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Monday, April 14, 2003
Millan: Strike three
By Tai-pan Millan
LIGHTNING strikes but only once, or so we thought. After the first bomb exploded, everybody believed that the safest place to be is at the scene of the crime. We assumed that our city would never again be attacked, or at least not yet immediately or not yet anytime soon.
The simplest explanation would be that the authorities are doubly alert so it would be difficult, if not impossible, to penetrate the police or military cordon.
Moreover, even while we were shocked and stupefied with the intensity and the gravity of the first explosion, the people of the city somehow felt confidence, real or imagined, that the ones responsible for the first deadly attack would immediately be apprehended and punished in the fastest and harshest way.
This ideal belief was supported by the overwhelming outrage flowing from all sectors. The local government officials and the local police and military officers vowed swift vengeance. The President of the Republic herself came over to personally create a super committee to address what used to be the unthinkable and the unimaginable.
Behind all the sense of urgency and uncertainty were a pleading silent prayer and a hoping sigh of relief. We wanted to feel secure even when we did not know what lay ahead. We thought constructively even when negative vibes filled the air.
The entire incident really made people feel a deep sense of pain, partly due to the loss of lives, and partly due to the loss of face. It was an agonizing experience for the victims. It was a humiliating encounter for the authorities.
Rising up from the debacle of being caught unaware, everybody buckled up to bring back the city's old glory of being an untouchable. Security measures were heightened exponentially. It was each citizen's duty to be more vigilant. It was the community's role to protect itself and its inhabitants.
But more than a month after the harrowing experience, there are still no clear and convincing leads as to the perpetrators of the first bombing, except for generalized accusations against the usual suspects. Worse, a second almost equally powerful explosion rocked the city. We are in an extremely terrible bind.
It is not for lack of skill or talent, though. It is likewise neither due to incompetence nor due to ignorance. It is just the reality that is terrorism.
It only has a how and a why. Bombings are the how. To sow terror, and the corollary chaos and confusion that destroys the economy and destabilizes the political tranquility, are the why. Such is its cruelty.
It neither has a when nor a where. It strikes anytime. It strikes anywhere. Such is its hatred.
Innocent civilians who just happen to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time get maimed or killed. They have exactly no idea how or why or when or where. They just die, or if they are lucky enough, survive with major or minor injuries only.
There are patterns and precedents, though they are not necessarily reliable. In any event, in a situation where anything and everything is possible and probable, all angles must be examined and all perspectives must be scrutinized.
After the airport and the seaport have been targeted, the logical next step is to target the land port, or the major bus terminals. It seems that the architect or the engineer of this terror plot intends to isolate the city from the rest of Mindanao by making all ports of entry dangerous and unsafe, of course in addition to showing the rest of the world that they can fire, or bomb, at will.
We must therefore be on the highest alert. Instead of pointing accusing fingers on who is or are to blame, let us join hands and work together for our own safety and survival. Instead of focusing on the problem by whining and complaining and cowering in fear, let us concentrate on the solution by being more vigilant and more cooperative and by standing up with courage in our hearts.
We have been hit by the proverbial lightning twice. We should then not give them the sublime pleasure of a strike three. Comments are most welcome. Please send them to tai-pan@brains-for-hire.com.
(April 14, 2003 issue)
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