I bought with my first paycheck.

I gaze at myself in the mirror. "Hey, killer," I say, pointing at my reflection with a smile and a wink.


I rush out of the boarding house and jump right into my car. I'm driving off, baby!

I park my car and run into the disco. Hey, looks like some VIP's here too. There's a couple of black limos with the company logo and Janitors. When we say "Janitors" with a capital "J," it means security forces since they belong to the Maintenance and Sanitation Department. Well, since he's around, he's most likely at a private suite.

Oh, no entrance fees tonight? Sweet!

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 5

Ah, the sunset. I like watching the sunset from Puerto Heights on a Saturday. Just got my salary and this is what I do before heading out to party: a little time for contemplation. Funny, but it seems to help keep me sane.

It's a golden sunset over Macajalar Bay. There's the battlecruiser! Yep. That's the thing that stomped the navy to pieces. The carriers are over there in the distance.

What caused the Takeover you say?

Well, it had to do with some greedy senator who just couldn't keep his greed in check. He provoked Eric Ong. They used to have this thing in the law that says that the senate can haul you off to be interrogated without a warrant. That's been used by many politicians in the past to blackmail people into giving them more money. And it's also been used as a way of interfering with other people's privacy.

Well, this senator tried to blackmail Eric Ong because the Taipan was winning all his tax cases against the BIR. It wasn't that he was sued, but he was suing the BIR for collecting the wrong taxes. Finally, some of the people there tried to get that senator into taking Eric Ong off their backs so they could continue extorting the EOGC. So that's just what happened. That senator threatened to form an investigative committee and bring Eric Ong in to be questioned.

Eric Ong wouldn't stand for that. And he didn't act like a typical Filipino businessman. He fought back. And he didn't do it by patronizing anybody. No way. He really fought back. He always said that if he treated it the same as everyone else did, the blackmailing and threatening would never stop. Besides, there was that part in the law (the constitution was it?) that said that sovereignty is in the people and some legal experts said that that means the people can overthrow a bad government if they want to.

(Sigh) I'm getting kinda political here. It's not my thing.

Hey, let's go over to Limketkai for some drinks, kay?

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 4

Freude, schöner Götterfunken 

Tochter aus Elysium,   

Wir betreten feuertrunken, 

Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! 

Deine Zauber binden wieder

Was die Mode streng geteilt;

Alle Menschen werden Brüder,

        Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, celestial spark, primordial,

Daughter of Elysium,

We come forward, fire-drunken

Sacred one, to thy sanctum!

Thy enchantment liberates those

Bound by custom's harsh decree;

Where thy gentle wing alighteth,

All become one family.

I always get inspired whenever I hear this song. Never mind if I can't sing it solo. It's the Fourth Movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, better known as the Ode to Joy. It's Eric Ong's favorite song and the unofficial anthem of the EOGC. Even though people know the Lupang Hinirang, people here actually prefer this. Never mind if it's in German. It's like a way of identifying yourself with the EOGC. After all, it was the EOGC that brought economic development in the first place. Not the government. And it's playing now. How appropriate! I got my salary, the song's playing at the end of my shift (6:00,) and I'm so full of joy! I'm going home; gonna take a bath, change my clothes and hit the bars, get myself drunk with fire!

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 3

Traffic's really fast. It's not like Metro Manila (yes, I've been there! I hate the traffic!) Are there cops? Sure there are, but they're not as abusive as they used to be. I remember cops used to bilk my dad of money when he drove the van to market back when I was a kid.

So I'm driving. Traffic's really going on smoothly, thanks to a lot of new stuff on the road that the EOGC put up. There are cameras on the posts and barriers on the roads that come down when the light is green and go up when it's red. Trust me, you do not want to know what happens when you're too late to try to beat a red light. All I'll say is you have to buy a new set of tires to replace the ones that get messed up trying to cross the barriers.

Then there are the cops.

Yep, they're still here.

They don't try to fleece you anymore. It's passe. They have a new gimmick. Ever since the Takeover, the government has been trying to project an image that it's cleaning up on its act.

