AP File Photo
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Some residents of Zamboanga City have been so traumatized by three weeks of violent clashes between government troops and Moro National Liberation Front rebels that they still have difficulty adjusting even as life in much of the city was beginning to return to normal.
Nuraida Ingting, 67, of Barangay Talon-Talon admitted that even after the sound of gunfire and explosions have died down and the fighting declared over, she still panics over the slightest noise.
She said she has become jittery when she hears sounds, especially at night, that she had the hardwood door of her house removed from its hinges so she doesn’t have to hear it bang.
“I had it removed because every time people come in or leave, or if there’s a strong wind, the door slams and the sound makes me nervous,” she confided to the Inquirer.
Ingting apparently isn’t the only one who has grown fearful over noise these days.
Forty-five year old Janet Candido, who has volunteered as a cook for persons displaced by the conflict, said she had all the Indian trees around her house cut because just the sound of their branches brushing against the edge of her roof terrified her.
“The sound of the tree hitting our roof was really frightening,” Candido said, adding that even her children were now afraid of sounds.
“I had to cut them down because my children were so traumatized that mere sounds would make them restive,” she said.
Candido said that when things get back to normal, she and her children would undergo debriefing sessions.
Monsignor Crisologo Manongas of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga said the trauma of the residents from the weeks of fighting, explosions and hostage-taking has prompted him to ban the use of fireworks on the day of the feast of Our Lady of Pilar on October 12.
“Definitely no fireworks, we have had enough fireworks and fire and our people must refrain from this,” Manongas said.
Manonga said because he had banned fireworks, he had expected the feast of the city’s patron to be observed serenely.
“It will be a serene observance, a toned down celebration that would commensurate to the many lives lost or perished and respect for those hundreds of families who lost their houses to fire,” the prelate said.”
He said he was hoping that the celebrations in December would also be fireworks-free.
“I’m for it! Let’s go back to the true meaning of both celebrations,” veterenarian Anton Lim said of the ban.
Former vice mayor Mannix Dalipe said that he was also supportive of “the fireworks-free fiesta Pilar and even a silent Christmas holiday.”
“This is in consideration for the thousands of families who are still trying to cope up with the trauma. Let us instead use the money (intended for fireworks) to rebuild our destroyed communities,” Dalipe said.
Antonio Orendain, the city administrator, said while fireworks dealers had already secured permits, the city government might still be able to ask them to defer the selling of their merchandise.