Escape from Dili, Part III (Crisis Management?)

(…Continuation)

April 24-29, 2006 was the “big week” for the petitioners when the Government allowed them to conduct a march rally and mass demonstration specifying 5 major demands, which include asking the Chief of Staff of the army to ask a public apology when he pronounced war for the 591 military personnel sacked from the service. The petitioners multiplied into thousands when the issue was diverted into “east-west” concern. Dili, the capital city of Timor Leste was put in the state of tension as all residents were speculating something worst to happen. My staff kept on telling me to go home immediately and avoid doing overtime work alone in the office.

During those times I observed several military trucks/ vehicles filled with uniformed men in full battle gear roaming around Dili. Several times I was caught in check points by fully armed policemen asking for my credentials and vehicle documents talking to me in local language. April 24-25, Tito and I attended a Housing summit in Timor Hotel organized by the Ministry of Public Works. It was so surprising that only few had attended the summit given the chance of having international speakers. On that summit, Odette Victor, the Public Work’s Minister sought for an apology of the few attendance and sighted the on going demonstration as the reason for the few turn out of participants.

April 26, 2006, 3:00 PM, I was on my way to Oxfam Office to meet Atty. Marlon Cardinoza for a consultation on the MOU I drafted to be entered into by HFHI with the Dili University. Before I reached the office I received a call from my friend Edna Tesoro of Progressio calling me to pick her up since she wanted to go home but there was no available taxi. She further reported that there was demonstration related violence that happened in Taibise which caused someone to die. People were panicked and immediately the city became a ghost town. You cannot see a single public utility vehicle running in the street anymore. When I went on my way to pick up Edna, I manage to call up my staff and instructed them to close the office and go home, as I was afraid that they would be trapped in the office due to the unavailability of public utility vehicles. In my way to Edna’s, I saw people in groups talking with each other outside their houses and speculating worries on the incident. Wow, that was the first time that I arrived Carla Mansion (the hotel I was staying) to early and waited for few hours to attend our regular Wednesday prayer meeting in the church.

“Please stay home and pray 4 d c2uation. We advise we all b watchful & alert. God wil c us thru”, this was the sms message that I received from Ibu Wennie, the Pastor’s wife as I was preparing for the Wednesday Prayer meeting. It was already 6:02 in the evening when I received the message. The message connotes that the scheduled regular prayer meeting was cancelled and that there was a serious threat of security. I changed my clothes again and opened my television looking for any local news report but I had not seen any. I calmed my self in prayer and changed the channel seeking for movie shows. (to be continued…)