Pathetic, if you'd ask me to describe it in one word. They still use the same rewards system in a lame new way.

Here's what they do: a cop "catches" you "committing a traffic violation." He walks over to you to give you a ticket. But instead of asking for your money, he actually offers to pay you to accept the ticket. He offers you P100 and the ticket. Funny? Because every time they report a traffic violation, they get a pay raise.

Uh, oh. There's a red light up ahead. Okay, I'm slowing down. I look at my watch; it's 6:00. Cool. Still got a lot of time-

Cripes!

It's a traffic aide. He's coming to my car, pretending to look around. Yeah, right. I know what comes next. He's knocking on my window.

"Excuse me, sir," he says as I lower the window. "Do you realize you're moving too slow that you're holding up the line coming from the intersection back there?"

"What?" I moan.

"I'm gonna have to give you a ticket, sir. " I can see the P100 bill right underneath it.

I've had enough of this.

I gaze at him irritably. The light's about to go green again. The cameras are turning in our direction. An impish thought comes into my brain. I reach into my right front pocket and pull out SS1.

"Here!" I snap, slapping the SS1 on top of the ticket as the traffic light turns green. I speed off the next moment and the damn fool has just noticed that the cameras are looking at him. Tomorrow he's not going to approach me again for sure. Ha ha. Not my problem. Let's just say his boss'll give him a sermon and he'll stay off the street for a couple of days.

I'm driving off to the station, laughing to myself. And I catch sight of my boss, Mr. Rodriguez. He's standing at the entrance of the station, reprimanding employees for coming late. He always gets there ahead. I wonder how he does that. He used to work for the railroads in Japan. Not surprising he was hired by the EOGC.

"Anselmo Sanchez," he says, pointing a finger at me as I park my car and get out with my gear, the other hand's holding his silver pocket watch. That watch was given to him by Eric Ong himself! I've always wondered if I'll ever be given one of those. "You're supposed to be here by six forty-five! You realize we will be late!"

"Aw, come on chief," I bawl. "Work starts at seven!"

I hurry into the office as I hear Mr. Rodriguez behind me, "We have to set an example, Mr. Sanchez! We keep the rails moving!"

Keep the rails moving. Yeah, that's it. I know Mr. Rodriguez can be really grumpy at times; but hey, it's our job to make the trains run smoothly. The trains bring the goods that pay our salaries. Yeah, that's my work. This is my office. I'd like to welcome you to the workplace. Come on in!

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 2

I live in a boarding house. Not really much. But it does the trick. I wanna save as much money as possible (never mind if I make more money than an MTC judge -yeah, they're still around; government's still there but not as noisy and even less efficient than it used to be [and it was already inefficient when I was a kid.]) I'm still single, girls!

So here I am; Anselmo Sanchez, Jr., 21 years old from South Cotabato. I'm working here in Cagayan de Oro as a railroad worker. Yeah, railroad worker. And no, I don't haul sand and stones to keep the tracks level. I'm the guy who walks along the tracks and keeps them clean. Messy job? Well, maybe, but SS160 a month -not including allowance- sure beats holding a government clerk's job and making Php50,000 as your total monthly income (allowances included.) SS? That's the EOGC's currency. A single SS is worth Php500. Railroads have been here ever since after the Takeover. There's the Trans-Mindanao Express that connects Cagayan to Davao City, the Northern Mindanao Express that stretches from Surigao City to Zamboanga City and the Cagayan Mass Transit System that links all of Cagayan together. Well, those are only some of the railroads in Mindanao -the most important ones.

Bringing the railroad was one of the Taipan's ideas to bring in the money. His original plan was to connect the port cities with the important inland ones so that goods from all the corporations of the EOGC could be shipped from different points of Mindanao efficiently. But everybody wanted to join in because trains are safer than trucks.

So I wake up and get out of bed. Just wearing a black tank top and blue shorts (and the color of my briefs are for a "girls only" basis.) I hit the showers, shave and get dressed. I check myself in the mirror and: whoa! Who is that skinny dude in black trousers, blue shirt and black tie? Hey, that's me!

