Blast from the past

For a victim of the supposed latest attempt on his life, Congressman Ronaldo Puno (KAMPI, Antipolo) has been unusually quiet. The Congressman was a victim of one of the four separate incidents in Metro Manila last Wednesday. Luckily, only his parked vehicle sustained some damage when a crude homemade bomb exploded in front of his house in Green Meadows, Quezon City. Even the quality of the explosive device is highly suspicious. It did not even have any shrapnel that could have otherwise inflicted injury to passers-by or caused a wider swath of damage.

The attack on Puno’s house came after the strafing by unidentified suspects of the LTA Building on Perea St. in Makati City. The family of President Arroyo’s husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo owns the building where he holds office at the 9th floor. President Arroyo’s Lakas-CMD party also has its headquarter in the same building. But it was the second floor of the building occupied by "The Firm", the Angcangco, Villarosa & Carpio law office that was most riddled with bullets and was obviously the target.

The First Gentleman deplored the attack on the LTA Building as yet another destabilization attempts against the administration of his wife coming after the successful campaign of the Philippines in the just concluded 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) and the improving performance of the country’s economy. Philippine National Police (PNP) director-general Arturo Lomibao echoed the same theory of the First Gentleman. This was because the First Gentleman served as the chief de mission of the SEAG and was credited for the successful hosting by the Philippines of the regional games where we finally clinched the overall leadership in the gold medal haul.

Except for a burst rear tire and a shallow crater wreaked by the explosive device, the incident appeared more like an acoustic display of trouble-making that got its desired effect. These incidents naturally did not just catch the attention of the police and the military authorities but it also generated the usual accusations and counter accusations among politicians.

The public in general has been alarmed by the possible renewed destabilization attempts by anti-government forces. But nothing has been heard from the Antipolo solon. What gives? This is not to wish that greater harm should have happened to Rep. Puno.

Known as a P.R. and political crisis manager, it is not surprising though that Puno is a natural target of assassination. Puno once served for a while as the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the shortened administration of former President Joseph Estrada. The later-deposed President fired him as DILG Secretary following corruption charges on the alleged overpricing of communications equipment procured for the PNP. When he was in the Estrada Cabinet, it will be recalled, his DILG office and the same house in Greenmeadows were also strafed at the height of his feud with former PNP chief and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

But the latest attack on Puno came after talk of the ex-Estrada Cabinet official reportedly wanting to make a return to the DILG. But DILG Secretary Angelo Reyes would hear none of it. Trial balloons in the media, supposedly traced from Puno’s camp, have it that Reyes was being offered the post of Philippine ambassador to Washington D.C. But the DILG Secretary is not biting the bait because he is more focused on his role as anti-crime czar and has been quite successful in dealing hard blows to syndicates from kidnap-for-ransom to carjackers and other crime gangs. Fortunately for Reyes, he hurdled the confirmation process of the Commission on Appointments (CA) and therefore is not at risk of losing his Cabinet post, unless of course he loses the trust and confidence of President Arroyo.

While I am pleasantly baffled by the silence of the House solon, I deeply appreciate the quiet ways of his elder brother, Supreme Court (SC) senior associate justice Reynato Puno amid the stepped up campaign among aspirants to succeed SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. I once covered him when he was still Justice Undersecretary during the time of former President Corazon Aquino. I think he will be a more worthy successor being like the late SC Chief Justice, Claudio Teehankee, who shunned publicity and social functions in deference to the sanctity of his office.

But going back to the issue at hand, the LTA strafing and the blasting of Puno’s parked vehicle were followed by two subsequent attacks in the cities of Paranaque and Caloocan. But none were serious enough to cause injury or heavy damage. These incidents took place after the US Embassy in Manila, acting on reported "plausible information of threat," suspended its consular services last Tuesday. That very night, the PNP placed Metro Manila under red alert.

So I can not agree more with the observations of Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, official spokesman of the New People’s Army (NPA), expressing amazement at how bold these attackers can be, carrying out these bombings while law enforcement authorities were supposedly on red alert. Nonetheless, the NPA rebels were again the "usual suspects."

What was odd though about these incidents is that the seemingly carefully laid out scare attacks had zero-casualties and no collateral damage. These incidents are very much un-NPA-like. When the smoke settled, a new right-wing shadowy group, calling themselves the "Enlightened Warriors," emerged to claim authorship of these four incidents.

Instead of our police and military authorities getting worried and alarmed by the birth of this yet another threat group, I have it from many of their senior officers that this is nothing but a petty political feud within the administration.

Politics as the motive was the same assessment echoed by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales over the weekend. Coming out in public after a long vacation, Gonzales noted these attacks were apparently not carried out by "traditional" terrorist groups. He tagged the NPA anew as the real culprits behind these incidents, supposedly upon the instance of their cohorts from the political opposition but did not name anyone in particular. I can just imagine Ka Roger chuckling while eating bananas somewhere out there.

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