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Monday, August 22, 2005
Editorial: City Hall security
NORMALLY the Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID) would act the moderator and respond to any rumors of terrorist attacks with the usual assurance that they are on top of the situation.
That is not the case however with the latest Zamboanga bomb attack in which there are no casualties but many injured civilians. This occurring amid the ongoing political crisis facing the Palace.
According to the 4th ID intel, Cagayan de Oro is on the list of target cities with no less than City Hall the target of bomb attacks. The announcement though without any official evidence nevertheless disturbed a lot of city residents.
That's because all these alleged terrorist reports come on the eve of the Cagayan de Oro city fiesta. Whenever the city fiesta comes around speculations of terror attacks flourish like a bad rash.
Why City Hall is the target is something of a speculation itself because as Mayor Vicente Emano himself claims he had good relations with the city's Christian, Muslim and lumad communities.
And as often cited by his favorite Councilor Zaldy Ocon, Emano would often say that he would pray to the heavens on bended knees (the Visayan version is too mushy and overtly melodramatic to be printed) that terrorists spare his city from attacks.
At the risk of playing devil's advocate the chances of Cagayan de Oro being bombed is slim at best--and even less than a razor's edge we hope this to be true--owing to the perception that the city is somewhat a haven for suspected terror suspects.
There are after all little places these terror suspects can run to--either in the hills where they can be engaged by troops or places that are suspected of harboring terror elements.
The city has yet to gain such recognition but perception can be misconstrued as reality. This point is served during the emergence of reports stating that the brother of the late Farthur Roman Al-Ghozi was spotted loitering around Barangay Lapasan in Cagayan de Oro prior to passing through to points unknown in Mindanao.
The prevailing suspicion then was that the PNP already had Al Ghozi, suspect in some Manila bombings, all along and are waiting for the opportunity to announce that the Jemaayah Islamiyah (JI) suspect got killed in a mis-encounter.
In coming out with the announcement Fourth ID spokesman Maj. Alexander Bravo said they wanted to tell the terrorists that they are aware of what they are doing and thus pre-empt any plans they may have to wreck havoc on Cagayan de Oro.
The disadvantage to this psy war ops thing is that city residents who aren't familiar with this may be unnecessarily alarmed and thus constrict their movements to home, work, school and church, not exactly in that order.
The object being that instead of assuring the public that they can move wherever and whenever they want especially during fiesta which comes once a year these reports tend to drive them away to their homes and not outside where they can spend a lot to help businesses moving and growing.
Pre-emptive is pretty good only if complimented by significant action or in this case additional security that would assure people that there's nothing to be afraid of really.
face="Verdana">(August 22, 2005 issue)
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