It's hot again in Manila and I'm stretched out on a deck chair beneath a young coconut palm. I'm surrounded by other sun worshippers lazing on the white sand listening to the rhythmic lap of waves on the nearby shore.

But wait, what's that? There's an oil tanker, and a jeepney, and a bus roaring past, not 50 metres away. And the waves. Isn't that lapping just a little too regular, a little too controlled. And what's this? The beach sand has faded into blue-painted concrete at the shoreline. Yes, this is beach Manila style, concrete and fake waves just an hour from downtown Makati. Oh, but the palm trees are real.

There are more than 7000 islands in the Philippines and some beautiful beaches. Luzon has many of them. On the east coast you can even hang ten, or five, or perhaps just body surf on the Pacific coast waves. You can dive in exotic locations all over the Philippines, snorkel off remote islands, bump around in a banka and explore a little piece of paradise a la Crusoe. But here in Manila, the closest you will get to a beach without a three hour drive is this water park, just off the South Superhighway.

It's not bad really. If you close your eyes you can really imagine this is the beach. There are locals an enthusiastic game of beach volley ball. And, if you really try hard, you can even surf the waves for a couple of feet before you crash into one of the many who are jumping up and down on the concrete pool floor as each machine generated wave surges forward. Locals and foreigners alike lounge around reading magazines and soaking up the sun.

Ironic, really, that here, amid some of the most exotic islands in the world, one of the few easily accessible day getaways is made of concrete and chlorinated water.

Things that go bang

Two bombings, one on a bus on the Northern Expressway in Luzon, the other in a bus station in Manila, have sparked a wave of bomb scares here, the latest being at an International School in Cebu on Monday (15th Sept). Though six died in the recent bus station bombing, no bombs have been discovered in the many scares since.

On the road to matrimony

Sign seen on a main road in Quezon City, Metro Manila. "Wanted: wife, ring Jun."

Kidnapped

Going to school in Manila can be an adventure. Driving through the crowded Manila streets, two vans and a four-wheel drive, all a shiny shade of steely grey, toot and swerve past slower traffic, swinging round a corner rapidly, horns blaring.

We're following sedately, and watch the convoy continue their charge round another corner ... zeroing in on the school gate. No, not the principal, late for assembly, not a government official arriving for a courtesy call. Just a prominent local family doing their normal morning school run - with two vans of bodyguards literally riding shotgun.

It is not an unusual sight in Manila where security, especially among some of the wealthier population, is always tight. Kidnapping is a major problem here for the wealthy. The local press reported this week that there have been 59 abductions involving 94 victims this year. Last year there were 23 kidnappings involving 27 victims. In many cases, ransom is paid, but, although much is made of the kidnap itself, the resolution, whichever way it goes, does not seem to get as much publicity.

The style and time of kidnappings has been well document ed in the press here, and also in some high profile foreign business magazines. Quezon City, it seems, is the kidnapping centr e of the the Philippines with many kidnappings occurring around lunch-time when the roads are slightly less clogged, enabling a reasonably quick getaway for the culprits. Side-slide door vans seem to be the culprits preferred mode of transport, tailor made for a quick snatch. Press reports state that police have solved 27 kidnappings this year.

Judy
September 1997
Manila