The Ninoy Aquino International Airport has been placed on full alert and the United States embassy has warned its citizens against going to Palawan province. Apparently, intelligence reports said terrorists are likely to kidnap tourists vacationing in popular resorts. A security expert has said the twin blasts in Quiapo over the weekend had the markings of a terror attack and may in fact be a test run for bigger attacks. IS has claimed responsibility for them.
If these are not enough to change the minds of the police, we don’t know what will.
Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa has apologized for the Quiapo blasts which killed two and injured six over the weekend. He conceded a failure in intelligence. He insists, however, that a Muslim cleric was the target of the explosion—perhaps for his religious affiliation, or his job as a tax official.
The PNP chief also denied the May 6 blasts were related to another Manila explosion on April 28, which injured 14. A suspect in this explosion has been arrested. These were isolated cases likely arising from personal grudges, Dela Rosa said. “Nagkataon lang [it was just a coincidence].”
The Western Command of the Armed Forces, for its part, seemed inclined to dismiss the embassy warnings, insisting that Palawan remains safe for locals and foreigners alike even as it said it remained on heightened alert.
In fact, the Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla said the purported IS claims are mere propaganda and the people should not dignify these reports.
The apparent lack of interest of both the police and military in pursuing terror leads is disheartening and confounding, especially in an administration that prides itself in making law and order—the security of citizens—a priority.
No less than former police chief and now Senator Panfilo Lacson has advised both the AFP and the PNP to take the warnings seriously.
We understand that authorities do not want to unnecessarily vex the population. We are already weighed down by the daily struggles of eking out a living, surviving amid inadequate infrastructure, and worrying about whether the drug war is not in fact a war against those who cannot defend themselves.
We also do not want to scare away tourists and investors, both of whom our officials are desperately trying to convince that the Philippines is a good place to go to for business or leisure, or both.
But it does not serve to tell the public that nothing is wrong when something clearly is. Nothing is wrong when there are no explosions, no terror claims, or no adverse advisories. But now even the United Kingdom and Canada have issued a similar warning to their citizens.
That authorities are playing down the possibility of a larger attack in the future may be giving us a false sense of security. It pays to be vigilant even as we are not cowed. It is good to tell the enemy we know what they are up to, and we are taking steps to make sure their plans do not progress.
Absent this honest assessment, our officials may be one of these things. They could be in denial. They could be naive.
Or they could be lying.