After Bali, Zamboanga

Terrorists really seem to be concentrating on attacking places known for peace and tranquility. As we stated in our column last Thursday, Bali was the closest paradise-on-earth that we ever visited. Its closest equivalent in the Philippines is Zamboanga. And Zamboanga was the city that terrorists targeted that same Thursday. The irony is that Zamboanga was the place in Mindanao that had the ideal Christian-Muslim relations and the cult that linked them is the Virgen del Pilar, who is the patron saint of the Spanish fort in Zamboanga. It is possibly the only fort that is a holy shrine in the whole world. There, Christians and Muslims worship together. The Virgin May is mentioned more times in the Koran than in the Bible.

Now terrorists have turned their ire on Zamboanga and they chose the month of October to bomb the city because that is the month the Feast of Our Lady of Pillar is celebrated. Here is a piece on that historical occasions as written by Adolfo C. Navarro:

"October 12 is one of the most significant dates in world history as it was on this day in 1492 that Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. It is observed throughout Spain as Dia de la Hispanidad or Dia de la Raza. It is a legal holiday in most of the states of the United States, in the West Indies, and in many Latin American countries, where it is known as ‘Columbus Day’ or ‘Discovery Day.’

"Catholic Philippines observes this day as the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, known during Spanish times and up to this day in Zamboanga (the ‘Spanish City. According to the late President Elpidio Quirino, ‘transplanted under oriental skies in a region of songs and poetry’) as La Virgen de Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Zaragasa. According to legend, after Our Lady’s miraculous apparition in Zaragoza, Spain, a ‘pillar’ was said to have been left behind on the very sport where she was said to have appeared.

"In Zamboanga City, this day commemorates two different occasions, namely, the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar and the inauguration of Zamboanga as a chartered city on October 12, 1936."

The world-wide terrorism that we have today has only one purpose, to substitute fear for reason. The more unreasonable they are with the violence and damage that they inflict, the more successful the operation.

Our real concern is: Where will they strike next? What are the pre-emptive steps that we can effect to stop their operation? Terrorism has no place in any decent society.