|
Monday, September 11, 2006
Anti-terror agent asks for mayor's forgiveness
DAVAO CITY -- Self-proclaimed counter-terror expert Samson Macariola asked forgiveness from Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for the problem he caused with his claim that he was able to smuggle a bomb into an airplane in Davao City.
Macariola sent a text message to the mayor through his aide, Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, saying he was sorry for what happened.
"I understand the stand of Mayor Duterte. I apologize and have same high respect for him. Thank you very much for all the good things you have helped (me with). Please tell the mayor, my integrity is intact and would be always. Again my apologies," Macariola said in the text message.
Macariola has found himself the object of outrage after he was reported by a national daily to have sneaked in bomb components inside a commercial plane to and from Davao City.
He hinted he will set things straight with the newspaper reporter who wrote the article about his bomb caper.
"I cannot let Arlyn (dela Cruz) get away with her selfish intentions. Truth will come out," Macariola's added.
Macariola, who was silent for a week after dela Cruz's report came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said in an interview that all materials he brought into the plane were not real bomb materials, rather replicas that he used for his workshop for law enforcers in Davao City just before the Kadayawan Festival in August.
But the Inquirer said in response to Macariola's denials that dela Cruz is sticking by her story, even saying she understands if Macariola tries to deny what she wrote.
Whether the bomb materials were real or not, and whether dela Cruz was telling the truth or not, Duterte said he is not just about to forgive Macariola for what he has done.
"I'll hit this man if he comes to see me," Duterte said.
The mayor had already said he would no longer pay the P10,400 monthly consultancy fee that Macariola is receiving from the City Government as a consultant on firearms and ammunition management services.
The contract of services that Macariola signed with the City Government was supposed to cover the second half of 2006, until December 31. This is the second contract for the year, the first one having covered the first half of 2006 for the same service.
At the same time, Duterte also lashed out at some senators who are picking on him and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over Macariola's alleged security breach.
"You piss me off guys, you act as if you're intelligent when you are all dumb. It's really appropriate for the Senate to be abolished," Duterte said during his Sunday television program.
Duterte said the problem started with Macariola's false claims before dela Cruz.
He said the reporter would have not been interested in such story had Macariola not claimed that the bomb he sneaked in through the airport security was real.
"It behooves upon the idiot to come up to me and to the nation to explain things," Duterte said.
Earlier, Duterte expressed perplexity over why Macariola came out with such claims to a reporter, saying he can only come up with three reasons: first is that Macariola craves recognition, second is he wants to set standards for airports, and the third, "pure hubris" or "hinambog."
Any experiment on security should be done under controlled condition, Duterte said, and doing it all by himself placed everyone in jeopardy. (BOT/SAE/With Peng Aliño)
(September 11, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
5 years after Sept. 11, a search for 700 missing fathers