Slave Of Destiny
Page 20
“Ok, I have good news. Sally is going to be released in about an hour and the doctor said she will be fine” he reported. “There still isn’t any sign of Magdella.”
The room became silent as everyone contemplated what those words actually meant. Honesto continued to say “The police have detailed a report, naming a suspect who they think put the drug in your drink. Caharian Gonzales, who is an Ilocano and the leader of a terrorist group, was seen in the vicinity. The police are suggesting he kidnapped Magdella and has taken her to Mindanao.”
“What are we going to do to help her?” she asked her father.
“You and Michael will be going with me to Manila tomorrow by private jeepney. We have to let the authorities handle the situation; nothing more” he stressed. “It’s only four weeks until your plane leaves for Australia and we’re running out of time to have the paper work processed.”
* * *
They sat down to a traditional Filipino dinner that night at her parent’s house. Adobo is a ubiquitous dish cooked in every household in the Philippines. It's Mexican in origin, but Filipinos found that cooking meat (often chicken and pork) in vinegar, salt, garlic, pepper, soy sauce and other spices, was a practical way to preserve meat without refrigeration; something very few Filipinos have. The other popular dish they ate that night was Sinigang. This is a stew of pork or beef soured by fruits like tamarind, kamias or tomatoes; often accompanied by vegetables like kangkong, string beans and taro, this stew is eaten with rice. For desert they ate Leche flan. This is a popular dessert among locals; an egg and condensed milk-based custard capped off with glistening caramelized sugar or honey.
After they had eaten Michael went out to the verandah with Henesto to drink a beer. There was an ominous rumble of thunder and Honesto forecasted that it would rain tonight.
“What really happened to Magdella?” he asked curiously now that the two of them were alone.
“Magdella’s husband is involved in the mining industry. The company he works for has mines in South Africa, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Down in Mindanao, gangs or clans rule because there is very little military activity and the government is unwilling to intervene; I think these gangs actually give out bribes to the officials to turn a blind eye to crime. In turn these gangs guarantee their vote for their supporters. This part of the Philippines is predominately Muslim, but there are Islamic terrorists, communist guerrillas and other rebel groups; like the New Peoples Army. Most of the northern part of the Philippines is Catholic and this is why the people of Mindanao are now fighting for independence” he informed him. Before adding “There is really very little we can do at the moment.”
“How does Magdella Robinson, her Canadian American husband and the Kennecott Copper Corporation fit into all this? I know that her husband is a geologist and they live in New Guinea, near Mount Fubilan.” he asked.
“Walter Robinson is actually one of the four directors and part-owner of the company. Based on the first group of samples, the mine in Mindanao could have one of the largest copper and gold deposits in the world. The temptation to try and possess this undeveloped mine site has been too great. Along with the arrival of Walter and Magdella Robinson and their lack of hard security, the NPA decided to hit the company hard and hit them quickly. They will probably let her go when the NPA get what they want” he said.
The thunder and lightning grew increasingly close and the wind began to pick up.
“We’ll go back inside; it’s going to rain” he suggested just before a light drizzle started.
Within minutes it became a deluge. The power went off and the lightning flashed its eerie light around the room as the women ran to close the windows.
“Probably it will only last for an hour” he shouted, before he added. “The power will take longer to restore.”
* * *
Corruption was rampant everywhere in the Philippines and it was evident when Honesto and Michael applied for Sally’s permanent entry visa for Australia. The next day at the embassy, extra pesos were tucked away amongst the papers; an incentive to expedite everything. Within three weeks all the documentation was completed and the two of them had six days left until he returned to Australia with his wife. There still wasn’t any word on the wellbeing of Magdella and he knew Sally was worried about her, but there wasn’t anything they could do. Michael found an article in an English written newspaper, while they were in Manila and it was on mining and exploration in the Philippines, so he read it on the quiet trip back to Angeles City. Walter Robinson and the Kennecott Copper Corporation had explored the Compostela Valley and they were in the process of developing it into a mine. To mine the soil and produce a 20-ton sack of ore takes at least 200 hours using high heat and chemicals such as carbon, cyanide, and borax. When the gold is extracted from the ores, it is melted and then sold to middlemen. The gold trade in Mindanao seems to be anarchic, but the miners and traders are governed by trust and credibility. Both sides must show that they are trustworthy, that their gold is pure and that their prices are right in order to be able to participate in the market. The underground market for gold is another matter. The rebels melt it and recycle gold into jewelry; this in turn avoids the tax obligation and the BSP rule that all gold must be sold through the bank. It was highly unlikely these buyers paid a tax to the government. These buyers are mobile and so is their main commodity. The Customs Commissioner admitted that the country's porous borders and the portability of gold make it difficult for them to track possible exit points for the commodity. It is very difficult to monitor gold sales that do not pass through the BSP. Also, smuggling of gold out of the country is very difficult to catch. He went on to say there have been unverified reports that gold is leaving the country illegally, he said. The Customs once tailed a businessman who has a history of buying gold bars here, but that came to nothing. At the moment there is minimal monitoring of what goes out and not much detail is gathered by the agency in terms of the smuggling of minerals.
This sounded like modern day pirating to him. Michael had found a beautiful girl, then a treasure chest, fell into a coma and had a dream about pirates, gold and jewels. During that dream he discovered the same brown eyed girl and fell in love with her. When Michael recovered, he spent more than five years looking for her in real life. Now he’s back in the midst of pirates, gold and jewels with his real brown eyed girl and he was about to return to Australia; the place where all this began. HE TRULY WAS A SLAVE OF DESTINY.
The End
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Derek Easterbrook
Author