DUBAI: It’s been weeks since the deadly Sri Lanka Easter Sunday bombings and the country is still reeling in the aftershock of it; worse, reports indicate sectarian violence might be in the offing as Muslims fear for their lives from Christians out for revenge.
Also reeling is Donna Leah Robles, overseas Filipino worker, who along with four other fellow OFWs, were on a holiday in Colombo, arriving on the night before the incident and were supposed to stay at the Shangri-La Hotel – one of hotels that was bombed.
Narrates Robles: “None of us has ever been to Sri Lanka and we wanted to make sure we end up staying in a good hotel, so Shangri-La was the first choice as it’s a well reputed hotel.
“But price-wise I found it too expensive so I started looking around for other options and I was blessed to find a great one: a beautiful hotel by the marina at a very reasonable price.
“The bombing happened on the 21st of April. So should we have stayed at the Shangri-La, we would be in the restaurant where the bombing was as we had planned to have breakfast and leave Colombo that morning towards Nuwara Eliya to visit a tea factory and attend some festival.”
Robles says they found most establishments empty or closed as they went out to look for a place to dine.
“We learned later on na meron na pala silang intel report about a bombing hence a lot of police where roaming around the city that night. Then in the morning, ayun na dami nang roadblock and checkpoints,” Robles said.
She said the atmosphere on the day of bombing was tensed.
“We were heading to Nuwara Eliya so the only way to monitor was thru radio and the mobile internet as well as our driver who is a local. You could of course feel the tension.
“As a matter of fact, one reason why our trip took longer than usual was because of the inspections on the way that have caused traffic congestions. Sad to say that when we arrived in Nuwara Eliya it was late, around 9pm and the festival has been cancelled for safety of the public. Again, we ended up in our hotel rooms,” Robles said.
She said their holiday has turned into something that was more of fear than fun, especially considering that two of their peers were Muslims.
“We were afraid they might get caught up in the middle of something and thay due to the bombings we would all get in trouble. We can sense even from our driver that he feels resentment towards Muslims at that point, so we preferred not to let him know that he had Muslim passengers,” Robles recalls.
There was a curfew imposed and at times she said they were still on the road en route to their hotel.
Going home was a little scary, as well.
“On our departure day, we were advised to go straight to the airport and make sure we were there five hours before our flight. At the airport, it took us half an hour from the main road to reach the closest entrance as security was not allowing cars anywhere near it.
“We had to walk all the way but it was not difficult as they made sure they organized ground personnel to assist with trolleys and avoid inconvenience for the passengers. Before we are allowed into the drop off area cars are being inspected thoroughly and police dogs were all over the airport,” Robles narrates.
Robles and her friends were in Sri Lanka from April 20 to 25.
Sri Lanka was locked down under a nationwide curfew following the suicide bombing incidents.
According to reports, three churches and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bombings.
Some 258 people were killed, including at least 46 foreign nationals and three police officers, and at least 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo; other hotels that were bombed were the Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn.
