Dangerous Zamboanga City

I have not felt this paranoid since I arrived here four years ago. There are news of kidnapping everyday in the city. Last week there were three teachers abducted in Sakol island. There were text messages being passed around containing plate numbers of white vans that supposedly are the kidnappers. There was an Ateneo student abducted in broad daylight released two days after giving a ransom of 10,000 pesos. Yesterday a teacher was abducted while trying to ride a tricycle. There are text messages now regarding 48 armed MILF men ready to abduct medical personnel to treat their troops.

Amid all these, the mayor said there is nothing to fear and even berated an official of the Department of Education whose comment made it to the headlines that Zamboanga City is not safe for the reason that it will deter tourist and investors.

This city and its people seemed to have gotten used to the idea that kidnapping is just a normal thing and a necessary part of life. It goes away for sometime and then like lightning it strikes suddenly and it strikes anywhere. In the past the victims were just the rich elite but recently they can be anyone. The texters seem to know the kidnapers how come the police and the military cannot get them?

This culture has got to stop. The city is covered with fear and everyone is paranoid. This city has lived too long in the dark ages that the little rays of light of progress are extinguished as soon as it lands on its soil. I hope this situation gets in control soon.

Slumdog Millionaire

It would be easy to protest that the movie does not respond to our Hollywood sensibilities. Exactly because it is not. I successfully bring us to the magical world of India with the compulsory dance routine in the end. I was amazed not by the story but by the images and shoots and the colors. I suppose the shoots and sequences are staple fares of Bollywood movies. But this time its fast paced and like a good thriller it keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

Jamal won 20 million rupees which for an uneducated call center assistant is a tall order. during a police inquiry he explained how he was able to know all the answers to the questions. We saw how he and his brother grew up from the slums of India to modern Mumbai. Each segment explaining how he got to answer the gameshow questions. My favorite was how he outwit his brother by jumping into the squat toilet, drenched in shit, he walked toward the famous Indian actor as he alight a helicopter to get his autograph. Other memorable scens:
1. The required dance routine.
2. Taj mahal
3. Aerial shot of the slums with all the colors of India
4. The scene when his brother helped Jamal escape the beggar syndicate
5. The train station scene when Jamal was on the balcony and Latika just arrived and eventually taken back by the bad guys lead by his brother.

It is a breath of fresh air from the monotony of Hollywood films. If this wins the best picture in the Oscars, I will never contest it.