V Day

“Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears” - Winston Churchill

EVER since high school, he was already called The Chameleon for no apparent reason. The moniker stuck through his college days as a BS in Marine Transportation student at Capitol University. Graduating at the top of his class in 1999, The Chameleon easily got a job and worked his way up at WG&A, serving ports of call in various places in the country. He was there when SuperFerry 14 was bombed by the Abu Sayyaf in February 2004. His heroism in the rescue efforts promoted him to second mate and he was assigned at SuperFerry 12. When Negros Navigation purchased WG&A in 2010, The Chameleon was rewarded the post of captain and he was by then in command of St. Joseph the Worker plying the Cebu-Cagayan de Oro-Manila route. It was at this time that The Chameleon married his long-time love Icy.

In 2012, an opportunity knocked on The Chameleon's door – he was being offered to captain Pioneer Knutsen, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker plying the Norwegian coast. The Chameleon had to kiss his wife goodbye, embarking on a lonely tour in a cold Scandinavian country. Of course, the couple bore no children because of this long-distance situation and The Chameleon had to contend himself with daily Skype chats with his wife to cope with the loneliness.

But that was a long time ago. Today as The Chameleon watched the Siquijor skyline on this cold February dawn of 2016 puffing a stick of Marlboro Lights, his facial expression was that of indifference...and apprehension of things to come. Today would be the day when he would change history.

_ _ _

BACKGROUND

United States

In the early 2000s, the American Chemical Society sponsored a consortium of scientists and engineers around the globe and commissioned them to focus studying in one field only – is it possible to power up an electricity plant running on natural gas in its liquid form? Until then, natural gas-powered plants had to connect hundreds of kilometers of pipes offshore through the oil fields so they could boot up. By late 2014, they had the breakthrough answer. Yes, that can be done, using a mix of little propane and a lot of liquefied methane. With this, construction of costly pipelines is eliminated and LNG-fired power plants can now be constructed in any coastal region. As long as an LNG tanker can deliver the gas in its liquefied state, then the power plant can always fire up.

_ _ _

Misamis Oriental

In 2014, there was a heated legal dispute involving the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Villanueva town. Local environmentalists successfully convinced the Supreme Court to issue an injunction against the continuing construction of Filinvest's 405-MW plant. Filinvest's executives were panicking while the greens celebrated.

Because of the new technology with the use of liquefied natural gas, a new player came in – San Miguel Corporation. The conglomerate offered an ambitious plan – construct a 600-MW LNG-powered plant at Phividec, ship the liquefied gas from Shell's Malampaya processing plant in Batangas and download the cargo to the power generating plant. Until then, there were only three natural gas-powered plants in the Philippines – all located in Luzon and all serviced by Malampaya. But they were powered by natural gas…in its gaseous state of course. This one would be different. It would be the first natural gas-fired power plant in the country using natural gas in its liquid form. Or to cut it short, an LNG-fired power plant. It would be one of only 20 to be constructed in the world since the technology as discovered by the American Chemical Society consortium came into light in 2014.

Mindanao LNG-fired power plant broke ground in January 2015 and construction went into full swing. San Miguel Corporation executives pushed the target date of opening to Sunday, February 14, 2016. Meanwhile, the company contracted Knutsen OAS Shipping of Norway to provide the LNG tanker to transport the natural gas from Batangas to Phividec. The reason was two-fold: first, Knutsen had an almost 100-year reputation in tanker shipping; second, most of the crew in Knutsen's vessels were Filipinos.

Capt. Mark Francisco aka The Chameleon received a directive to start steaming Pioneer Knutsen towards Manila. The bulky 817-ton vessel, the flagship pride of Knutsen OAS Shipping, could only make it to 14 knots yet The Chameleon was happy. He could see his wife again soon.

_ _ _

STARTING HERE AND NOW

Friday January 1, 2016 9:08 p.m.

At 30, Atty. Isabella Czarina Yvanka Soriano-Francisco or Icy was one of the most envied young professionals by her female colleagues. Not only was she a hotshot corporate lawyer, she was also a certified public accountant. But beyond that was her lovable personality. The moniker Icy itself is deceiving. She’s a bubbly smiling person and not an icy cold one. And then there was her age. Because she could still pass for a 20-year-old, Icy did a modeling career on the side. Earlier this evening, she attended a New Year gathering of Glitterati at designer Gil Macaibay's crib along Bolonsiri Road in Camaman-an. Icy was the only married woman in the group. She had made it to the party simply because her husband wasn't yet around. The last time she Skyped with Mark on New Year's Eve, Pioneer Knutsen was still somewhere between Hong Kong and Manila.

