I WAS recently in Cagayan de Oro for the JP Morgan-Finex Inter-Collegiate Finance Competition elimination round. I took a taxi from Seda Hotel to the Phinma Cagayan de Oro College (COC) campus where the event was being held. The taxi driver struck up a conversation with me to find out if I needed transportation for the rest of my stay. I replied that we were leaving the following day. He offered to drive us to the Laguindingan airport the next day. We then agreed on a schedule for the following morning. In our conversation, I found out that he recently moved his family from San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. When I asked him why, he replied that he was a former army captain who was wounded during the Marawi siege which shattered his left leg.
He talked about his platoon that was mobilized from their base in Laur, Nueva Ecija, and how few of them survived. He also described his surgery which required steel implants. He was discharged from the army because of his disability with a full pension. He initially got P2 million as an advance on his pension plus some of his other benefits. He decided to use this to relocate his family to Cagayan de Oro since his wife was originally from there. He also described that the cost of living was much lower than Nueva Ecija. He also talked about the fresh vegetables and the abundance of fresh fish in Mindanao.
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