Playing with Fire

Upon arriving into my bachelor’s pad, I took a quick shower.

Afterwards, I got a bottle of San Miguel beer from the fridge, went into the living room and dropped lazily into the leather seat and switched on the TV by remote control and on came the breaking news - “a raging fire is consuming the notorious Pacifica Hotel in the seedy district of Manila!”

I sat there, gulping my beer and eyes fixed on the plasma screen as the hyperactive field reporter gave an animated blow-by-blow account of the unfolding event on live TV!

The place is a picture of chaos with firefighters, policemen and the usual kibitzers jockeying for positions as the camera rolled into the sweaty face of the reporter, highly- strung for the scoop in his hands while in the process of interviewing the one in- charge of the ongoing rescue operation.

The fire was so damn big and the summer wind is blowing really hard further fanning the blaze. The smoke was so thick you could hardly see the façade of the building. The undermanned and underpaid firefighters gallantly fought the blaze but their obsolete equipment and mediocre method of fire fighting proved no match to the raging hell!

Many good Samaritans with water buckets and pails in their hands tried to splash water with minimal results. The fire proved too big and too hot to handle for everyone around though.

You could hear the wails and shrieks of agony of the people being roasted alive inside the decrepit motel while the people outside could only stare into the flaming cauldron of wood, paper and human flesh blankly.

You could tell helplessness and resignation of their sorry state from the body language of the rescuers and kibitzers alike.

For hours, the place burn incessantly and without let up until there was nothing left to burn...

The death toll was 86; many bodies irreversibly charred and burned beyond recognition. The scope of the tragedy stunned the nation that even if it is so used to tragedy whether it is man- made or natural, it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Politicians seized the opportunity and rode in the publicity as they call for investigation of the disaster. The fact- finding body finally ruled that arson was the cause but could find no suspect to apprehend.

Days passed into weeks and weeks turned into months. The fiery end of the luckless people was soon pushed into the deep recesses of the nations’ memory. The circus and spectacle that followed finally came to an end.

Hmmm, why do I smell smoke and burning rubber?