Iraqi style car bombing has reached Phl!

Maguindanao Gov. Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu was nearly killed in a car bomb blast along the route that the Maguindanao Governor passed in Tacurong City. But it killed two people, one of them a tricycle driver and the other, Datu Rusman Sinsuat, Sr. an ARMM Board Member. In my recollection, this is the first car bomb of this kind ever to be used in the Philippines. This kind of car bombing has been used in Iraq for many years now; finally it has reached Philippine shores. I hope it will not spread here.

The car used was a white Kia Pride (MDJ-274) registered under a Ms. Maureen Macasindil. I’m sure that someone purchased this old Korean car for this nefarious purpose. The bomb used is called an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which could be anything from a plastic explosive or even a mortar or cannon shell. From the way the TV news reported it, it is possible that the person who triggered the IED was in the area to ensure that the bomb would explode when Gov. Magundadatu passes by.

There is no doubt that someone wants so badly to kill Gov. Mangudadatu. He was the original target for assassination last Nov.23, 2009 in Maguindanao Province when the infamous Maguindanao Massacre was done, killing Mangudadatu’s wife and family members, including 54 members of the media by principal suspect Zaldy Ampatuan. I would like to believe that the Ampatuans should also be a suspect in this assassination attempt on the ARMM Governor.

This incident brings to mind once more the need to rid Mindanao of armed groups, whether they call themselves Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) or Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) or New People’s Army (NPA). Right now, Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III is talking with the MILF, but then the MNLF isn’t happy about this situation, which is why there was a recent skirmish between these groups. While waiting for peace talks to be finalized, Pres. PNoy should work feverishly to disband or at least disarm those armed groups roaming in Mindanao.

* * *

The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is again in the headlines because of their new vehicle-tagging scheme in their desperate effort to enforce traffic rules in the nation’s capital. At least the MMDA is doing all it can to impose huge penalties against traffic violators in the hope that these motorists would follow traffic rules.

Here in Cebu City, we haven’t heard a peep what the Cebu City Traffic Operations & Management (CITOM) is doing to stop traffic violators. Take a look at the area along the Banilad-Talamban corridor and you will see taxis making illegal U-turns anywhere they like. In the evening, it is easy to spot those jeepneys that do not turn on their lights. This is the pet peeve of my good friend US Honorary Consul John Domingo, who complained about this a year ago in our Rotary meeting and still this issue has not yet been properly addressed.

What about illegally parked vehicles? A couple of weeks ago, the Mayor of Lithuania’s Capital City of Vilnius, Mayor Arturas Zuokas, who was already fed up with illegally parked vehicles, warned those violators that he would run them down. The next day, he used an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) and literally run over an illegally parked vehicle. The photos of his action were spread by the BBC, as it is not everyday that a city Mayor would go to such extreme to stop illegally parked vehicles. After flattening the illegally parked Mercedes Benz, it was towed away.

Please don’t get me wrong! We’re not asking Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama or Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to follow Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas’ example. But they must crack the whip on their respective traffic managers to do more than what they are doing today because traffic is getting worse.

When he first became Mandaue City Mayor, I already emphasized to Mayor Jonas Cortes the utmost importance of widening H. Cortes Ave., as it is a major road network that slices into the middle of Mandaue City. We know that Mayor Cortes supported Pres. PNoy. He is now on the second year of his second term and it is time for him to ponder and ask himself… what has he really done for the City of Mandaue in terms of road infrastructure? He must use his Aquino connections now, otherwise, by the 2013 elections; someone else would grab the mayorship from his hands.

Meanwhile, I would like to impress upon our CITOM officials and the Cebu City Council that Cebu City is no longer the same as it used to be. We are now a 24/7 city thanks to the I.T. Industry. Yet we still have the same number of CITOM enforcers during my time. We need traffic enforcers for night duty and they should have done that yesterday.

* * *

Email: [email protected]