Right now, as I type this, nobody can enter or leave the neighborhood where I live in Davao City. There is an Armored Personnel Carrier parked in my driveway. The street is blocked by Military and Police on either end. The street is lined with military troops, with guns of course.
Why?
I have not mentioned too openly on this site (although I think I may have alluded to this in the comments, but Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. owns the house across the street from my house.
Right now, starting about an hour ago, the military, Davao City Police and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting a raid of the house. I don’t know for certain what they are doing, but my guess would be that they are searching the property for weapons. Previous raids on Ampatuan properties in Maguindanao have resulted in finds of huge stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. I surmise that they suspect that there may be a weapons cache in the house across the street from where I live.
I can’t say for sure, but from the looks of things, it would seem that these folks are here for the longrun too. It won’t surprise me if the troops are there all day long. We will have to wait and see, though.
As of now, all is safe at the Martin household. Although we have tried to keep a low profile, knowing that the house across the street is Ampatuan owned, we have not been scared. We have simply remained calm, not really talked much about the situation, and went on about life.
Interesting things here in my neighborhood.
For anybody who reads this and knows where I live, I think it would be best right now if you don’t mention the name of my neighborhood, for obvious reasons. So, if you leave a comment, please just don’t mention the neighborhood name. I think you for respecting that request. Other than that, though, feel free to discuss this.
About MindanaoBob
Hi Bob – If I had to choose between guns/firefights and typhoons, I think I’d pick the latter. Hey, wait a minute, I think I did.
Paul – Maybe you didn’t read closely?
I never mentioned anything at all about any firefight. I have lived in Davao for a decade and never seen a bullet shot here. They are searching the property right now. Maybe there are guns there, maybe not. I am sure they are doing it out of an abundance of safety.
I am pretty sure there are guns up in Ilocos Norte. No?
Hi Bob –
(Watch =>
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Guns? Up here? In the homeland of revolution? Of course there are guns up here. (Wouldn’t be safe without them.) Even small municipality and large barangay officials have “body guards” who are armed better than bank guards. Up here, though, they tend not to use up their ammunition in large scale actions. They seem to take out opposition with a shot or two. Haven’t seen any personal armed vehicles, either.
Now, homemade explosives – that’s another story. Good for fishing both in the water and on the ground, according to some malcontents. Maybe that’s why no one bothers to make armored vehicles.
Hi Bob,
Nothing wrong with staying indoors until the APC leaves. The easier it is for the men to do their jobs, the quicker they will be able to leave and let the neighborhood get back to normal. Be safe my friend!
Hi Martin – I agree. I went out and took some photos, but we’ve all been indoors ever since. There is somewhat of a crowd gathering up on the next street corner, though, I suppose wanting to see what happens. Interesting day!
kamusta bob
wow alot of things happning there.i would be nervous for sure if i was there.this is the first day of snow for us in maine.my wife and son so exited to see snow for the first time.to be truethful it doesent exite me that much lol.lobstering offshore has been so rough and cold this year but we have been catching record breaking catches of lobsters.be safe my friend.
salamat bob
Hi RonW – Nice to hear that you’ve had a good season with the lobsters! I wish you could find a way to send me one! I love lobster!
Ha ha… Yeah, there is a lot going on here, but to be honest, no real need to be overly anxious about it. I don’t feel there is a safety issue.
kape ta bay! pwede?
Ha ha… ngay… dili pwede! Kape ko, pero dili pwede magshare ko sa mga Ampatuan!
Well, I’d guess that with several truck loads of soldiers parked in your front yard, you’ll be pretty safe! With all the property owned in Davao by these guys, I thought maybe it would get pretty interesting in certain neighborhoods. I just didn’t think it would be yours! When they finish up, it should be interesting to see what they come out with.
Hi AmericanLola – Yeah, the Ampatuans have lived across the street from us for maybe a year or so now. They bought the place and some lots adjacent, and have been expanding it. One of the first things they did was to basically double the height of the wall…
Hi Bob, Not too sure what to say on this, but hope they let you out for coffee when I am down there in February.
Hi John – I don’t go “out” for coffee! There is no coffee shop in the world that serves better coffee than I roast myself!
Seriously, though, all of the troops have already cleared out, and things are back to normal.
Hi Bob,
I guess that was a shocker to see troops outside! Since I didn’t hear about it in the national news – I assume they did not find weapons stockpiled in the house.
First question – Did you or Feyma go out and offer some of them coffee or treats? Probably not … might not have been a good idea.
Second Question – has your property value gone up or down since they bought the house? (Just smile and don’t answer…) Since I’m still living in America, that would be one of the first thoughts that go thru a home owner’s mind.
Take care
–Rich–
Hi Richard – No, we didn’t offer any snacks or anything. We do that kind of thing if there are traffic cops and such. Truth is, these guys meant business, they were quite serious, and I don’t think that offering snacks would have been the right thing to do yesterday.
