NSA Gonzales drops another bombshell: Cebu now new terrorist target

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales yesterday warned that the rapid development Cebu is experiencing now makes it loom large as a potential terrorist target.

Gonzales, who was in Cebu to organize a multi-pronged legal initiative against communist insurgents, issued the warning just 11 days after police appeared to have foiled what it claimed was an attempt to bomb the SM City Cebu mall.

"The sad reality is that Cebu has now become a terrorist target because it is booming, " Gonzales said.

The statement quickly drew an angry reaction from Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama who felt it was reckless of the national security adviser to go public with his assessment.

Rama, who tended to agree with the assessment, nevertheless said he was dismayed that Gonzales issued such an alarming statement to the public.

"It would have been better if it was not said in public but kept confidential," Rama told The Freeman when sought for comment.

"The statement gives the impression that Cebu is no longer safe. What are they trying to impress? If Cebu is now attractive to terrorists, shall we then say don't go to Cebu because it is no longer safe?," said Rama, who is acting mayor in the absence of Mayor Tomas Osmeña who is in Kaohsiung on an official trip.

Gonzales, along with the equally voluble Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales, has become the object of increasing public criticism for making public statements that others would consider reckless or imprudent.

The national security adviser, who recently stirred up a storm over another statement in which he gave alleged details of an assassination plot against the president, said the foiled plot to bomb the SM mall in Cebu underscores the reality Cebu has to face in this age of terrorism.

He said he was happy that the police managed to foil the planned attack.

Last May 11, a box containing an explosive device was left at one of the entrances to SM City Cebu. An alert citizen called the attention of mall guards who promptly notified the police. As bomb experts disabled the bomb, two Muslim men were accosted by a team of policemen a short distance from the mall but fired as they were approached. In the ensuing shootout, the two men were killed.

Laboratory tests later showed handprints from one of the men were found on the undetonated explosives.



Gonzales said the booming economy of Cebu makes it an attractive target for terrorists who want to maximize the effects of their attacks.

The Philippines suffered its worst terrorist attack when a bomb planted by the Abu Sayyaf Islamic terrorist group exploded on board a ferry just out of Manila Bay in 2004, killing about 130 passengers. In December of the same year, a bomb exploded in a crowded market in General Santos City, killing 17 people.

The so-called Valentines Day series of bombings on February 14, 2003 was, on the other hand, the most notorious, leaving seven people dead and scores injured as three blasts rocked different places in the country.

The first explosion was in General Santos City where three people were killed and 39 wounded. A second bomb exploded at a bus terminal in Davao City where a two-year-old boy was killed on the spot and five were hurt. The third bomb ripped through busy EDSA in Makati City, exploding just below a train station near the Intercontinental Hotel, killing three and injuring 74.

The Rizal Day bombing of the LRT in Manila on December 30, 2000 left 12 people killed and 19 wounded.

During his Cebu visit, Gonzales organized a local chapter of the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group which he also heads. The group is composed of the AFP, the PNP and the NBI and is tasked with initiating legal initiatives against communists and terrorists.