A friend here told me, a friend of his who lives there told him, THAT; Sunday morning 3 fisher boats with 9 armed bad guys were caught on the beach near Lilo-an and arrested or killed by PNP. (Nothing in the news) Then on Monday morning the locals woke to find many strange boats on the beach, saying the bad guys had fled the area on foot. (Again no news about this) Supposedly these boats were big enough and had come north from Mindanao? Does anyone know any details? Keep a "peeled eye" guys.
I don't buy that. I haven't seen anyone do anything on foot in the Dumaguete area. If there weren't pedicabs or motorcycles there, then they would still be by their boats. More likely is that these boats belong to people doing drug deals by boat rather than motorcycle so they can avoid getting knocked off by vigilantes on the road.
Or maybe it was a booty call ordered in by a rich resident. I only mention that one because it's a f***ing brilliant idea. I know the reports mentioned "guys" - but we are in the Philippines. You can't ever be sure.
You know how you play that game where one person tells another person a story and on down the line until the story is totally different? Maybe it was tourists with baklas who actually fled the area. Then the story changed to terrorists on bankas.
That part has me raising an eyebrow. 3 boats to bring 9 bad guys and the boats are big enough to come from Mindanao. I remember watching on the news after a London terrorist incident. The police spokesperson said that after a terror incident, eye witnesses are the most unreliable source of info available as they are all scared and the all start to see bogeymen everywhere. Having witnessed black clad men getting off dive boats in that area I am leaning towards the idea that someone saw a bunch of 9 divers with spear guns coming back from a dive and the story went nuts. But that is not to say there were no fisherboats with bad guys, just that I am not ducking for cover right now until I hear more about the story. Let me add another twist. When I lived in Cebu, in an complex with other foreigners, one scared guy came running in to say he had seen a bunch of terrorists in the area. What he had seen were guys with their shirts over their heads, wearing dark glasses, probably a bunch of those guys who cut grass with weedeaters having a break.
The problem with terrorists is that they are so easy to spot when they are sporting the latest in terrorist apparel.
What is wrong with Dipolog or CDO? Would seem a better and closer place to wait out the fighting. How many of these people are people that knew the Maute clan was operating in Marawi but did nothing to report them? How many are related or connected to people in or fighting with the Maute clan? Hopefully some background checks are being made. In Afghanistan that could just as well be a picture of a sheep herder. The AK might be a bit worrisome to see someone carrying around in the Philippines but I've seen Filipino Muslims wearing similar clothing.
No info on Santander, but per phone conversation with out niece yesterday (we are in the US), Marawi "refugees" are showing up in Bayawan.
I have not heard any rumors, but, I did notice an increase in police presence in areas on the north side of dumaguete and at spots near the airport. This was on Wednesday - last time we out and about. On extra alert? Coincidence? Shift change? dunno.
