Open season in the Philippines

Open season in the Philippines

SINGAPORE: The Filipino people are coping reasonably well in the aftermath of the awful string of bomb explosions last Saturday in Manila and its environs, which left 15 people dead.

There has been no noticeable deterioration in law and order in the boisterous capital, no panic flight to the safer provinces or overseas havens by those with the means to do so. Most crucially, confidence has been reinforced to some extent with the decision to send in Philippine Marines to patrol shopping malls, transport nodes and sensitive installations such as public utilities. The police and military appear to be living up to their claim that they have the security situation in hand. This could eventually count as much to perceptions of the Philippines abroad, as what its politicians on both sides of the divide are saying.

There have been suggestions by opposition ranks and some neutral observers that a climate of uncertainty is being engendered so that President Joseph Estrada could declare martial law or a state of emergency, just to extricate himself from a bad situation. He is on trial in the Senate on corruption and abuse- of-office charges.

Before the trial resumed on Tuesday after a recess of 10 days, a senator said of the bombings that it was 'a common concern of the people' that they were a precursor to something fateful that was about to happen. The mainstream media speculate that only the security establishment could have the material and organization to execute the precision blasts. Nobody can claim to know the truth, but the dark thought appears fairly widespread in Manila.

It is patently dismaying for the Philippines to have such distrust and suspicion heaped routinely on its public officials. The government blames Muslim in the south and leftist forces of the New People's Army (NPA) for the campaign of terror, as it did over the blasts at Manila shopping malls some months ago.

What is replayed again and again is a chronic cycle of accusations and counter-accusations being traded blithely between Malacanang Palace and its critics, apparently with little concern for what it could do to the country. The people are usually none the wiser, nor do they seem to care much. They have learnt, since the Marcos deception, not to expect too much of the state.

Estrada has to accept a share of the blame for the lowering of the national tone of probity. His hedonistic habits, and alleged inattention to details of state administration, have been staple fare for a people hungry for scandal as a substitute for material advancement. It would be a mercy when the trial ends. If he is cleared, he would have little excuse not to carry out the extensive poverty alleviation he has promised the provinces. His moral debt would be heavy. If he is convicted, the Philippines would at least have the assurance of a constitutionally proper transfer of office to the next person in the order of precedence.

The periodic bomb attacks are a symptom of the disdain which detractors have for the system. The police investigators have a duty to hunt down the perpetrators, not just as a law-enforcement matter but as a duty to all Filipinos. The chattering classes have reasoned that these could not be the work of the Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the NPA or other leftist organizations allied to it. The rationale is that these outfits would not harm civilians as their support is critical to their causes. But the Irish Republican Army and Basque separatists in Spain maim innocents too. It is still open season in the Philippines, and that is a worry.

-- The Straits Times/Asia News Network