Chapter 4

IT WAS a bright and warm Thursday morning. Alex found himself in Father Rey's Church going over somethings with the aging priest.

“Father Rey, these are the materials that you need”.

“Alex, thank you very much for your help---”

“Its not a problem, Father Rey, never been.”

“You know its not customary for people to be doing this sort of work---”

“Father Rey, I've never seen children go hungry in my life. I've always heard it, seen it on documentaries. It seemed different to see children go hungry when half the time, you see high rise complexes standing over this city.”

“I know son.” The priest said with sadness.

“Is there a God then, Father?”

“Son, when you were there, didn't you see their eyes and their smile? When we handed that little girl a piece of pie, wasn't her first instinct to share it with her younger brother? That in spite of their lot in life, they still get a chance to smile, to share.”

“Its your runabout way of saying, that even amidst all that evil that God was there”.

“Well yes.” Father Rey said with a grin. “Walk with me.”

Alex followed Father Rey out of the Church and they started to walk around the little community. Father Rey's Church was at the center of a shanty community. It was started some thirty years ago by a small family from the province of Leyte, East of Cebu Island.

A community started to form there when more and more people started building shanty houses. They began with wooden materials that with a gale force wind could be wiped out. Over the years and as the community grew, concrete was used as pillars and foundation for the various houses.

This being a Catholic country, a Church was soon formed. Roman Catholic and named after the Filipino Saint, Lorenzo Ruiz, this Church soon came into the hands of Father Rey. He has lived here for twenty years now and a beacon of hope amidst hopelessness. Father Rey knows everybody here. He has been a witness to baptisms, weddings and funerals.

As they walked together, Father Rey panned his attention to a shanty house twenty meters from his Church.

“See that house?” With eyes doing most of the pointing, Father Rey asked amidst Jeepney engine noises, flying cocks and gambling in the side street. And all this before noon.

“Yes,” Alex replied. “Thats Mrs. Dela Cruz's house. You introduced us a couple of weeks back”. He could hear Maria dela Cruz's four month old baby. By the window, they could see her breast feeding her child.

“Yes, she goes to confession every week.”

“Every week?”

“Don't be shocked. Some here go to confession everyday.” Father Rey said with a smile.

“Have I introduced to you her husband?”

“Thats the guy right? The one we just passed, cockfighting and gambling.” Juan dela Cruz was a huge man. He wore only a pair of shorts and nothing else. He had a cigarette on one hand and his rooster on the other.

“Yes, thats him. Juan dela Cruz.”

“He was a nice man.”

“He was stoned that day.”

“What?! I thought he was just drunk.”

“Didn't you notice the eyes? Bloodshot? He was also drunk.”

“His wife--- Maria right before they hooked up about five years ago was a prostitute. I'm still trying to convince them to marry. But they keep putting it off, they say they don't have money for a wedding. Even when I say its free.”

Maria dela Cruz, twenty-eight years old was a pretty woman. Though her eyes would tell you she's a good few years older than that. Fair complexion with a pretty face and though having had three small children, age four months, three years and four respectively still commanded the attention of men everywhere, for a price of course. It was the miracle of luck that she's still clean.

“Maria is a hardworking woman. She's had various jobs over the years and had she not had her last baby would still be at it. I helped her find those jobs. She worked as a secretary several times. It is sad you know, I saw her talking to her old pimp the other week. She should be back on the street soon, if not already.”

“Wouldn't Juan be pissed---”

“Juan? He's been in and out of the city jail. With a rap sheet longer than all the toiler paper you could wrap around my church. He gambles, drinks and smokes pot at every opportunity and not to mention does it with his wife whenever and whereever he chooses.”

“Whoa--- you're a priest and---” Father Rey cut him off.

“Just because I am doesn't mean I don't know the birds and the bees. And besides, I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard. They don't hide it very well.”

Their next stop was a bit run down household. Inside though, it was filled with appliances and a very expensive 27” colored TV.

“Isn't that Mrs. Reyes' place?”

“Yes, she has five kids and one on the way.”

“What?! Wait, they look like they're doing much better.”

“Her sister, a former teacher works in Hong Kong and earns five times as much as a domestic helper. She sends money here and feeds her sister, her nieces and nephews and that bastard husband of her sister.”

“A former teacher turned to a maid?”

“Yes. Did you see who Juan dela Cruz was cockfighting with?”

“Yeah.”

“Thats Mr. Fred Reyes. He's pretty strong, used to work at the docks.”

“He was fired?”

“No.”

“Why did he quit then?”

“Well he didn't. He just didn't show up for work one day.”

“What?! Bloody, lazy!”

“I asked him once, you know. He said, why work when everything he needed was already provided for? His sister-in-law is an old maid and struggles to keep her sister from going hungry because Fred Reyes refused to work.”

