Previously: ARRIVING IN SULU
At the Sulu Provincial Police Office, I waited for my then escorts to Patikul. At 10am, the long wait culminated. There arrived a police car labeled PATIKUL MUNICIPAL POLICE STATION.
So I would be escorted by no less than 4 police officers. The team leader SPO1 Maradjani Abdul Moridz stepped down with the three others. He directed to the office and talked in a high tempered voice I narrowly understood.
Dont be afraid of Sulu. Be afraid of terrorism which can happen in your own home, the metro or even the White House in Washington, D.C.
SULU, an autonomous province in southwest Philippines, garners extremely opposite impressions. While a few view the province as paradise, most see it as an Armageddon--- a battlefield.
According to www.bbc.co.uk:
"The islands of Sulu, in the south-west Philippines look like the type of tropical paradise you would see on the front cover of a tourist brochure."
"But appearances can be deceptive. This is a violent and unstable region - a breeding ground for international terrorism."
