[Philippine's human rights violations] A Thousand Little Deaths Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines #1/152
In the Shadows
“Here are two cots,” announced the guard on duty as he ushered me and another young woman into the Commander’s office. Due to lack of space, the room would be my sleeping quarters for the rest of my incarceration.
The other young woman was about 20 years old. She was also pregnant.
“Did you tell your family to bring bedclothes for you?” the guard asked.
I nodded while the young woman replied; “My husband will be here bringing my stuff soon.”
“What about food? You know, we don’t feed you here. It is up to your family to supply you with your meals. If they can’t, that’s too bad,” he continued. He was not interested in talking to us. He was simply giving orders.
“Mine is on its way,” I said.
He left as soon as he settled the cots on the floor. I looked around the room and then out through a window. The building was a plain structure made of cinder blocks and concrete. Its exterior was painted a dirty white color but the paint was peeling off, leaving the naked gray concrete visible in places. It was one of an array of government buildings on a street in the neighborhood of Santo Niño. Around the corner was the more imposing Capitol Building, home to the provincial government offices of Pampanga. Its sweeping entrance overlooked a park that was bordered by manicured hedges and rows of flowering perennials. At its center was an amphitheater. The rest of the structures surrounding this green space were regional offices of government agencies. In bold black letters, the building names read: Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Agriculture, Commission on Elections, as well as that of my father’s office. His agency was called the National Administration of Cottage Industries Development Authority, or, for its acronym, NACIDA. My father was its regional director. His building stood directly across the street and ran perpendicular to the military camp.
It was dusk on the first day by the time the soldiers completed my interrogation. Ima and Tatang had already left.