Thursday, November 15, 2007 Editorial: Where were the K9s?
THE explosion which rocked the Batasan complex (House of Representatives) in Quezon City Tuesday night killing three people, including Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, and wounding several others, most certainly was "heard" around the world.
After all, it's not everyday that a country's national legislature gets bombed.
The explosion also serves to remind people of this world in general, and us Filipinos in particular, that in this era of global terrorism there is no such thing as fool-proof security against terrorists.
We have been made to believe that security at the Batasan complex was of the highest quality, what with all those armed security personnel, policemen, cameras installed in the right places to monitor the comings and goings of people, and the omni-present highly-trained, expensive bomb-sniffing dogs (K9s).
With such security measures in place, how come the bomb planted in the building's south wing was not detected? Where were the security personnel at the time of the explosion? For that matter, where on earth were the expensive, highly-trained K9s? Where, indeed. But that's for the police to find out.
The public's main concern is the fact that, despite even the most sophisticated security measures put up in and around such a high-profile government building as the national legislature, a bomb was planted in it and detonated--most probably with a cellphone--by someone who was somewhere in the vicinity at the precise moment members of Congress were on their way out after session had been adjourned.
Was it mere coincidence that it was Rep. Wahab Akbar, a former Abu Sayyaf member, who happened to be nearest to the bomb when it went off? Or, was he the target? Let's leave those questions to the investigators to answer. One can come up with any number of speculations on the subject and still be wrong.
The fact remains: If a killer bomb can be detonated at the Batasan despite all precautions against it happening, is there any place in this country--including our own Davao City--that is safe from acts of terrorism?
But then again, was the Batasan blast an act of terrorism in the real sense of the word? Or was it something else--like just plain murder?
