We have just been hit!

Four dead, 14 wounded. Someone’s sending a message. Now guess who and for whom?

While Gen. Nic Bartolome has declared that the PNP will be deliberate in investigating yesterday’s EDSA bus bombing, we can all assume that people in Metro Manila will be spending the next few days talking or speculating about who are behind the bombing and why.

Obviously the explosion was not from a leftover firecracker and the bombers apparently had every intention to kill, injure and cause fear. Judging from the choice of location and target, the bomber or bombers focused on the office-type commuting middle class.

The attackers clearly wanted to send shock waves across the upper and lower class. What worries me is if this incident is a ploy to drive more commuters to the mass transit system and build up a bigger population to hit. They don’t have to, and probably couldn’t plant a bomb inside the facilities, but just targeting the stairwells and access points would create the same results.

Before we even go into the why’s and wherefore’s, it might be well worth the effort to remind people in government and media that “We have just been hit”. Remember all the travel advisories and terror alerts that some people in government and media were whining about and actively discrediting? Well, there you are; we got hit where we did not expect it.

While everybody was expecting a repeat of the Glorietta or Bali bombing, yesterday’s bombers hit the belly of society in an air-con bus full of upper working class people. To be honest, no one really thinks of buses as serious targets because the leaders of society don’t ride buses. A handful might take the MRT but not buses.

So yesterday, bombing victims got hit because buses don’t fall into the profile of concern based on the lifestyle of the rich and affluent leaders of society and the target choices of terrorists.

At this rate, one has to wonder – is it still safe to have buses considering the statistical probability that a bus will either ram you, run you over, poison the air you breathe or a passenger leaves a bomb undetected and kills or maims everyone left behind?

* * *

The initial and popular reaction to the bombing is to presume that it is the handiwork of fundamentalist terrorists. Given the history of an international advance warning from developed countries, that would seem logical.

However, if viewed in current context, history and politics, one could easily have a sense of Déjà vu or history repeating itself.

What I am about to share is completely my personal observation and presumption. I do not claim to have access to P-Noy’s inner circle nor do I have the supposed sophistication of other political analysts or experts.

In other words I call it as I see it and what I’ve been seeing is that P-Noy has increasingly come across as PRO “leftist”.

From the appointment of leftists as Cabinet members, the release of the Morong 43, the appointment of former “leftists” as peace negotiators, appointment of “leftists” in various bureaus or commissions, ceasefire with the CPP-NPA that left more than a handful of government soldiers dead in an ambush, and yesterday’s announcement that a left leaning leader will be the presidential political adviser with the possible rank of Cabinet Secretary.

Of course, it goes without mention that some people in the military may not say anything about it, but those who toed the line, fought in the field of battle may also have something to say about the extra effort that P-Noy and his people put into pushing for the amnesty of rebel soldiers.

I might add that on top of all of these, while the President was busy declaring salary increases for the AFP; his Secretary of Finance was gung-ho announcing the administration’s intentions of selling the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police.

George Santayana, the Spanish philosopher and poet warned us that, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

It was eerie to say the least that yesterday’s bombing happened right after or around the same time that former Cabinet members of President Cory Aquino were in Malacañang remembering and hosting a testimonial with the son of their former boss.

Perhaps I’m speculating too much, but in a prophetic sense, it may be wise on the part of the President to retrace his steps and to ask others to avoid giving the wrong impressions or in order to correct any misimpressions.

At the very least, let us correct certain things and admit certain things. We got hit yesterday in spite of the warnings. The target was not on our radar because of administrative or social bias. We got the message. Now, let us get the sender.

* * *

Yesterday, when Malacañang got word about a violent eviction-dispersal going on in San Juan, it was reported that P-Noy called Mayor Guia Gomez to explain.

That story certainly came across as meddling on the part of Malacañang. What made the situation worse is that Malacañang once again took the side of VIOLENT SQUATTERS who use force and weapons and physically attack government personnel and law enforcers.

It is about time that we repeal any and all laws giving compensation, benefits or relocation to squatters who use violence or resist legal directives to relocate. As for the people in Malacañang, stop politicking at other people’s expense and injury. If you can’t be part of the solution, don’t be part of the problem.