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Friday, April 29, 2005
Editorial: Terror reports
THE smoke had long been gone following last February's Valentine's Day bomb attacks but the sense of paranoia still prevails amid the recycling of reports about the presence of elements of the Jemaayah Islamiyah (JI) allegedly training some Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) elements and Abu Sayaff bandits.
Though, this time, the military through the Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID) and the regional PNP-10 office said they have yet to verify these reports but added they continually monitor the situation to prevent any terror attacks.
To sum it up it's the old "neither confirm nor deny" line that the US government is so fond of using especially in this era of the War Against Terror. Problem is that approach had yet to turn up any weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Why these reports continue to surface despite the absence of hard evidence cannot solely be blamed on media hype. There is also the inclination by some military officials to float such reports in order to earn brownie points for themselves.
Though we simply shrug this off since every organization from either side of the social, political and economic fence take every opportunity to do chest thumping via their propaganda machines.
The reports of the JI presence also keeps local government officials on guard as evidenced by the "show of force" that was undertaken by the city government of Cagayan de Oro in tandem with the military, police and law enforcement agencies.
But the more telling effect these reports of terrorists training rebels in Mindanao has in the domestic front is the economic and political climate in the islands. We need not elaborate on this issue, which had been discussed to death by the national dailies.
But for those hiding under the rocks these reports make people afraid of coming here. For those who do, they insist that they arrived despite the travel advisories issued by their respective embassies.
Thus the country, particularly here in Mindanao has become a hotspot for terrorism that runs counter to the national government's efforts to promote Mindanao as an economic and tourist destination.
As is obvious to a lot of people, there's interest by a lot of parties and justification for the continued Balikatan exercises with the continued existence of these terrorist presence reports.
Unfortunately for those who wish these reports would just stop the still festering problem of insurgency and social inequity remain rooted in Mindanao and will continue to do so unless peace and order has been established in these islands.
(April 29, 2005 issue)
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