Driving Forces

By Carol Fortino and Ted Fusby

THE DRIVER: Many forces drive us into the decisions we make: infidelity: new opportunity, chance meetings, rebel causes. Dr. Louise Hammel, an American-Australian, takes a job in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, as a Regional Long-Term Advisor for an educational program called PROMES. Her assigned Filipino driver, Rico Bernales, becomes enamored with a Muslim widow whose uncle is the leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Rico is unwittingly drawn into the nefarious and dangerous underworld of the rebels.
As the year progresses, Louise becomes more savvy in negotiating her way through complex issues of Filipino society: human relations, religion, education, culture and politics, but she is unable to help her driver with his personal entanglements. In the end, Louise must decide if she will return home to the USA leaving her driver to extricate himself from the vortex of impending dangers.

BOOK REVIEWS
Carol Fortino has woven an interesting tale, impressively detailed, melded with education, customs, culture and traditions of Catholic and Muslim Filipinos and the conflicts between them. The story is intertwined with romance, family conflict, betrayal, graft, subversion and disaster. The book illustrates a good comparison of the differences in cultures among the Philippines, Australia and America. Victor Moss, author of Beware the Wolves, a Soviet WWII Love Story (a potential Hollywood motion picture)

a thoughtful fictionalized memoir of an American ex-pats life moving between the radically different cultures of Australia and the Philippines. The rich individuals of the book paint a raw rubbing of fundamentally different ways of conceiving the worldas well as the precariousness of life in a nation haunted by the mixed blessings of so-called modernity and a particularly fragile environment...a quick and thoroughly enjoyable read." Jim ODonnell, author of Notes for the Aurora Society and Rise and Go

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481753814

Carol Fortino

Carol Fortino is a retired professor of science and environmental education who lived in Australia for a number of years. Since retiring, she has published three poetry books: When the Bus Stops, Sketches on a Napkin, and Somewhere Between plus two novels: The Rings of Hubris and Driving Forces. When she is not travelling internationally, she lives in Beulah, Colorado, enjoying family, friends and wildlife that frequent her small mountain town.

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© 2013 Carol Fortino. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Any educational institutions wishing to photocopy all or part of the work for classroom use, or publishers who would like to obtain permission to include the work in an anthology, should send inquires to Carol Fortino P.O. Box 246, Beulah, Colorado 81023 [e-mail].

Published by AuthorHouse 05/17/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5380-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5379-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5381-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013908918

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Quote for Chapter 13 used by permission.

CLOUDSTREET

© Tim Winton 1991, p. 230

Published by McPhee Gribble

Contents

Map Of The Region

Chapter 1       A Leap Of Faith

Chapter 2       First Off, Manila

Chapter 3       The Promes Course In Brisbane

Chapter 4       The Driver’s Decision

Chapter 5       Cagayan De Oro

Chapter 6       Survival Skills

Chapter 7       The Mango House

Chapter 8       The Open House

Chapter 9       The Satellite School Visit

Chapter 10       The Christening

Chapter 11       Iligan To Ozamis

Chapter 12       Rendezvous In Manila

Chapter 13       The Trip To Camiguin

Chapter 14       Easter Week

Chapter 15       A Rude Homecoming

Chapter 16       Election Red Zones

Chapter 17       The Warehouse

Chapter 18       Surigao Del Norte

Chapter 19       A Sleepless Night

Chapter 20       Pomp Boat Ride To Siargao Island

Chapter 21       Slipping Into The Abyss

Chapter 22       The Ultimatum

Chapter 23       Oroquieta

Chapter 24       Trip Into Moro Country

Chapter 25       The Meeting In Zamboanga

Chapter 26       Crossing The Chasm

Chapter 27       The Dragon Lady Strikes

Chapter 28       Suspicions And Demise

Chapter 29       A Flood Of Emotions

Chapter 30       The Vortex

Characters in Order of Appearance:

