The ‘Mars’ in Iligan

By Nora Soriño .

ILIGAN City – “The Mall of Asia has its earth.
The city of Iligan has its Mars.”

This is a FB post which is meant as a joke. The latter post is complete with the picture of a spherical orange – co!ored curiosity, like that of the planet Mars in our solar system as science tell us.

But this isn’ t any laughing matter anymore. Look, what happened to Beirut in Lebanon. For if pundits are to be believed, inside that orange splendored thing is, hold your breath — ammonium nitrate! Like that material that exploded in Lebanon.

How did that come about then?

This writer first became aware of that thing when Jun Enriquez, a friend came over to the office one late afternoon. That was in December 2019 before this scare called Covid 19 came to our collective consciousness.

After talking business, we engaged in some small talk. Which became ” historical. ” Like talking about the ” good ol’ days ” when there was still the National Steel Corporation.

As a young boy, Jun said, when NSC was still going strong, he had to deliver snacks to the employees. That was the business of his family, he said. There was less traffic then, he added and he’d walk by his lonesome carrying those snacks. And once, when he was on his way, there was an American-looking man walking along with him and talking in English. He carried on with their talk, Jun said and this man disappeard somewhere by the roadside.

“So there’s a white gentleman then?” I said good-naturedly. This initiated some laughs for Sita and Ric, a reporter who was also around, remembering about talks about “white ladies.”

When the laughs subsided he talked about that “round thing” by the roadside. And then he added: “It’s what remains of a …a…”

“A lost love?” I cut in still in jest which sent again laughs from those in the room.
“”From a fertilizer company.”

“Ah, fertilizer.” And then we remembered Marcelo Fertilizer Corp. So the thing inside that orange-colored “splendor by the roadside” is some material used in making fertilizer.

So I remember that talk now in the wake of that Beirut blast, several days ago. Which was caused they say by some ammonium nitrate. This had been stored in a warehouse for 6 years. Six years! But with this “Mars” here, there is no reckoning as to how many years that thing inside this “Mars.” Basta, it’s been there for ages as that company had long disappeared from the face of this city which was then called “Industrial City of the South.” Now it’s called “the industrial city nga nasawot.” In street lingo, to mean, a person that got sick.

Well, Sita then made calls to somebody from Linamon, Lanao Norte as they always see “Mars” on their way to this city. For it is situated by the roadside at sitio Fuentes, barangay Maria Cristina. There’s some talk that said “Mars” has been splashed with water but it is not clear when.

I asked Engr. F., a friend about it and he said that “that is something that explodes when it gets too hot.”

“Like that what happened at Beirut, Lebanon?” I asked.

“Of course,” he answered. “But the area that would be affected in case it explodes is just about two kilometers.”

His tone was nonchalant, meaning it is not something to be concerned about, “And maybe, that will not happen in this generation,” the engineer said, ” and maybe only about eight people will be hit…”

Meaning, nothing to be concerned about, I thought. What if this really explodes and several people even if there are “only about 8 of them” that gets hurt, what about those “Uzis” that are likely to gather in the site, even in this time of pandemic.

I think this has to be looked into by authorities even during this time of pandemic. Or maybe because of this pandemic that authorities and/or concerned citizens have got to look into this. For this might be a “disaster waiting to happen,” to borrow some words of Jojo Borja when he talked about –ah, never mind what he talked about as that is another story in itself.

Or, is this just a “much ado about nothing?”

Maybe.But I do suggest that really, this has to be looked into.

Before it’s too late…