As far as property values… I can’t say for sure, we rent, BTW. I will say this, the Ampatuan family paid about 8 times the actual value of the house when they bought it.
Maayong Gabii Bob
While I was reading your article that you were at home because of events in the neighborhood and I am at home because the outside temp is 7 deg F. Now that your neighbors friends have left you can basically do as you like and I am still stuck inside dreading going out.
Maayong buntag, Larry! Long time no hear!
Let’s see, I’ve been living here 10 years, and this is the first time such a thing has happened. You get those cold winters every year… yeah, I’ll stick in Davao!
Hi Bob, I’m of the opinion that maybe living across from a well known warlord is probably more scary than having the military there now. I guess you didn’t realize that a big time pol would be moving to your neighborhood when you moved in. Alex
Hi AlexB – Well, the truth is that the Ampatuans were never really known as “warlords” before. Yes, they were powerful and such, but there were never incidents like what happened a couple weeks ago. So, we really didn’t know what they were capable of! And, they did not live in the neighborhood when we moved in, so we sure didn’t know they would end up being our neighbor!
Hi Bob, That place is huge! Alex
Hi AlexB – You mean that Ampatuan house is huge? Just want to clarify, the Ampatuans have a number of houses in Davao. I am not talking about the really big one in Juna. We don’t have that much money!
Bob;
I’m glad all is back to normal. Quite a day you had!
It was indeed an interesting day, Paul!
Bob,
Wow! sounds kinda exciting. I guess it spiced up your normal day in the neighborhood just a bit. I hope you’re able to get out and about soon enough. You’ll have to get out to get yourself another Brother Burger. (which burger will you try next?)
We had our first snowfall here in the Philadelphia area yesterday. It didn’t amount to much…roads were wet, had about a 1/4″ on the grass.
I’m looking forward to getting away from the cold weather for awhile and basking in the Philippine tropics. I’m off to Ozamiz City, Mindanao next Saturday to spend time with my fiance! Look out, her comes the silly American!
Hi Greg G – Fortunately, the army cleared out after only a few hours, so the excitement has calmed down, and we are now free to move about. Maybe I’ll have a Brothers Burger to celebrate today! Which one? Wow, that’s a tough question to answer!
Enjoy your time in Ozamiz! If you drift over to Davao, give me a shout!
Bob,
I would enjoy meeting you one day and checking out Davao. Since you’ve lived in PH for just a few years (lol) do you have any idea just how far Ozamiz is from Davao? I assume it’s either a very long boat ride or a puddle-jump by plane. Do you kno whow long it would be to drive from Ozamiz to Davao? Can you make such a drive?
Greg G
Hello Greg G – I’d be happy to meet you whenever you are in town, just let me know.
You can get to Ozamiz by car, bus, boat or plane. Driving from Davao to Ozamiz is around 9 hours or so, depending on traffic and also how you do at the ferry, time wise. Boat would take a couple days or so. For flying, you would first have to fly to Cebu or Manila before proceeding to Ozamiz, as there are no direct flights.
Bob,
Salamat for the travel information, my expat friend. In case I did not mention it, I truly enjoy all the articles written herein on your websites. Maybe one day I can be a LiP journalist, too.
Greg G
Hi Greg – Thanks, it really makes me happy when I hear that somebody is getting some valuable information that is useful to them! Thank you!
glad to hear all is well with your family
Thank you, Evelyn!
Just out of curiosity, are they the type of neighbors that say “hello” when they happen to see you.
Hi Tom – Truth is that in the roughly one year or so that they have lived there, I have never seen them. I see their servants and such, but never them. They drive in and out of the gate, but I am not sure they have ever set foot outside the compound, except in a car with blackened windows!
Hi Bob, Hope everything is getting back to normal there now.
Hi Jonaky – Yep, everything is indeed back to normal around the neighborhood!
Whew!! Glad your you are doing well in Davao,after all this is the most livable city in the Philippines right?
We are moving there soon .
We are hoping for a peaceful resolution.
Good luck luck Bob.Also my wife has a few questions about buying a property in Samal.Can you help?
Hi Steven – Yep, everything back to normal! No problems.
My wife can certainly help you when it comes to buying property on Samal. Just send your question through the “Contact Us” link at the top of any page on this site, and Feyma will get back to you with what she can do to help you.
Doesn’t one of the younger Ampatuan 13 wives live there. The house sprawls across three lots I think?
Hi richard – I think you might be thinking of the house in Juna Subdivision (not far from SM). The Marfori house is actually owned by Andal Sr. and only covers one lot. They have bought up additional lots and planned on expanding, but all work stopped when the charges came up last year.
My mistake. Yes it is the Malfori House but I thought they had already expanded to the other lots. The ones in Juna are just HUGE complete with machine gun turrets.