Glossary

Books by Carol Fortino

When the Bus Stops – poetry

The Rings of Hubris – novel

Sketches on a Napkin – poetry

Foreword

This is a fictional novel based on memories from 1998 when I was a Regional Long-Term Advisor (RLTA) for the Australian-Philippine Project in Basic Education (PROBE) based in the city of Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao. That year in Cagayan forms the basis of many episodes in the book. However, the impetus for the fictional twist of this story evolved from an off-hand comment by the local superintendent who had seen my driver in the official project car after hours with an unknown woman and her children. What actually derailed him is a matter of speculation and imagination, but my hope is that he redeemed his own sense of worth in some way unbeknownst to me.

The timeline of certain actual events has been massaged with literary license to accommodate the plot. With the current religious, political and economic upheavals in the Philippines, my hope is that both Christians and Muslims can create a better future for their children without the carnage of rebellion. It is with these driving forces that I spent the last several years crafting this story. May the novel also honor the earnest and hard work accomplished by my Australian and Filipino colleagues to bring balanced educational opportunities to all children on the island of Mindanao.

In December 2012, I returned to the Philippines and was planning to visit my friends in Cagayan de Oro when the tropical typhoon Sindang hit Mindanao on the 16th and 17th. This unusually fierce storm swirled around the island and into the port city of Cagayan de Oro, dropping over 180 millimeters of rain in just one day. Over 4000 lives were lost, while homes and schools were destroyed because of flooding rivers and the storm surge. I was unable to get back to the city where I had lived to visit my friends. So I finished the writing, keeping in mind this quote:

I shall try to tell the truth,

but the result will be fiction.

Katherine Anne Porter

Many thanks are due to the colleagues with whom I worked both in Brisbane, Australia and in the Philippines. These were: Peter Deacon, Lynn Piper, Sally Bannah, and Max Walsh; and the other RLTAs: Eileen Ferguson and her husband, Michael O’Reilly; Deb Martin, and Michael Keith, who bravely worked in Zamboanga; Jim Butler, Anne Butler, Warren Beasley and Coleen Andrews who taught for PROBE at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. My Filipino colleagues from Cagayan de Oro included: Dr. Ingrid Racoma, now superintendent of Bukidnon, Dr. Cherry Limbaco now superintendent of Iligan City, and Rose Cang, Assistant Chief of Dr. Basalo. A special thanks to Dr. Sol Matugas, former Regional Director of DECS Caraga, who gave me the book Kulturang Caraga, Volume 1, that provided the Filipino proverbs for various chapters. My job could not have been accomplished without the help of all these wonderful Australian and Filipino colleagues and friends.

A heartfelt thank you to Coleen and Findlay Andrews who allowed me to housesit their beautiful island home near Brisbane, where I wrote each day looking out at the beautiful Morton Bay. Special thanks are due my readers/editors for this book: Judy Nemec who encouraged me as she edited and refined the plot from the very beginning; Eileen Ferguson who lived in the Philippines as an RLTA and had a trip down memory lane; Coleen Andrews who taught a science course for the Filipino teachers at the University of Queensland in Brisbane and offered excellent comments; Diane Brooks, friend and retired English teacher who made needed critical suggestions; Sue Bassett who is a writer in her own vein; Dascha Tursi, a careful and caring editor, and Al Neff for proofreading. Without their careful eyes and pointed suggestions this book could not have come to fruition. As always, my thanks again to Ted Fusby who drew the map of the Philippines and whose cover art captures the essences of all my books, especially the tangled tree that invites us to explore the Driving Forces that conflict the main characters.

For my colleagues in Australia and the Philippines and my family in Colorado

Mabuhay

Map of the Region

Map of the Philippines

MindanaoTracing.jpg

Chapter 1

A LEAP OF FAITH

An author in his (her) book must be like God in the universe,

present everywhere and visible nowhere.

