Congress: Getting a taste of terrorism!

By now everyone knows about the bombing of the Batasan Pambansa last Tuesday evening that killed Congressman Wahab Akbar and two other people working in the House of Representatives. This is like bombing the US Capitol in Washington D.C. It certainly sends a chilling message to all Filipinos that even the House of Representatives despite their immunity from suits are not spared from the acts of terrorists. Nothing is sacred anymore!

That terrorists are still very much around doing their thing only shows that our security forces are too lax to prevent these bombings from happening. Last Oct.19 we learned of that blast that rocked Glorietta 2. Yet today, there seems to be a stalemate as to what really caused that blast. Ayala Land, Inc. insists that it was not the result of a methane buildup that triggered the blast. So what really caused it?

I have always said that Filipinos are a reactionary people, so now the security at the Batasan Pambansa will finally be strict. Filipinos too are a highly tolerant people to the point that a serious matter like this can trigger a number of text messages passed around by so many friends. Here’s just one example. “The explosion at the Philippine Congress was caused by methane gas. No need for FBI or Aussie experts to confirm it. There is no doubt about it! Aside from so much hot air, that House is so full of shit!”

Our security officials take things for granted and only become strict when something goes awry. If the attitude of our security guards, PNP personnel or the military is always in a high state of alert like their counterparts in Israel, then we can thwart these terror acts.

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We in the media are really sick and tired of the antics of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza who this time around has used or should I say misused a totally religious event to attack his critics. I couldn’t believe that Mayor Radaza used the pulpit to attack his critics at the same time, cleansing himself from any wrongdoing by telling the churchgoers that his conscience was clean. Is it really clean Mr. Mayor?

Mayor Radaza ought to read what the evangelist Luke wrote in Luke 12:2-3, “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” Mayor Radaza has been caught with his pants down, but why didn’t he defend himself when he called for his presscon? But even that, Mayor Radaza was a no-show! But someone squealed on him!

Because he had a prepared speech, no doubt this new Radaza offensive was premeditated. However it has backfired on him. There were many devotees to the Our Lady of the Rule who were visibly irked that a politician like Mayor Radaza would use that occasion to attack his enemies, even if he didn’t name any names. The Lapu-Lapu City Mayor says that he has a clear conscience, then so be it. Let the axe of justice fall upon the guilty and let’s free the innocent; after all, we are still a nation where suspected crooks are given the right to innocence until their guilt is proven.

There is no doubt that the principal target of his tirades was Mactan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Pres. Efrain Pelaez Jr. whom he called “uncivilized” for spreading lies about him. Lies you say, Mr. Mayor? Doesn’t Mayor Radaza realize that Mr. Pelaez only represents many businessmen who could not and will not come out of the open to accuse the Mayor of petty corruption? There’s an old saying that many of us in the media embrace, “When there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

For years we have seen that smoke of corruption. Suddenly, businessman Richard King became the first fire to ignite in the face of Mayor Radaza. Now it’s the turn of Mr. Pelaez. So are those accusations merely lies, which would go away when Mayor Radaza says before a multitude of churchgoers that his conscience is clear? Read again Luke 12:2-3.

Why don’t we focus on one issue only, that computer scam? The public already know that the Intel Celeron sold by Kein Enterprises cost only P17,500 complete with tables and chairs, while its Intel Pentium D cost P22,500 with tables and chairs. Yet the City of Lapu Lapu purchased this in a public bidding for P50,000 per computer sans tables and chairs. Will you please explain this to the public Mr. Mayor without resorting to lies?

Meanwhile let me say that we are frustrated, furious and indignant with the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas because until now they have remained mum about Radaza’s case. Despite all the document and evidences given on a silver platter to them, we have heard no response! When will the Ombudsman make their move? Only heaven knows!