At 9:00 p.m., Icy excused herself from the party. Though her face looked flawlessly younger than her age, gone were those teen dance-and-drink-all-night-long soirees. She wanted to go back home, in the privacy of her room, waiting for Mark's call. They're expecting to dock at Manila North Harbor tonight.

With her white Ford Escape parked outside Gil's studio, Icy was about to open the SUV door when two strong hands yanked her away while another put an odor-emanating cloth on her nose. With no time to scream, Icy soon passed out. Icy was dragged into a black van; the partygoers inside oblivious to what went on.

_ _

True to Icy's expectation, Mark did call 30 minutes later. He was surprised that Icy didn't pick up but didn't mind, surmising his wife might have been asleep already. After all, waiting for your love to arrive was somewhat a bit strenuous too, Mark smiled. He didn't mind. Besides, Capt. Francisco had a lot to cover – the papers and all. The ship would be steaming to Batangas in a month or so as the schedule for the San Miguel LNG-fired power plant inauguration neared. For the moment though, Mark had to fly to CDO and be with his wife whom he missed so much.

_ _

Saturday, January 2, 2016 10:15 a.m.

Fifty-one-year old Leonardo Bautista was a habal-habal driver from Laguindingan crossing to the 4-km highway towards the airport. Nope, he doesn't transport airline passengers, he instead picks up airport employees from Laguindingan poblacion to the airport and back. It was his fifth round trip for the day.

Enhanced by almost three decades of experience as a habal-habal driver, Leonardo's assets were his ears. Thus, despite the drizzle this morning and the sound of his own Honda motorcycle, Leonardo was still able to pick up the excited voice of a dog howling in a grassy area far off the road. Leonardo dismounted and was shocked at what he saw – the body of a beautiful woman slit in the throat.

_ _

In his excitement, Mark dozed off at his captain's quarters at the Pioneer Knutsen without charging his cell phone. The next morning, he yanked into the shower practically with plane ticket in hand, then dashed off to NAIA. CAAP already allowed the use of cellphones inside commercial planes in the Philippines but Mark cursed upon learning that his phone was dead. Never mind, it was just a one-hour flight to CDO. The ride was bumpy and there was heavy rainfall at the Laguindingan approach. But with the acquisition of new instrument navigation facilities, the landing was uneventful.

Mark immediately rode on the Magnum Express coaster. At the road leading to the highway crossing, traffic crawled. Mark craned his neck to watch a body being loaded to an unmarked vehicle belonging to Bollozos while a SOCO team watched. “Crime must still be pretty awful in the Philippines. In Norway, it's practically zero,” he muttered.

He put the thought aside, now eager to meet Icy. Downtown, he changed cabs to the direction of their plush home at Xavier Estates. It was only when he charged his phone that Mark's world went upside down.

_ _

Icy's last text message was, “Upat sila hon....anak ni Chan...anak ni Lim...anak ni Delgado...anak ni Muñoz.” Mark could only shake his head in tears as he showed the text message to police, recalling in disbelief that it was his wife's body who was mounted in the Bollozos L300.

_ _

This was the fourth known crime of the Black Van Gang, the first three occurred in early 2014. For almost three years, they became cold cases. With no complainants, police had given up, surmising that the perps were either terrified to commit another crime or they simply dissolved off. Now the Black Van Gang resurfaced. But this time, it was different. For the earlier crimes, the victims were raped and then freed. This was their first murder.

It was not until this rainy morning of January 2016 that their identities were unmasked by the victim. Icy had bled out slowly. In these agonizing minutes, she had managed to sneak that text message to her husband.

All four suspects were scions of businessmen in the city. In less than 24 hours, police swooped in their homes. But not one of the suspects was caught. All had already fled.

Mark mourned for days. He had no family left in CDO. His dad and mom had already passed away during his college days and he had no sibling. But there was still a ship to steer. And to load the first shipment of liquefied gas to the first LNG-driven power plant in the Philippines. Mark had to be strong. He reverted to The Chameleon persona. It was at this time that The Plan was hatched.

