EDITORIAL - Deathly silence

This great timing must be another case of divine providence. For the Arroyo administration, the killing of fugitive Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi the other day in Mindanao, three months after his daring escape from Camp Crame, couldn’t have come at a better time. Lackadaisical markets perked up. The news eclipsed Chapter 3 of opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s "Jose Pidal" exposé, which he finally delivered yesterday. Al-Ghozi’s death also came barely a week before the arrival in Manila of US President George W. Bush. Too bad his visit had already been cut short partly because of Al-Ghozi’s escape, although everyone will deny this.

Few tears will be shed for a man who had no qualms about blowing up train coaches and shopping malls to snuff out the lives of innocent people. Like other top members of Jemaah Islamiyah, Al-Ghozi never showed remorse for his role in deadly terrorist attacks in this country. There are many Filipinos who don’t mind seeing murderers like Al-Ghozi taken out of action permanently.

Still, the nation would have wanted to hear Al-Ghozi’s story. His fellow escapee, suspected Abu Sayyaf member Omar Opik Lasal, related yesterday his version of the July 14 jailbreak from the headquarters of the Philippine National Police. Lasal’s story had several inconsistencies compared with the official police version and the findings of a special panel created to investigate the escape. All the versions were consistent only on one point: that there was no police collusion in the jailbreak.

Why nitpick about such details, and why insist that Al-Ghozi should have been kept alive? Because he could have enlightened the nation about the people who helped him from the moment he waltzed out of Camp Crame to his days in hiding in Mindanao. How did he even get there? He could have shed light on allegations that he enjoyed the protection of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is set to start formal peace negotiations with the government.

With Al-Ghozi dead, the people who protected him will never be known and may never be punished. And they could be waiting for the next terrorist who can be sprung from police headquarters.