Batasan blast – what’s this?
JDV was uncharacteristically too quick to point the accusing finger to terrorists or anarchists right after a bomb that exploded at the South Wing Entrance of the Batasan killed three, badly wounded other individuals, destroyed cars and government property.
GMA, on the other hand, appeared on national TV to caution against those spreading unverified claims as to who the culprit is to this rather bastard act of cowardice as she promised to go at the bottom of things on this incident.
DILG chief likewise theorized, albeit prematurely, that the blast was directed to Congressman Akbar as some weeks before this incident, there had been intelligence reports of an assassination plot. If it were something known to the DILG chief beforehand, had there been enough precautionary measures taken as would have precluded this bomb explosion right at the home-front?
PNP chief claimed to have known the owners of the two-motorcycles that were suspected as the bomb carriers, parked as they were near the casualties’ cars. The post-blast operatives appear rather too slow to make public its findings on what kind of explosive materials may have set off this tragic blast.
Against this backdrop, one might ask – what is happening to this country, Madame President? Is this not part of a larger scenario that would set the stage for a military regime? Could this not be the work of media genius to deflect public attention from the more mundane societal issues to the less?
Tri-media (TV, radio, print, electronic), as usual, now train their focus on this event as though the recent Glorietta bombing and the fatal vehicular accident that killed Atty. Saguisag’s wife have now become less of media value. The Congress’ payola, more importantly, has been hidden from public view. This turn-to-to-the-next-page practice in news reportage is really beyond comprehension.
Batasan blast and that of Glorietta really share a lot in common. In both, the cause of the explosion is not known till now. The perpetrators, likewise, are yet to be identified. The extent of possible damage of such explosions is basically the same – more casualties with more people, less with less. Versions, coming from independent sources, conflict with one another.
A viewing universe is at a lost – awaits only the more official theory on all these. Is there an emerging pattern of more explosions that would kill or harm target personalities, inflict death or injury to innocent people, create damage to private or public properties, sow chaos, intrigue, and all that? Are there paid mercenaries to pull al these tricks from their dirty departments?
Come to think of it, the blast inside the very premises of the Batasan Complex is not one that could normally be undertaken without being nipped in the bud. And this one, escaped notice. What is this? Even veteran coup plotters are not about the group that can launch such kind of an attack – right at the heart of Batasan. How then did it happen?
The assassination theory is a self-contradictory claim given that the radius of possible damage the explosion would cause is illogically too large. It is shotgun approach – and as such, could not have been directed toward a particular target. The theory of motorcycle bombs is an untenable one even highly stupid given that motorcycle riders are vulnerable to checkpoints. To blame the “tiangge” is another scapegoat to provide alibi for a possible serious security lapse.
In the higher scheme of things, it just might be a political statement. It takes away from our collective consciousness the otherwise fresh but issues of overriding importance at this point in time. The move on whether to unseat JDV for some indicative involvement in the issue of payola shall be automatically shelved for now. The equally pressing move to push the impeachment case against GMA will have to placed in the back burner in favor of what is neatly and skillfully projected as a better option given this series of explosions.
How indeed the Batasan blast was caused by motorcycle bombs when there were no footages at all of a single motorcycle torn into pieces? Why did the PNP remove all the fallen debris, flashed down with water nearly everything that should have been preserved as crucial evidence? The assassin would again be a fall guy just to close this page in history, pray tell.
PRIMER C. PAGUNURAN
Meralco Village, Angono, Rizal