"Hi here, bro!" I say to myself in the mirror with a smile, a point and a wink. Oh, and the clothes are my uniform. I pin my nameplate on my shirt pocket, dump my yellow hardhat, working gloves, flashlight and blue jumpsuit into my bag, grab my ID and head downstairs.

Breakfast? Rice and eggs -always on the plate, coffee, oh, I got some tapa today. I wonder what my landlady, Manang Ellie, is thinking today. Must be in a really good mood. Oh yeah, it's the 15th! Ha, ha, okay, okay, I get it. Everyone else in the dining room is just as excited. And everybody's talking about what they're gonna buy or where they're gonna take their girlfriends to tonight. I'm no exception. I got plans for tonight.It's a saturday. Yeah, the 15th. But I don't have a girlfriend, well, not now anyway.

Okay, I'm finished. So I pick up my stuff and head for the door.

Hey wait. I forgot something! I'm searching my pockets but I can't tell what it is. I know I missed something!

"Anselmo!" says a familiar voice. It's Manang Ellie! "I have something for you!" she comes waving something in her right hand. Ah, my cellphone! I throw my arms around her and kiss her on the cheek.

"Oh, Manang Ellie, thank you! (mwah!) Thank you and bless your big fat heart! (mwah!)"

I take my phone and hop into my car (yes, I have a car!)

Where'd I get it? Hey, I bought it! And I have gasoline allowance. And I'm not gonna tell you how much my allowance is. You already know my salary. Heh, heh, heh. Okay, I'm off to work!

The Return of Neo-Byzantium

Hello Everybody! The Neo-Byzantium saga is back! And don't worry, the stories are still here. They'll be put back up along with new ones!

A Day in the Life of Anselmo 1

I have to get up early. There's nothing unusual about it. I've been doing this for the past few months since I came to this city -all the way from South Cotabato. Five o'clock in the morning and my day begins. I have to be at work at the station at six. Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself.

I'm Anselmo L. Sanchez, Jr., 21 years old, from South Cotabato. I came to Cagayan de Oro City to look for work. Well, it didn't take me long to get it. When I was a kid, things went around really slow. Not much to do, but something happened that shook my life and everybody else's in the Philippines. Yep, that's right; it was the Takeover. Ever since the Takeover, things started moving really fast. My dad, well, my folks, used to complain when I was a kid how corrupt the government used to be. Ha ha, it still is; but nobody cares anymore. That's because of the Takeover.

I was only ten when the Takeover happened; so I don't know much about it. All I know is that the government isn't really doing much anymore and the real power is with the EOGC. The government won't dare cross the EOGC. If it does: ZAP! A government building gets toasted by a laser from an EOGC satellite in space. But think about it: ever since the EOGC took over, we don't hear about police extorting drivers anymore. You don't hear about politicians dancing themselves crazy during election time to get votes. That's in the past now: nobody cares about politics. Ever since the EOGC took over, there's only one think everybody talks about now: work. And there's a lot of it.

We're too busy to think about politics. After all, my dad says nothing good came out of talking about politics. Who gives a damn about some senator shouting himself hoarse with another senator over his budget? Ever since the EOGC took over, it brought everybody who isn't a politician a lot of work -and a lot of money, too. So who gives a damn about who the mayor, the senator, or the congressman is? We're here to work. And we work because we get paid -very well.

What's the EOGC? You sure you don't know? It's a giant group of corporations ruled by one man. They call him the Taipan. It controls the economy of the Philippines, well, most of it anyway. All the Visayas and most of Mindanao (except the ARMM) are completely under the EOGC's control. The government has Luzon and the ARMM -but we're too busy to even think about that.

What? Who's the Taipan? Man, you've got a lot to learn, my friend. He's a rich businessman from Cagayan; born and bred. He built the EOGC from scratch and turned it into a multibillion-dollar empire that spans Asia. Oh, and before I forget; his name is Eric, Eric Ong.