Where were you when…
It’s the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Senator Ninoy Aquino. “Do you remember where you were when you first heard that Ninoy had been shot?” asked my friend, the Princess Poulet. Yes I do. I remember that it was a weekend and I was at home with my mother. Everyone knew that Senator Aquino was arriving that day, so we expected to see the television coverage. But there was no TV coverage of the homecoming, and as the day wore on it was obvious that something bad had happened. Then there was the news bulletin that he’d been shot, allegedly by a hitman who was identified by the name sewn onto his underwear.Â
Poulet’s innocent question quickly turned into a morbid game of Where Were You When. On September 11, 2001, when the first plane hit the tower, I was standing in front of an ATM on Wilson Street in Greenhills. My druid and I had just eaten a big dinner at a Chinese restaurant. She had noted that it was the Coptic New Year. Then as I was withdrawing money from the machine, my druid got a text message saying a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. We thought it was a joke in very bad taste.
I was in front of the ATM at United Supermarket (it’s no longer there) in Greenbelt during the big earthquake of 1991. I had just withdrawn money when the ground began to shake violently, then swirl like the contents of a blender. There were aftershocks for days. I remember watching TV coverage of rescue workers retrieving people from collapsed buildings. One TV reporter shoved a microphone at a girl half-buried in rubble and asked, “How are you feeling?”Â
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
August 21st, 2008 at 03:05
1991 earthquake – I was taking piano lessons in my house and thought my teacher was joking when he told me there was an earthquake. For some reason, my initial instinct was to rush deeper INSIDE my house.
9/11 – I was at home watching Sex and the City when I switched over to CNN to get updates on the attack. My sister was living in NY at the time, but my parents didn’t really panic and clog the phone lines by calling her because she lived/studied pretty far and they assumed she would be sensible enough to keep safe.
August 21st, 2008 at 15:13
8/21/83: I found out about the Ninoy incident in the afternoon. I just got up from my nap. I was in the 2nd grade.
’91 earthquake: I was very close to the epicenter in Baguio City. There was a teacher’s strike and student protests, so I was fortunately at home. The folks at the University of Baguio weren’t as fortunate and I heard that there were stampedes to the exits. It was in the afternoon and we were just about done watching Entertainment Tonight on FEN-TV. I even remember the report about Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue overdosing on toxic substances.
9/11/01: I just got up from bed and saw it on CNN. I was planning on getting to work later in the day because I was supposed to do a big grab of CDs at the Borders Books & Music at downtown Seattle. I remembered having to get Ben Folds’ Rockin’ The Suburbs and Dream Theater’s Live In New York albums. Strangely enough, the album cover for Dream Theater’s new CD (at the time) had the image of a modified sacred heart in the shape of an apple with the twin towers engulfed in flame on top. It was super eerie. Our boss allowed us to go home early for the day due to security concerns and because of the collective air of sadness and anxiety clouding everyone.
August 21st, 2008 at 15:14
Today is also Teddy Diaz’ death anniversary.
August 21st, 2008 at 17:04
1983- I remember I was in grade 6 it was a sunday. Our old neighbor announced that Ninoy has been shot and killed. He added that “walang ibang nag-utos nyan kundi yung gagong Marcos na ‘yan!”
1990(not 1991)-I was taking a nap in my room when it started shaking, I knew instantly that it was an earthquake and a strong one at that. The creek beside our house was splashing water everywhere exposing it’s bed underneath.
9/11 – just got home after a few drinks from a co-workers house, I noticed that the news channels were showing what I first thought was two chimnies billowing smoke ( I was already half-drunk). I learned later that it was the world trade center.
August 21st, 2008 at 19:18
when Ninoy was shot, i was exactly a month old.
my province was fortunate enough not to sit on the same continental shelf with rest of the Philippines when the earthquake rocked luzon in 1990. i was outside playing in our town’s football field.
when pinatubo erupted, I was told by mum that we have no classes. I had no idea why. when I went outside our house, the other kids were shouting “Snow! Snow!”