_ _

She's huge. And ugly if you look at it from above with those humongous bulbous tanks. Yet Pioneer Knutsen is carrying precious...and potentially hazardous cargo. Had she carried LNG in her four spherical tanks while steaming into Manila North Harbor, half a mile diameter would have been cleared by Philippine Coast Guard tugboats for her. In full, she could carry 143,000 cubic meters of natural gas.

As The Chameleon watched from the pier, he asked himself, “Could firecrackers do the trick?”

_ _

Thursday, February 11, 2016 6:05 a.m.

Shell's Malampaya Receiving Facility

Tabangao, Batangas

Malampaya has been operating since 2001. From a deep sea field off Palawan, raw methane and other gases go 30 kilometers upward towards a platform where condensates are separated. From there, they travel 504 more kilometers to Shell's liquefaction plant in Tabangao, Batangas. This is where Pioneer Knutsen was currently moored.

Inside the natural gas receiving facility, various things were happening all at once. The raw natural gas was stripped of water, acid and heavy hydrocarbons. To liquify the methane, temperature was lowered to -165 degrees Celsius.

At about the same time, the crew of Pionner Knutsen were busy, too. They were excited and honored to be part of such a historic project – delivering fuel to the first LNG-powered plant in Asia, whose contractors were now in celebratory mood in Phividec, Misamis Oriental. Little did they know that their captain had a nasty and nefarious surprise for them all.

And so the ship's crew began doing their routine. To prepare receiving the LNG, they must execute three procedures: cool down the pipes leading to the tank, purge the air from the loading arms of the crane, and cool down the loading arms. In his three years experience in the ship, The Chameleon knew that LNG inside a tank could only explode when it is mixed with air in concentrations of 5 to 15%. So The Chameleon ordered to skip the second procedure - the removing of air from the loading arms. The crew looked at each other in slight puzzlement. But they knew their co-Filipino captain knew what he was doing so they obeyed him. This would be the first step leading to the imminent disaster.

After the pre-loading procedures were done, the loading of the LNG itself was now underway. It took five hours to fill the four brightly-colored orange tanks to the brim. (The San Miguel executives were explicit in their instructions: Fill 'em to the brim.) Because oxygen wasn’t removed at the crane’s loading arms during the process, some of it seeped into the pipes going all the way into the four tanks. What was supposed to be harmless electricity-inducing LNG was now lethal cargo.

By evening of February 11, 2016, Pioneer Knutsen steamed to CDO. Nobody from the crew except The Chameleon knew it would be their last journey with the 12-year-old doomed ship.

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SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2016 VALENTINE'S DAY

2:02 a.m.

3 miles off Siquijor

This is it, The Chameleon muttered. There’s no turning back. “A lot of poor innocent people may die but their misery in this wretched city will also be relieved. All of them. There’s definitely no turning back.”

Every soul in the 28-manned ship was asleep except the helmsman above and the engine room folks below. The Chameleon had finished installing a combination of  five star, kwitis, bawang, daylight and trompillo (which he had purchased earlier in Bocaue) below each of the four huge LNG tanks in the superstructure. All of these he rigged in remote detonation, a craft he learned while in advanced ROTC at CU. After all, he had one full month to prepare for this after Icy's death.

By 5:00 a.m., The Chameleon woke up his crew and made a short pep talk. “A few hours from now, we will make history. Villanueva and the SMC folks will be proud of us. Let's not disappoint them. Let's get to work,” he said. As Pioneer Knutsen neared the vicinity of Laguindingan, The Chameleon uttered a silent prayer for Icy's soul and ordered the -165 C temp at all four tanks to increase at 20 degrees below the danger level. Again, the crew did not dare question the wisdom of their skipper and dutifully complied. Without them knowing, Pioneer Knutsen had now become the sum of all fears – a mass-murder weapon.

_ _ _

8:02 a.m.

Macabalan-Agora-Lapasan-Gusa approach

Macajalar Bay

The Chameleon was alone at the bridge, staring at the approaching PCG tugboats. He looked one last time on Icy's picture on his left hand. Then he pressed the detonator on his right.

