FOCUSED on ending the illegal drug trade and the resultant drug addiction problem in this country, President Rodrigo Duterte in the same breath stated that terrorism would be the challenge in three to seven years.
Let’s pray that the Davao bombing last weekend was not meant to rebuff him --- that his time frame was grossly mistaken.
This, especially because the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), which initially claimed responsibility for the bombing, reportedly declared that more attacks are to be expected.
And how can we forget that last July, ASG senior leader Isnilon Hapilon had appeared with his men on YouTube swearing allegiance or “bay-ah,” an oath, to IS (formerly ISIS) and its head, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?
And just while we were reeling from the tragedy in Davao, two other blasts were in North and South Cotabato, also during the weekend.
While we all condemn the barbaric act in Davao, let’s hope that the responses to these incidents will be well thought out and calculated, rather than impulsive. As past incidents have shown him, Duterte can be quite impulsive.
For instance, Supreme Court Chief Lourdes Sereno had reminded judges and prosecutors listed as coddlers of drug lords about the need for arrest warrants before they could be hauled away.
An angry Duterte arrogantly brandished the sword of Damocles about declaring martial rule.
More recently, after swearing in his appointed officials, he warned ISIS not to do barbaric acts or challenge him, because he could do “10 times better.”
Better at execution of plan? Better at cruelty and torture? The thought is meant to strike terror in the ASG’s minds.
We do not doubt that Duterte can muster all the military and police resources to train their arsenals on the ASG.
Isn’t this the purpose behind his declaration of the state of lawless violence in the entire Philippines?
Problem is that while Duterte can be clear-sighted about the targets, the ASG elements can retaliate--as they have been targeting--the civilians and not just the military and police members.
And civilians have no weapons or other wherewithals to protect themselves, and are easy prey anywhere and everywhere. Terrorists, after all, go where there are crowds; the more that congregate, the more victims and the more emphatic their show of strength.
True, security will be tightened in public places. But sometimes I ask the security guards whenever I open my bag or when they slightly frisk me, “Do you know exactly what you’re looking for? Will you recognize it when you see it?”
We appreciate the commercial establishments’ effort at assuaging our fears. But how the guards do it clearly shows they’re just going through the motions, doing a “pakitang tao.”
We may not, for now, be in the list of cities in the world most targeted by terrorists; hopefully, never will.
But it might be wise to avoid densely crowded places unless there is a real need to be there. We could throw caution to the wind. But prudence, it’s been said, is the better part of valor.
(lelani.echavez@gmail.com)