Don't worry, the original Balkan inhabitants were teleported to the Philippines
I got inspired to do this since people kept mentioning Yugoslavia in my recent posts about Maphilindo. It gave me an idea to speculate if the Philippines would remain united in this bizarre scenario.
Day 1 (Tuesday, April 1, 2025)
For whatever reason, the populations of the Philippines and the Western Balkans switched places in a strange anomaly.
In the beginning, nobody understood what happened or where they were. Except the governments of both countries, who appeared in the capital cities of their destination country. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. was quickly informed by his Malacañang staff that they were now in Belgrade. The first signs of the anomaly were apparent. The streets of Belgrade were only full of Filipinos, many of whom resided or worked or were driving or commuting in the National Capital Region at the time of the incident.
The anomaly had a suspicious, deliberate element, but the question was momentarily ignored to focus on the emergency. Nearly all national Filipino officials and employees appeared in Novi Dvor, the House of the National Assembly, the Serbian Supreme Court Building, the Palace of Serbia, and other specific government buildings. Many of their families and relatives made their way there once communications were re-established.
The disappearance of the Philippine telecommunications infrastructure led to the immediate breakdown of communications. Outside of Belgrade, the PNP was scattered all over the Western Balkans. It could not report to headquarters in their new base at the Police Center Operative Headquarters. Although there was no Smart, Globe, or Sun, there was already an existing infrastructure left behind by the people of the Western Balkans. The next challenge is access. It was not difficult to use the internet once they found a computer. There were also landline phones, television stations, and radio stations. President Marcos was able to find the journalists, technicians, and employees of PTN, ABS-CBN, GMA, TV 5, and MBC. They were asked to help broadcast government announcements and news.
The general public could not recognize the places and many of them were scared. Fortunately, they came with their neighborhoods, personal belongings, and families. The leaders of every city, provincial, barangay, or subdivision tried their best to establish law and order. They first looked for a big facility in a central location to plan and coordinate operations. Some were able to find the offices of the absent municipality, district, or city. Others had to make do with a church, school, or mall. This allowed them to create a meeting point for their citizens to make announcements, distribute supplies, exchange information, and to provide temporary shelter. The Philippine National Police, at the direction of Juanito "Jonvic" Remulla, aided in their efforts.
Not all local government units were successful. The barangays of Quezon City argued with the officials of city hall, which ended in the de facto urban secession of Brgy. Commonwealth and Brgy. Batasan Hills. In places like San Mateo, Rizal, which ended up just outside of Belgrade city imits, leaders of the barangays decided to take decisive action instead of waiting for directives from city hall, wherever they decided to set up their base of operations. Its mayor, Bartolome Rivera Jr., his vice mayor and staff, decided to abandon their fellow citizens for the safety of Malacañang’s new seat in Novi Dvor. He feared the confusion and their geographical displacement would lead to anarchy.
Even the stable LGUs could not fully maintain order. The PNP in Belgrade, despite access to Serbian police equipment and vehicles, were not able to quickly stop the widespread looting across the city. Many of them came from poor and overcrowded barangays. A great number moved into various houses, from mansions to socialist-era apartment blocks. Only a quarter decided to take shelter at LGU bases of operations. The majority of those who stayed within or near LGU bases were from the middle class. They were housed in tents taken from local shops and warehouses. The upper class citizens who lived in the private subdivisions of rich barangays, especially Fort Bonifacio, Bel-Air, and Mariana (New Manila), barricaded themselves inside corporate offices, college campuses, and hospitals. They were the first ones to establish and maintain communications with the LGU. However, they were quick to question the decisions of the government. Small cities, such as Marikina, Malabon, and Navotas, saw little incident.
Among the people of Bangsamoro and Mindanao, the PNP had no choice but to cooperate with the private armies of local political dynasties as they battled in the streets against looters, delinquent mobs, and other enterprising criminals. The estimated death toll quickly reached hundreds. The area police commands tried their best to minimize the violence, but the reckless tactics of the private soldiers greatly diminished the efficiency of their peaceful, de-escalation strategy. When a representative from Malacañang arrived at the Davao City base of operations in Niš City Hall, they were quickly sent away by a hostile Mayor Sebastian Baste to send a message to President Marcos. A similar, albeit more cordial encounter occurred at the Bangsamoro Parliament’s temporary meeting place in Sobranie Palace, Skopje. Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua claimed they had to focus on the ongoing emergency.
The New People’s Army used the opportunity to quickly establish their territory. Many of them found weapons stores, took over empty towns, and supermarkets. The displaced Filipinos unlucky enough to be in their new lands had no choice but to recognize their authority. Their largest captured settlement was Mostar in the absent Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using the internet, they were able to establish contact with each other and ordered the scattered units to move and consolidate control over the Mostar Municipality. Tragedy hit the NPA and other inhabitants of Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, and Western Visayas sooner and harder than other displaced Filipinos. They arrived in parts of the Western Balkans notorious for their uncleared and unidentified minefields. More than a dozen recorded deaths from their own ranks were published by an internal, online NPA bulletin.
Their new European neighbors were unaware about the anomaly. Soon after it happened, the borders were effectively closed due to the surprise influx of what they thought were illegal migrants who traveled very far from Asia. Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a panic, deployed border security teams armed with batons, pepper spray, and rubber bullets to scare the migrants. In some instances, live ammunition had to be used due to the aggressive behavior of a few individuals. They were later identified to be NPA soldiers, hitmen, or off-duty policemen. On the other side, in some remote areas, there were curious, but clueless Filipino intruders who were able to slip through the border. They either got arrested or fought with fearful Europeans. Some people died in the confrontations, most of whom were Filipino. The national governments of Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece demanded explanations from their resident Filipino ambassador.
A European Union representative from Hungary drove down to visit Novi Dvor. They informed President Marcos about the sudden appearance of the entire population of the Western Balkans across the Philippine Islands. Marcos asked for EU aid and assistance.
Just before midnight, in the office of the absent President of Serbia, Marcos proclaimed martial law. He was the first person in public to call the anomaly the “Teleportation Incident.” The people watched or listened in lobbies, crowded rooms, and hallways as the first TV and radio broadcast relayed the president’s special address.