Alex scarce realized they had reached the community's boarder. Sonny Gutierrez was standing beside a Toyota SUV.

“Son,” Father Rey looked the boy in the eye. “This is the other half.”

Alex nodded, still processing all the information Father Rey said and trying to construe it all.

* * *

CHUCKIE KIM arrived at Gail's office at exactly twelve o'clock, noon. As he walked in, Gail's back was to the door and she was completely oblivious to anyone coming and going, obviously caught up with what she was working on.

“Hey” Startled she turned around.

“Whoa!”

Chuckie grabbed a seat beside her without asking. “I'm here, what do you need.”

“Good morning to you. Wasn't last night's game, a blast?!” Smiling.

“It was exhilarating.”

“Exhilarating?! That's all you could say? Come on! It was GREAT!”

“Hey, you weren't the one who had five Gs running on that game. I thought I'd lost it. I owe Ibrahim, a lot.”

Gail got up, started fixing her stuff.

“Wait, where are you going? Weren't we suppose to talk about that thing you needed from me?”

“Well, I'm hungry. We can talk over lunch. I figured you had a HUGE windfall, and thinking I got you all that money... I'm due for some free meal, don't you agree?”

Chuckie chuckled.

“Well? Come on. I'm starving!”

Chuckie Kim got up and followed her out. “So where do you want to eat?” Chuckie asked.

“I dunno yet. I have my car just around the corner Chuck.”

“Wait--- you're driving?”

“No one but me can drive my VW Bug, well except my dad may be, he did pay for it. And you're parked half way across campus! I'm not walking out that far. Hello! I'm starving here. So just follow, no questions asked. Don't worry, OK? A girl driving you around won't damage your male ego. Besides, you're paying for lunch, least I could do.”

This was some girl, Chuckie thought. He followed Gail to her car and soon found themselves at a mall a five blocks away.


DAVID SAN JUAN wasn't exactly shocked when Herman Montalban reported to him regarding his mission to Taiwan. Thinking it through, it was probably the best way to go. Not exactly the easy way, but he was the last person to say that he wouldn't want to give this one a shot.

A politician for the greater part of his life, David San Juan had played the game well, as well as any Filipino politician in the last four decades. He has had his share of amassing fortune, as politicians in his country did even though his family was already wealthy in its own right even before he started his career in politics.

After a minor battle with Cancer, David San Juan became a changed man, a more religious man. In a country where religion has been a daily fact of life, his was more of the true kind, as true as can be. In his three terms being senator, he placed his country first over his interests. He was instrumental in writing changes to the Philippine Constitution and became a statesman in a time when it was frowned upon.

But the people saw his sincerity and his intelligence. Also, his photographic face didn't hurt at all. So now, after three terms as Senator, he was now President for the past four years and running again in a few months. But fight for the highest post in the land was not the easiest way.

Leadership rarely was and people resented some of his choices because they weren't that popular. So his popularly wasn't that high and he might even lose the elections. But he was a fighter and he'd stand his ground.

Still, the elections were months away and his political advisers were working on that one. This ASEAN problem was interesting, to say the least. It would upset the status quo, to say the least. Yet the long term benefits! They were staggering. And so he gave Herman the go-ahead. He knew this path was going to take his country, his people forward.

For better or ill, David San Juan wanted the best for his people, even when they knew little how to make it happen. It was a funny thing, really. People rarely knew what was best for them. But isn't that what they voted him for even if they didn't know nor appreciated it. Thats what leadership was all about anyway yet at the back of his mind, he was asking himself, what was that thing they said about the road to hell?

For the life of him, he couldn't remember.


KIMI AND OLIVIA had prepared for the party like normal women do. It was the first Embassy party they were attending. They were naturally excited like women were at these things.

They checked their invites and after carefully checking everything, off they were. Mr. and Mrs. Fuentes of course bid them farewell and at each other's minds wished them well and worried over the two young women.


SAMANTHA CHEN had too many experiences with these dinner-cocktails. They were boring. Well at least now, she had Kimi and Olivia to look after. So it wouldn't be that boring. And Alex would be there, which was something in itself she didn't understand.

“Sam, dear, its almost time”. Her mother called through the door.

“Yes, mother”.

Parents, she added in her thoughts.



ALEX DONOVAN had driven to the office. He and Ryan Angeles had agreed to meet up there and together go to the Singaporean Embassy Dinner Party.

Sammy was unusually detained in some function his Uncle Ryan had made up so Alex had to drive himself. It was not a problem but that rarely happened. It must really be something important. Both men were busy, off to some business for the better part of the afternoon.

It had been a long day. He knew it would be longer still. This was business of course and he rarely had fun in these events. But then Sam would be there, wouldn't she? That brought a smile.