Gustave Flaubert

My friend sent me a birthday card on October 12th, the traditional Columbus Day in the USA. It showed a woman with a colorful scarf billowing in the wind as she jumped from one side of a crevasse to another. The caption read, Good Women Take a Leap of Faith.

Never having been particularly risk adverse, I had jettisoned an excellent teaching job in Colorado five years ago, married an Australian professor, and moved to Brisbane, much to the wonderment of my family. American children fledge early and since there was no one at the family home, it seemed an opportune time to move forward. Now sitting alone in this small apartment in Brisbane, I had to wonder if the message on the card was an inspiration or a driving force for change.

Coming to Australia had not been without its perks as I had earned my Ph.D. at the Queensland University of Technology. This ticket to ride had enabled me to direct an Australian national project in Professional Development and to teach part-time at the University of Queensland. However, while I had been working these two jobs, my husband, Dr. Bill Frayer, was right on schedule for the seven-year itch in our marriage.

At that time Bill and I were both working for Project in Mathematics, English and Science (PROMES), a jointly-funded Australia-Philippines million dollar education grant. The goal was to provide professional development for selected Filipino teachers and their administrators at the University in Brisbane and to support them when they returned home. My role for the program was to teach the science education component.

About a year earlier Bill and I had gone to the Philippines for several weeks to interview prospective candidates for the program. It was on the island of Cebu that we first met Imelda Suarez, a candidate later rejected for PROMES by the Filipino government. Unbeknownst to me she had somehow singled Bill out as someone of interest. Bill returned to Cebu the next month for more PROMES interviews while I stayed in Brisbane working. According to gossip, this is when their affair developed.

When the PROMES program actually began at the university, Bill personally paid Imelda’s airfare to Brisbane and created a peripheral job for her. He claimed, Imelda speaks several Filipino dialects and will act as an advisor to the men and women. But, I knew better.

Our academic friends began to recognize the situation for what it was and were not surprised when I moved out of our home. Shortly thereafter Bill moved Imelda in. The new couple’s blatant daily arrival and departure at the university could not be missed by anyone who knew us professionally. Much to the amazement of our colleagues, I soldiered on teaching daily, dealing with Bill in the office, and avoiding the third floor where Imelda was smugly installed.

I was truly at my own chasm. My reactions were mixed: ebbing from a sense of betrayal to anger, and finally simply embarrassment for my estranged husband. Having given up my professional ties to life in the US and now having my Australian foundation shaken, it was either time to make the leap or fall off the cliff in despair.

So I decided to apply for one of the yearlong positions with PROMES in the Philippines. Not being a true-blue, dinky-die Aussie, I was not sure I would be hired as one of the four regional advisors. If selected, I would be overseeing Math, English and my specialty, Science Education, from primary to university levels. The selections were to be announced at a final farewell dinner at the university when all the major players from Manila and the regions would be feted. I had not told Bill of my application or decision to take the job if chosen. He offered to pick me up that evening at my apartment near the university. I thought my Italian friends back home would laugh and tell me, Perchè No! - Why Not?

After the entrée and the mains were heartily eaten, a pavlova was presented. This meringue-based concoction was named after a Russian ballet dancer and I could never figure out why it was so special to Australians. The Filipinos were enjoying their dessert when Dr. Ermilinda Rinoco, the head of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, or DECS for short, stood to make the awaited announcement. Brad Philips, the Australian project head, was at her side as she announced those selected as Regional Long Term Advisors (RLTAs) for five regions in the Philippines. There were two Australian women: Ellen Michaelson for Ilocos Norte in northern Luzon and Christine Moore for the island of Cebu. Mitch Henderson, a New Zealander, would be in Zambaoanga, the southernmost region of Mindanao, and, lucky me, Dr. Louise Hammel, would be assigned to two regions: central and northern Mindanao. In the audience I detected a nod from Dr. Mohammed Fernandez, the superintendent of Cagayan de Oro, where I would be stationed. I had had several personal talks with this knowledgeable gentleman and I responded to his gracious acknowledgement with a smile.

