Bombs

Yesterday morning, two bombs were set off at the JW Marriot and the neighboring Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta. In the first sketchy reports about the incident, six have been confirmed killed and about 40 injured people have been rushed to hospitals.

The bombs were apparently brought into the hotels by suicide bombers. How they were able to penetrate the hotels’ security perimeters is still being investigated. What is clear, considering the bomb at the Ritz-Carlton was detonated at the ground floor restaurant, is that the attack intended to take maximum casualties.

In many similar attacks conducted elsewhere, presumably by Islamist radicals, US-branded hotels were usual targets. This is true for the attacks in Amman, Islamabad, Bali and in Jakarta itself. The Jakarta Marriot was attacked once before. The intention here is to create as many foreign casualties as possible.

The immediate — and the usual — suspects for this latest attack are the members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network. They have the know-how to make powerful improvised explosive devices (IEDs) similar to those used yesterday. They have the base of fanatical converts willing to undertake suicide missions. They peddle the bizarre jihadist ideology that justifies such attacks.

After the two bloody attacks on Bali and similar bombing runs in other parts of the country, the Indonesian government pursued a vigorous campaign to dismantle the JI network in that country. That campaign was so intense some of the most notorious bomb-makers were forced to flee the country. One of those, Dulmatin, sought sanctuary in Mindanao and was subsequently killed in combat. Another unnamed JI militant was supposed to have been killed in Sulu a few weeks ago in the course of military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf.

Until yesterday’s attacks happened, it was presumed that the Indonesian branch of the JI has been effectively scuttled. Critics of Jakarta’s anti-terror strategy, however, point out that the Indonesian government has been reluctant to go after militant clergymen and fundamentalist religious schools. Because of that, radicals continue to reproduce and it was only a matter of time that terror networks are revived.

If it is indeed the Al Qaeda-linked JI that is responsible for yesterday’s attacks in Jakarta, then there is reason for the whole region to be very concerned. JI operatives are active throughout Southeast Asia, in Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

It is almost futile to try and establish a rational framework for explaining the irrational deeds of terrorists. But within the skewed framework of groups such as the JI, a bombing run in Southeast Asia could be understood as a means to offset the intense military pressure being brought to bear by allied western forces on remnants of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The spike in bombing incidents in Mindanao could be linked to such a regional strategy.

Note that only last week there was great alarm over reports that terrorist operatives appear to have slipped into the Metro Manila area. This happened after several bombs were detonated in a number of cities in western Mindanao.

I was deeply disturbed last week when politicians from the opposition tried to frame the bombings that happened in Mindanao and interpret these events as being part of some ploy to justify the imposition of martial law. They were vainly trying to interpret everything along their narrow partisan framework. In the process, they court the danger of understating the threat posed by terrorism and impairing government’s political capacity to meet those threats.

I wanted to write a piece condemning this irresponsible and opportunist attitude among the politicians of the opposition. But I feared doing so because, once more, my comments will be unfairly caricatured as an apology for the present administration.

After yesterday’s events in Jakarta, however, what I had long wanted to say may now be more credibly said. The jihadist threat to our region and our own country is as real as ever. The recent bombings in Mindanao are symptoms of that threat rising. Every security precaution must now be taken, despite the inane partisan chatter that now clutters our public discourse.

The Manila area has been attacked by terrorists many times before. I hope that the partisan chatter that interprets everything accordingly will not make us a softer target than we already are.

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As politely as I can, I routinely turn down requests from friends to devote some space in this already tight column for announcements they want to make. But I will make an exception today for two friends who, despite their hectic lives in the corporate world, devote some of their time to help in the uplift of Philippine education.

Guido Delgado wishes to announce that the 31st founding anniversary of the College of Economics and Management, UP Los Baños, has been moved to the Valle Verde Club House. The event will start at 6 p.m. on July 24 and will feature a talk by UP President Emerlinda Roman on “Charting New Directions under the New UP Charter.” Guido is the incoming president of the CEMAA.

Joey Leviste, for his part, wishes to announce that the search is on for Philippine representatives to the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) World Cup to be held in Berlin next October. SIFE is now present in about 40 Philippine universities and organizes outreach programs where business students help communities by teaching the principles of market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, environmental sustainability and business ethics.

Those who will represent the Philippines in this “world cup” will be chosen on the basis of audiovisual documentation of their community projects, emphasizing innovative ideas in entrepreneurship and corporate responsibility for the environment. SIFE here is supported by, among others, the Development Bank of the Philippines.