ALI HAD received two calls today. The activation code came on line just minutes before. So he ran the Internet Relay Chat channel that was secure enough for such conversation. Capturing IRC traffic was still a difficult thing to accomplish, so it was a method of communication by the underworld. It didn't take him long to figure out the target for this mission. It was clear enough.

Not five minutes had gone by when Charlie Young had placed a call himself. They were to meet. It was urgent.

So he drove himself to the intended meeting spot. Charlie had passed on instructions from the Chinese Politburo of all people. The younger man himself couldn't believe it.

But Charlie was pissed off that the Politburo knew how to reach him. Such security failure shouldn't be let go!

“Ali! Someone must have squealed! We need to get to the bottom of this at once!”

“Calm down Charlie! Calm down!”

Charlie settled down a bit.

“There are a thousand ways for people to find us. Be thankful they will not pass this information along to the United States. But if you insist, I can look into it.”

“Yes, look into it. We can not be too cautious.”

“Is that why you called me?”

“No, they left instructions.”

“Instructions?”

“A project for us. Here is flash drive that they've sent.”

“So what is it?”

“I wouldn't know. Its heavily encrypted. They said that you could break it.”

Taking the device from Charlie, he plugged it into his notebook computer. His system detected the algorithm used. It was one of the many that his terror networked used last year.

Opening the file, he soon discovered that the same instructions that he had received was being forward to him through other channels.

This can't be good, he thought.

Someone wants this to happen and really quickly.

“So?”

“Funny thing, Charlie. I got these very same instructions from my boss.”

“I'm your boss”.

“No, I meant from the network.”

“Coincidence?”

“No I don't think so. Someone just doesn't want this to happen, for a number of reasons I suppose.”

“So what will we do?”

“I will carry out the mission.”

“Can it be done?”

“At such short notice? No. Thankfully, my masters had given instructions days ago. I have most of the elements needed to successfully carry out this mission.”

“Then my friend, good luck. Look after yourself.”

* * *

MARIA DELA CRUZ walked the bright lights of Makati City. She was dressed like a woman five years her junior. But then, she looked the part anyway. Who would think this young woman would be mother?

Maria had left her home town of Cebu years before. She had graduated at a technical school there and had entered into various jobs upon arriving in Manila.

She had saved quite a lot six years ago. Until she got knocked off by some client, got an abortion and promised to stay away from her life. She lasted four months and seven days on that promise. Then she met Juan dela Cruz who took her in.

She swore not to do this again. Motherhood changed people. But then, what else could she do? No one was hiring. Maria went back on her promised then, when she was running out of money to feed her children. Juan, she could never count upon. That was two weeks ago.

Her brand new mobile phone buzzed. She bought it three days ago. It was a text message. Show time, she thought. Maria then waltz into a very posh hotel in downtown Makati.

Who would think she would be back here?

At the back of her mind, Maria felt the eyes of every man looking at her. Was it just her imagination or her guilt? She drew up her courage and pressed the up button to take her to the seventeenth floor. Even though it was for her kid's future, she would at least try to enjoy it, Maria thought while rubbing the crucifix necklace that she wore.


JUAN DELA CRUZ held a beer bottle. Fred Reyes was opposite him. Night time and children where still out in the streets playing. You could hear the blaring TVs through out.

Suddenly, Juan stared into nothingness. Then, he suddenly fell. Drool dripping from his mouth through broken teeth.

Fred Reyes was too drunk. He too fell into face first.



LILY REYES picked up a baby bottle. Her little one was crying. She rubbed her stomach. She could feel her new baby kicking. Children, her parents told her were a gift.

May be thats why she already had five.

Her mobile phone rang. It was her sister. She picked it up.

“Hi,” It was her sister Sally.

“How are you?” Lily smiled.

“Fine, sis. Your nieces and nephews are having dinner. How about you?”

“I'm taking a bit of a break now.”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too sis.”

“Hows my new niece?”

“She's kicking like hell.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No, we're OK here.”

“Your bastard husband, is he there?”

“No. he's out drinking.”

“When are you leaving him Lil?”

“You know my kids need a father.”

“But not like that.”

“Lets just drop it OK?”

From there on their conversation when to other things. Sally asked Lily about their parents and many other things. Lastly she asked about her favorite soap opera. The Filipino Channel aired it in Hong Kong. It was hers and Lily's favorite.

* * *

LEE CHEN was anxious. It was going to be a big night. It was going to be the culmination of years of preparation, of vision and of planning. That was going to be the easy part, Lee knew. The harder part was selling this to the people but harder still the road that they were going to thread would not be easy.

Yet like his friends, his fellow foreign ministers, his mentor, the Old Premier and even the Philippine President and so many others hoped, this will be a historic night that generations would look back to.

He checked his speech again. It was not even printed yet. There might be some last minute changes. So he read it again and again.

It was a big night.