9/11 Рin an internet caf̩ (Interzone), watching the news through internet live video streams
August 21st, 2008 at 21:31
1983 – i was in a cab with my dad when the driver turned up the volume on his radio. i think the announcer was crying while he was delivering the news.
1990 – i was in the college of science auditorium during STS class. the ground shook, the lights went out and people were not exactly screaming, more like nervous murmurs. one or two guys tried to open the doors at the back of the auditorium but they were locked. i remember that reporter asking the tripped girl some very stupid questions. wasn’t that alvin alchico of abs-cbn?
9/11 – i was in sidebar malate when my mom called me on my cellphone informing me of the news. we had the waiters switch the channels on the TVs to the cable news networks. my friends and i were speechless as we watched the towers collapse. beer was overflowing though. can’t remember how i got home. i remember i didn’t get to sleep coz i was surfing the net for pictures and details til it was time to get to work.
August 22nd, 2008 at 00:15
1983 – I was in college then but my memory of it isn’t as strong as that event of which it was the harbinger – the 1986 coup; the night the plot was uncovered, to be exact. There was the dictator on all-channels broadcast interrogating a terrified lieutenant, an alleged conspirator; fingering his ‘ex’-Defense Minister as the ring leader. When I heard the dictator refer to his long-time Martial Law cohort Enrile as an ‘ex’ minister, I realized something deathly serious and history-altering was up.
1990 quake – I was working in my third-floor cubicle that afternoon when the building shook. We all ran to the back of the building and snacked on ‘balut’ to pass the time before we were allowed to go back in.
9/11 – I was driving to work that morning when I heard the news on the radio that a “small” aircraft (so it was first thought) had crashed into the North tower. Some time after I arrived at the office, I got a call from my wife telling me that one of the towers was “gone”. This bit of information caused me a few moments of cognitive dissonance – my mind unable to wrap itself around the notion of something so huge and monumental just disappearing – and I found myself replying “What do you mean ‘gone’?”.
August 22nd, 2008 at 04:43
Ninoy was shot in ’83?? for some reason, i keep thinking that was in ’85… ignorance is NOT bliss
Earthquake – living in the States at the time, so didnt experience it.. did experience the ’93 Northridge earthquake, and that was nerve-wracking to say the least.
9/11/01 – I was asleep in bed on the West Coast when my fiancee at the time (living on the East coast) woke me up at 5 in the morning to tell me to watch TV cause someone just crashed a jet into the World Trade Center.
August 22nd, 2008 at 08:50
1991 – I was in our schoolbus, on my way home. We did not felt the earthquake, but we did noticed the electricity posts swaying.
9/11 – I just got home from school and saw it at CNN.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:05
1983 – was 4 years old. dont remember anything. 1986 was more “memorable”
1991 – 6th grade. after class. was in my school service. all the old pine trees in school were. swaying. we were parked beside the oldest pine tree.
9/11 – college. my german lolo and i were watching CNN. when a newsflash/newsbreak of a smoking tower was shown. Lolo said, “america got what they deserved.” he was a german-old school. married my lola though.
August 27th, 2008 at 14:46
1983 – Wasn’t even born yet.
1991 – I was at Harrison Plaza with my tita. I think we rushed outside the building and stood around the parking area.
Pinatubo – If it was the same day the volcano erupted, then I was at home, 2nd floor and watching my dad cleaning our roof covered with ashes.
9/11 – I was off to sleep when Dad was surfing the tube and passed by Bloomberg channel and saw on that 1/4 mini-screen that a building was caught on fire. We switched to BBC and CNN alternatively and saw when the 2nd plane crashed. The very next day, my high school classmate blurted, “Why didn’t they attack the State of Liberty?!” and we were like “Duh, that’s why they’re called terrorists”.