Marawi: His slice of southern France in Mindanao

Someone told Mimi that Marawi City, from a distance, is like an old town on the hillside in the south of France — beautiful and enchanting as the Islamic city is beside a lake and surrounded by mountains.

Every day, from his elevated vantage point at the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City where he is a graduating BS Biology student, Jeremy Caesar “Mimi” Delfinado, 22, would always have a calming view of the town. The Maranaos call the city proper of Marawi as “town.” And from MSU, his eyes would comb the charm of the town as he would be greeted by morning mist that was like an appetizer for breakfast and evening fog that was a precursor to a beautiful dream at night.

Yes, Mimi says, everything was like a beautiful dream in Marawi. Until the war erupted on May 23, 2017 between the ISIS-inspired Maute group and the government troops.

“Every time I hear thunder, I get paranoid. The thunder and airstrike in the town of Marawi sound the same. I can’t take the sound out of my mind. I can only wish for the war to end.”

Mimi wishes, too, that the sweet smell of pine trees at MSU, which is only 15 minutes away by jeep from the site of the siege, would not carry the burning scent of war from the town. “Pula ang ulap sa Marawi (Red is the color of the sky in Marawi),” he says. “On the first day of the siege, we heard bombs exploding, guns being fired, all sounds, all night. The sound was like a war zone soundtrack from a movie. But the siege is real.”

“I don’t know if you know the feeling of not being able to sleep at night because you hear explosions and gunfire. Worse, we have the feeling of uncertainty whether the Mautes are coming to our place, will there be soldiers to defend us? The first night of the siege was for me the worst. Walang kuryente. Walang balita. Puro text scares. Gigising pa ba kaming buhay?

“We were not prepared for this situation. We thought it would end in one day, in two days or up to two weeks. I am still traumatized. Every time I hear thunder, the first thing that comes to my mind is artillery fire or airstrike. Even the faintest sound is like the sound of a machine gun being fired, I would always calculate in my mind if that is near us or far from us. Alerto kami lagi ng mga magulang ko.”

Three days after, after securing passes for the borders in Marawi manned by government troops, Mimi and his parents Cesar and Patria Delfinado drove to Iligan City for safety. They stayed in his aunt’s house, which was also like an evacuation center because his aunt accommodated her officemates and friends from Marawi who had no more space in the evacuation center provided by the local government.

“Schooling is definitely affected in Marawi. Our plans have changed. We don’t know when the war will end but we hope it ends soon.”

Mimi rues that Marawi is different now. The co-teachers of his parents cannot go home to Marawi anymore because their place has been leveled out. Not a single house is standing. Their place looks like a vacant lot surrounded by broken hollow blocks. No more vehicles on the road. Only soldiers interviewing people at checkpoints. It’s a ghost town.

“Many of my classmates, I heard, are not going back to Marawi. Wala na din po kasi silang babalikan. Wala na silang bahay. Even if they were born and raised in Marawi, they really don’t want to be back anymore. They, too, are traumatized,” says Mimi, adding that there is a concern among the members of the MSU administration in Marawi that many students will not return to the university anymore.

But Mimi intends to stay at MSU. Even if it means queuing up from time to time to get his family’s share of relief goods.

Mimi Delfinado (foreground, extreme right) with his high school classmates and adviser at the MSU University Training Center in Marawi City.

Forty-eight days after fleeing Marawi, Mimi and his parents are back in MSU despite the ongoing war in the town. The MSU now is protected by the government troops. Mimi and his parents, who are teachers in the university, stay inside the campus, at the housing for teachers.

Mimi, a Christian, is not a native of Marawi but has an ongoing love affair with the city. He has only been living in the place for seven years now yet he considers himself a child of Marawi.

Born in Marinig, Cabuyao, Laguna, Mimi first heard of Marawi from his parents who romanticized the capital of Lanao del Sur in the minds of their three intelligent sons Joshua, Jerico and Mimi. (Mimi and Jerico were two of my bright students in my Sunday Writing Class at Gulod National High School in Cabuyao. Mimi transferred to Marawi when he was in third year high school. His beautiful and insightful prose both in English and Filipino had always been a breath of fresh air.)

Mimi’s parents met at the Mindanao State University in Marawi while both were student assistants. His mom is from Panabo City in Davao del Norte while his father is from Cabuyao, Laguna. Both his parents took up Education at MSU in Marawi with a double degree in AB Filipino for Mimi’s father and Hotel and Restaurant Management for his mother. From Cabuyao, they migrated to Marawi in 2010.

“I love Marawi. It has taught me to love my community because in Marawi, there is no conflict between the Muslims and the Christians.

“I love Marawi all the more now because it has shown me that my life matters to the soldiers who do not even know me. My respect for the police and soldiers is heightened because they are true to their promise that they will protect their country. To them, my snappiest salute!”

Mimi says from where he is now at MSU, life has somehow restored a semblance of normalcy.

“Marami-rami na rin pong tao. May nagbabasketball na kada hapon dito sa court sa harap ng bahay. Tuloy pa rin ang naririnig na palitan ng putok pero ‘di na siya ganun kadalas. Pero yung airstrike po yung tuloy-tuloy. Since over looking nga po kami sa city, kitang-kita namin yung bawat dive ng mga eroplano at fighter jets na nagbabagsak ng bomba. Rinig din po yung sabog dito. Parang malakas na kulog po yung tunog ng bombang binabagsak. Pero parang normal na lang po yung tunog sa mga tao. Parang wala lang. Then kita din po yung mga nasusunog na mga bahay. Minsan po nagiging itim na rin ang ulap kahit maganda ang panahon sa dami ng nasusunog,” he ends.

Mimi, just like all the people from Marawi, just like all of us living in the country, wishes for the war to end soon.

While the war is raging still, Mimi will continue his love for Marawi, his slice of southern France in Mindanao.

(For your new beginnings, e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)