France became the 6th country in the world to issue a travel advisory to its citizens about the risk of terror attack in the Philippines. These series of alerts and advisories came in span of just about a week after the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand issued theirs for their citizens who might have plans of travelling the country. “Risk of terrorist attack exists on the entire territory of the Philippines, particularly in urban areas (airports, shopping centers, places of worship, hotels and places frequented by foreigners, etc.)," said an English translation of the recent France travel advisory.
In a live interview last night over at ABS-CBN, the Philippine President, Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III maintained that there is no adequate basis to the travel advisories that have been issued by the six countries. Aquino said reports on possible terror threats in the country were "blown out of proportion" because the travel advisories were likely based on "raw" data that still had to be validated. He also maintained that the supposed threat against two ambassadors and certain security officials was not consistent with the actions of the terror group from which the threat supposedly comes from.
Granting that the supposed terror attack is verified, more than the denials and the downplaying of news to calm tourists and citizens, the more valid question should be; Is the country ready for a major terror attack? I don’t care if the terror plot pushes through or not, as an ordinary citizen, I am more concerned on the level of readiness of our government. The magnitude of trainings our police and military forces have in this kind of pre and post scenario and the degree of armaments our Department of Defense has in its possession to uphold the sovereignty, support the Constitution and defend the territory of the Republic of the Philippines against all enemies, foreign and domestic; promote and advance the national aims, interests and policies; and plan, organize, maintain, develop and deploy its regular and citizen reserve forces for national security.
There’s an interesting twist in the series of travel advisories against the country allegedly caused by an impending terror attack. Truth is, if you have been residing in the Philippines for the past several decades now, terror attacks (or its equivalent in economics and extent of destructive powers) have been quietly and masterfully orchestrated by our friends in government. When GMA and her crony of greedy politicians attempted to rig the ZTE Broadband deal that could have virtually given all Filipinos access to real time information, they have, so to speak terrorized the country.
Terrorism is defined as the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. The United Nations Secretary General described terrorism as any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.” When Joc Joc Bolante (and his cohorts) diverted millions of fertilizers funds intended for the farmers back in 2004 to ensure victory of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, they have caused not just death but famine in the country side.
Terror and terror attacks is an everyday thing in the Philippines. We might have been so used to it that we haven’t really minded it has been happening all along. Not even our Armed Forces, the civilian augmentation forces and the courts have stopped it from happening. Early this year, the entire archipelago was rocked by the Ampatuan Political Strategy of killing innocent civilians to get perpetual hold of their political powers, which is a classic example of a terrorist attack done not by foreign terrorist but by Filipinos to their own race. Is there anything more cruel than that? Is there anything more terrorizing than the Ampatuans and the Arroyos? But then they got elected (and re-elected) in power!
Terrorism is an institution in the Philippines tasked to legislate, arbitrate and execute law and orders. We see terrorist everyday in their dazzling coat and tie fashion for their regular media appearances. Only a handful of those in power today can really be called leaders, legislators, judges, police officers and executives. The rest are terrorists in their Armani suits and Ferragamo shoes. Why be surprised and why deny such plot? The most difficult thing to admit in a democratic world is finding out that the enemies (terrorist) are within us.
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