Nightshift

Just when President Arroyo is being accused of giving bribe money to local government officials, when Speaker Jose de Venecia is being hounded of resignation calls, when Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz battles for the Cyber Ed project, a powerful blast rocked Glorietta yesterday afternoon.

I was watching Eat Bulaga by that time when GMA 7 had a flash report on the explosion. 

For sure, this is an act of terrorism. Terrorists always sow terror every time the country is being hounded by political controversies. On Dec. 30, 2000, the LRT bombing killed 14 people. This was at the height of the Senate impeachment proceeding against Joseph Estrada.

It’s just pity that innocent people, who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, suffer the most. Why don’t we bomb Malacañang, or the thieves in the Congress? The most that we can do is to pray for the victims and their families and to be vigilant (as we should always be) and report to the authorities any suspicious looking people and packages.

I also wonder why, on the first place, the bombs were able to pass through the mall’s security check. Is it because when mall-goers pass through security guards, the sikyus don’t really know what they are looking for? Haven’t you notice that they have this sticks, drum sticks actually, where they go through the contents of the bags? They just do it for the sake of inspection, and for the sake of the security camera. Plus, this is Glorietta mall, which is beside the country’s high end hotels, embassies and is in the middle of the country’s financial district. What kind of security measures do they have?

Where are, by the way, the bomb-sniffing dogs who always frightens me whenever I drop by this mall?

May I suggest to our authorities for the malls to have an xray machine of consumers’ packages before going in. Too expensive and tedious, it may seem but in the end, all are winners as businesses and the mall goers are protected.

Police should also increase their visibility. Nothing hinders a terrorist from attacking other than seeing a law enforcer.

End corruption. With the admission of some officials accepting money (though this has always been the practice), people have little trust on the government. We cannot blame the Filipinos for becoming apathetic if they see that officials themselves do not care on them. The more people trust the government, the more that they will become cooperative, the more that they will be vigilant.

Intensify the fight against terrorism. Boost our soldiers’ morale by giving them more than enough compensation for fighting for the enemies of the state. Instead of giving bribes, allocate the money to soldiers who risks their lives for a measly amount of money.

Full implementation of the law. Criminals get away with the law because of the poor enforcement or lack/insufficient evidence. Give trainings on evidence gathering.

Pray. Nothing beats the power of the Higher Power.