Last Thursday, we were so relieved to learn that there were no new bombing incidents in Metro Manila, only to learn later that terrorism has spread to the skies. By coincidence, the hold-up that took place on a Philippine Air Lines flight from Davao happened right on the day that the Philippine National Police Aviation Security had announced a "double red alert" in all major airports and Press Secretary Ricardo Puno had just used the term "parachute journalist" to refer to foreign newsmen who fly to a country without knowing its culture and history. On that very day, we had our very first terrorist who robbed plane passengers in midair and used a parachute to escape.
We still have on information as to what happened to this holdupper. Did he land safely with his parachute or did he just die in the process? Parachute jumping is more complicated than it seems. Skydivers generally free-fall about 12,000 feet from the ground and open their parachutes when they are 2,500 feet above ground. The first jump takes at least four hours of instruction.
But what the authorities really have to explain is how the passenger listed as Augusto Lakandula managed to carry a grenade and a hand gun through the Airport Security in Davao with a "double red alert" in effect. If they cannot explain how this happened, then it will happen again and one can only conclude that air travel in the country at the moment is unsafe. In short, terrorism has spread to the skies. We hope that is does not turn out that Lakandula is a former soldier or policeman. He obviously did not achieve his original purpose which was to hijack the plane as he ordered the pilot to return to Davao. It was only after the pilot told him that the plane did not have enough fuel that he started to rob the passengers. He could not have been very hard-pressed for money as he had enough funds to pay for a Davao to Manila ticket.
Sad to say but inter-island travel is risky. How often do we read about boats sinking because they are overloaded? And now, even air travel is getting risky. First, we had several incidents of planes crashing. And now, it seems as if air passengers are not even save from holduppers or just plain terrorists. We hope the Lakandula case is the first and last of its kind.