Terrorism then and now

At the start of September last year, we wrote: "National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales recently warned that 10 Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah suicide bombers have been deployed to the Philippines and two of them are now in Metro Manila to launch an attack. This was after a bomb blast ripped through a passenger ferry in Basilan, leaving one dead and 30 injured. There is no doubt that terrorism is not only a serious local problem, but a world problem. When one reads of the bombings that took place in Madrid and London, one can only be thankful that so far Metro Manila has been spared."

Nothing seems to have changed. It is difficult to imagine that the terrorism problem has been what is now for more than a year and reading the front-page news yesterday is like reading last year’s news. Here is a paragraph from yesterday’s front-page news selected at random:

"A jailed union Navy officer belonging to the mutinous Magdalo group has admitted involvement in 11 recent bombing and strafing incidents in Metro Manila, Pampanga and Batangas — including one where a governor almost got killed.

"In an eight-page affidavit, Navy Lt. Junior Grade Kiram Sadava, supposedly a bomb and munitions expert, said that as a test of his loyalty to the group, he was ordered by his colleagues and a civilian linked to the group to prepare improvised explosive devices and to go on bombing missions."

It is very obvious that one of our main problems is terrorism. What makes this tragic at this time is that we already have big problems both from natural and man-made calamities. We are, of course, referring to the Mayon Volcano eruption and the oil spill in Guimaras. Ironically enough what could best clean up the Guimaras oil are at least two typhoons. One typhoon will not be able to do the job. Needless to say, the typhoons would clear the spill but cause damage to lives and property. A tsunami would spread oil spill to the surrounding waters into the islands itself. Imagine the damage it could do to the beaches.

But all in all when one reads the papers or watches television, one realizes that the Philippines is relatively lucky. Look at what happened to New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina wiped it out as a city. It took the second World War to make Manila the second most destroyed city in the world, next only to Warsaw.