By now, most of the Philippines is abuzz with news of the Glorietta explosion. Around eight people were killed and over 70 injured in one of the worst mall explosions in recent memory. I join those Filipinos calling for calm until more information is gathered from the scene of the crime. (If it is a bomb, then I believe I can call it a crime.)
I, for one, am still in a state of shock, owing primarily to how closely I’d come to that blast. I parked my car at around 8:30AM. Normally, I move my car a few minutes before five hours later, which would be around 1:30PM. If I’d pushed through with my scheduled route for the day, I would’ve taken my lunch break at 12:30PM and gone to SM Makati’s Bayad Center to pay for our Meralco bill. I would’ve walked from my office behind AIM, taken 20 minutes to brisk-walk to SM Makati around 12:50PM, paid on the fourth floor (across AstroVision), then made my way back. Give or take ten minutes to wait in line, that means 30 minutes would’ve passed by, which would place me at 1:20PM in the area of the Landmark, ten minutes away from my car, and directly in the location where the bomb exploded.
DEAR GOD.
So why didn’t I go? I forgot my Mom had scheduled lunch with me. Shortly before noon, Mom called to remind me about our meeting, so I met up with her at Max’s and had lunch.
I think God just used my Mom to save my life.