_ _ _

“It's one fine day in the Philippines after those series of typhoons there. I hope they have a lovely Valentine's Day ahead,” remarked cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin of Expedition 54 to the International Space Station which was currently passing 380 kilometers above Macajalar Bay. This was his second tour to the ISS, the last one was in 2014. Yet it continued to amaze him.

Then a second later, “Whoa...was that a fireball?”

_ _

The Chameleon had achieved exactly what he planned. What was supposed to be refrigerated LNG at   -165 C tipped to its boiling point, thanks to The Chameleon’s order to increase the tanks’ temperature while they were passing by the Laguindingan shoreline. Some of the liquid methane-propane inside the tank transformed into vapors. Add to that the sufficient amount of oxygen inside coming from the loading arms when the gas was still being transferred. Less than 5 percent of oxygen could not sustain a combustion, more than 15 percent dilutes the gas. It had to be the right amount. Capping the deadly combination were the firecrackers. Upon detonation, the firecrackers exploded, penetrated the aluminum tanks and triggered the combustion inside.

LNG does not explode in open air but trapped inside those four tanks, it did. Flames shot through the air half a kilometer high, transforming the 143,000 cubic meters of liquid methane-propane...all of it...into a lethal inferno.

_ _

Rose Pimentel, 17, was with her boyfriend, Sajid Gilroy, 20, in the latter's open-air red BMW Z4 for an early Valentine's date at the top of Capistrano Complex where a commanding view of Macajalar Bay could be had when they heard a loud boom. To their shock, they saw a fireball emanating from that ugly-looking container ship. Then the shockwave came. Even at a height of 200 meters above sea level, the convertible was still moving on the ground like a silly toy car. The young lovebirds hung on for dear life.

_ _

For fisherman Vicente Paez, 60, death came at a painful 40 seconds. It was his routine to fish during the day in Gusa. This Valentine's Day was no different. Then he heard the boom. A split second later, the sea became one huge fiery wave. Vicente was exposed to the gaseous flame. For less than a minute, he cried out in unbearable pain, the sea around him in hellish orange. Then he collapsed to death.

_ _

What was once the east side of Cagayan River from Puntod to Consolacion to Macabalan to Agora and portions of Lapasan and Gusa were decimated. The famous Limketkai Luxe Hotel was still standing but had the look of a sickeningly charred black. More than a hundred souls dining at KaVe Bar and another 50 who were in their rooms died in the attack.

_ _

Outside was an eerie silence. In fact, the whole Ketkai-Lapasan area stood still. Nope, there were no groaning of wounded. There was only the chilling quietness for 10 full minutes. And then a distinctive sound soon began. At first, it was soft like that of a bell. Then it grew louder. Clang.....clang.....clang.....clang.....

_ _ _

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1995 9:05 a.m.

PRESENT DAY

Clang....clang.....clang.....

O larga na....larga na...sunod alley...sunod alley.....

Sixteen-year-old Mark Francisco woke up from his slumber in a hammock inside the waiting shed of Terryhills Subdivision's jeepney loading terminal. He must have slept in 15 minutes, he thought. Still shuddering from his nightmarish flash-forward of a dream, Mark looked down and saw that he was clutching a pencil and a notebook. He was earlier doodling about the men playing basketball at the nearby court. Below the drawing, he signed “The Chameleon.”

Mark began to ponder his dream. Why did I become a seaman? I was supposed to take up Masscomm. And what the heck is Skype where you talk to a handheld gadget? As he began shaking his head, he now remembered why he ended up sleeping in this jeepney terminal in his MOGCHS uniform. He didn't continue to school because he had no date this evening. They had a dare among his barkadas the night before that whoever had no date this Valentine must wind up absent.

Still in deep thought, a girl not more than ten came up and tapped him, “Kuya...kuya...”

“Huh kuya ka dyan....kuyawan man sad ta nimo. Unsa man?”

“Kanang katultol ka sa tindahan dari kuya?”

“Hmmm...n'a ra o imo giatubang.”

“Sensya na gud kuya bag-o pa man gud mi namalhin.”

“Ah diay? Unsa diay imo name?”

“Icy!”

The real life MARK FRANCISCO and the real life "Icy"...her real name is Aicy Soriano. Nope, they don't have a real story to tell. Everything you read above is fiction.

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