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Saturday, March 08, 2003
Editorial: Coherent security plan
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal’s call to “storm the heaven and earth” with prayers for peace should not fall on deaf ears, after all, as we Cebuanos would say, wa may mawa nato if we do it.
Prayers work in many ways, aside of course from God’s response to our plea. On a personal level, these can ease the tension that is building up nowadays, especially following the bombing in Davao City.
But prayers can only do so much. Concrete moves must accompany them, and this is mainly the function of government.
In this context, it is good to note that after the Davao incident, government officials have come up with suggestions on how to ensure that the kind of violent acts happening in Mindanao won’t filter in here.
The proposals are varied, from Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s plan to set up a reward system for informants to Councilor Procopio Fernandez’s call for the barangays to impose curfew for minors.
Surely, these are but the initial suggestions as other minds may soon be presenting more. What is important is that the ball has finally started rolling.
This should lead to a meeting among concerned officials—like those in the various local government units, the police and the military—so they can map out a coherent strategy to ensure the safety of residents and visitors of the city and province.
Indeed, something concrete must come out of the renewed concern over the peace and order situation following the Davao City bombing.
Officials should grab the opportunity opened to set up a more effective deterrence to the entry of terrorists in Cebu.
But there is one point that should be raised here, and that is for officials and even the public to remain levelheaded and not be drawn into setting up measures that would violate people’s rights or spark more unrest.
This is a difficult balancing act, but it must be done. Or to put it in another way, this will test the creativity of those concerned with keeping the peace in this part of the country.
Reward system
Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s plan to reward anybody who reports to the Cebu City Government or the police the presence of any suspected bomber or suspicious-looking person is something that really needs further study.
No problem with the amount—P30,000 is, after all, still a lot of moolah.
The question is on how a person can tell a bomber or a terrorist, given the biases every individual has. Can we tell a bomber or a terrorist by his looks? Or should we base our suspicion on the way somebody acts? And what constitutes suspicious action?
Surely, the first “usual suspects” will be Muslim types, what with the Davao City bombers suspected to be either members of the Abu Sayyaf or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. After that will be people who look like hoodlums.
Actually, the intention of the mayor is good; it’s just that he needs to refine that intention to make it effective and less problematic.
The danger with the mayor’s proposal is that informants might kowtow to stereotypes, those played up by movies and the media, instead of being objective in their appraisal of strangers. This will surely create other problems later.
(March 8, 2003 issue)
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