Amidst the applause, Bill leaned down toward me and in a scolding voice whispered, Why didn’t you tell me you had applied for this in-country position? Are you really going to take it? What about your other jobs here?

I whispered as politely as I could, Sorry mate, but Imelda is the center of your life now. What I do with mine is no longer your business.

Most of the upper echelon Filipinos in the room did not know about his affair and thought we were still firmly married. I wondered if I would be begging a ride home from someone else. But, never one to lose professional face, Bill led me to his car at the conclusion of the evening.

We four RLTAs met only a couple times before our departure, which was scheduled for the following month. We were strangers who instantly connected, relaxing, taking off our shoes, having a glass of wine with a few savories, and telling bits of our personal backgrounds. After this first business meeting we decided to go to a play together at the Queensland Theater Company at Southbank on the Brisbane River before we headed out to our remote areas in a foreign county.

The night of the play I chose to wear my favorite outfit, a filmy green skirt and loose-flowing jacket flecked with black and white swirls. I had bought it back in Colorado at my favorite little shop called The Fallen Angel. The name seemed appropriate for my curious circumstances now. Although Bill’s infidelity had devastated my sense of self-worth, the outfit made me feel elegant and confident.

Brisbane traffic was horrendous with its streets and hilly avenues built on old goat paths. Almost late, I slid into my theater seat quickly and Ellen leaned over and smiled, That is a gorgeous outfit and I knew you would fit in. A right compliment from an Aussie!

Packing during this last month for a year’s stay in the Philippines proved a bit daunting. I found myself crying as I sat on the floor sorting through my Australian life, more angry with myself than Bill, wondering how I arrived at this state of affairs. Chuckling at the irony of the word, affair, I dried my tears determined to go on.

In the new job, I understood that I would be giving speeches, facilitating workshops, and arranging for new educational materials to be delivered to the schools. My direct supervisor, Brad Philips, would also be relocating from Brisbane to Manila. Brad warned me that part of our main job would be placating the Filipino administrators who were not lucky enough to be chosen to come to Brisbane for the professional development program. This was the exact reason why the project wanted long-term advisors. We all knew that Filipinos put on their best face for visitors and did not like to let any ‘flies in the ointment’ be seen. This job would be much more administrative than academic, my true comfort zone. Nevertheless, I’d handled complicated finances at my recent jobs so I wasn’t too worried. Brad told me, Louise, you will find and use skills you never even knew you had, because for all its progress, the Philippines is still a third world country in many respects. So much for the confidence pep talk!

I drove back to our home in Brisbane’s western suburb of Brookfield to store some of my things. Fortunately, Imelda had already left for Christmas vacation on her home island of Cebu. Even so, our house seemed cold and indifferent as I opened the sliding door to the back veranda that overlooked Gold Creek. Many a morning I would stand out there and listen to the good-natured laughter of my kookaburra. The bird would watch me place little rounds of mince on the railing where he would bash the meat around, then gobble it down. I had read that laughing kookaburras are believed to pair for life - something we humans might note, but in this day hardly ever do. From a nearby tree another kookaburra cried an almost hysterical sound that mimicked my turbulent feelings.

I took one last look at the small storeroom that I had turned into my cozy office. With nostalgia I remembered the hours I had spent at the desk writing my Ph.D. thesis. Beside it sat a filing cabinet and a step-ladder on which I had draped a small red rug to display a few of my special mementos: a stone statue of an intertwined man and woman, and a delicately shaded, hand-woven basket brought back from a trip to South Africa. On the wall beside the computer, I had my favorite, framed picture in black and white. It showed a series of doors leading through to more and more doors. Its message for me was that life always has other openings going into the future, if we so desire to pursue them. A filmy curtain covered the small rectangular window that looked onto a large pandanus palm where a black and white whistler would sometimes sing to me.