The bomb rocked Jakarta – but the party went on!

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The car bomb went off yesterday at about 10:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m., Philippine time) just as we were concluding a breakfast meeting in the Horizon Lounge (which overlooks the city) of the Shangri-La Jakarta Hotel.

BOOM. The explosion – more powerful than the one which shredded the facade of the J.W. Marriott Hotel here last year and the Bali bombs in Kuta Beach, Bali, on October 12, 2002 and killed 200 – ripped through the steel-barred wall of the Australian Embassy and shattered the building fronts and windows of seven adjacent and nearby buildings on Plaza Kuningan, which literally means "chrome-plated square," the Indonesian capital’s Embassy Row.

Although the blast was tremendous, only eight thus far are "confirmed" dead – four of them Indonesians, apparently.

No mention has been made of any Australians or other expats killed, or injured. The casualties consisted mainly of 160 persons injured, who were rushed to the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC Rumah Sakit) some 600 meters down the street! Doctors and nurses worked busily all day on the third and fourth floors of the suddenly overwhelmed facility.

It’s to the credit of the Indonesians that within minutes of the explosion, there were 15 ambulances on the scene of carnage – but, after all, the hospital was nearby.

The police, too, were quickly on the scene, trying to push back the hundreds of curious and startled people who flocked to the site. No blame has yet been assigned but I’ll bet Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda will be "identified" (it has the fingerprints of the Bali-Marriott attacks).

If the terrorists had the same cunning minds of the Viet Cong, they’d have buried a second bomb near the site, then triggered it off – creating hundreds or more fatalities and casualties. But please don’t blame this old Vietnam War hand for giving them ideas. It is already in the Terrorists’ Handbook.

Why are the Australians apparently being targeted so vehemently? If you’ll recall, the Bali bombs were detonated on Kuta Beach which is the favorite haunt of the scores of thousands of Aussie tourists and holidaymakers who planed in almost daily on jets from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. (Of the 200 who perished in that nite club, 88 percent were Australians, among Brits and other ex-pats, plus some Indonesian revelers and cab drivers.)

In yesterday morning’s attack, described by the police as a "car bomb" (no more details as yet available), the Aussie Embassy was the terrorists’ destination, although it might also have been aimed, in part, at the US Freeport Oil Company building which stands next door. The surrounding high-rises – seven of them – were also partially mangled, windows shattered, fronts rubbished like the Plaza 89, the Winner building, etc. The blast shook windows as far as ten kilometers away. Most of the casualties, though, were either passersby or a few working in nearby buildings, hurt by flying glass and shrapnel. A motorbike rider was badly mangled, two security guards hit. There’s no word whether visa applicants, who usually lined up – but inside the embassy’s walls – were wounded as well.

Our Philippine Embassy here, thus far, according to the Embassy’s Jun Dilem (Ambassador Shulan O. Primavera, our former Ambassador to Cairo, with whom we had dinner Wednesday night is our envoy here), has found no Filipino casualties or any of our countrymen or women even near the explosion site. Hope this continues to hold true.

To give you an idea of the area, the Malaysian and Japanese Embassies are just down the street, plus large business complexes like that of Indo-Foods (out of the danger zone, though).

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President Megawatti Sukarnoputri, who was in Brunei attending the wedding of Crown Prince Al Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, to "Commoner" Sarah Salleh, 17 (together with our GMA and First Gent Mike Arroyo), rushed back from Bandar Seri Begawan. Her private jet landed at Halim Airbase at 3:30 p.m., and she rushed to the "bomb" site, then to the MMC Center to commiserate with the wounded and their families.

Her challenger in the coming September 20 "run-off" elections, former Interior Security Minister (General) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (known as "SBY"), was on the scene earlier, of course, and visited MMC Center, too. That’s politics – Indonesian-style is quite akin to Pinoy-style.

SBY or Bambang, the Democrat Party bet, is reputedly ahead of "Mega" (as they call Megawati, a daughter of the legendary Founding Father, the late President Sukarno) – but don’t forget. Mega has the support of the Golkar Party (which switched to her after their bet, General Witanto, lost the first round) and the equity of the incumbent. Who knows, she might yet win – with a little advice from somebody in our Comelec.

The police have been combing the district and most of Jakarta since this morning, hunting down any suspects. Those near the blast area were frisked, and told to produce their KARTU PENDUDUK (identity cards). Police checkpoints are now stopping people at random to inspect their I.D.’s, officially issued. This would give the cops needed information – for instance, whether those buttonholed actually live and work in or near Jakarta – or whether they come from far away (particularly East Java where the JI is strongest, and most of the Islamic militants from the Pesantren and radical religious schools are located). This area lies between Surabaya, Malang, Jembel and Banyuwangi.

I think it’s time – instead of opposing it – we had a National Identity Card for every Filipino. This is essential for our national security, as well as to fight crime. Only troublemakers, radicals, and you-know-what are afraid to have their identities established. C’mon. What happened if the next terrorist assault is in Manila?

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What’s interesting is that, just after the explosion which tore up the vicinity of the Kedubes Australia (Australian Embassy), it was "business as usual" all over the city. The boulevards and roads were clogged with traffic. The vendors were on the street, the shoppers in the malls, the businessmen doing their rounds and meetings. Aside from a three-kilometer square "cordon sanitaire" roped off by the police and military around the devastated zone, everyday life – and even the partying – went on.

I spoke with former Finance Minister Soedibyo, now a professor of Business, Business Environment, and Economics at the University, and he shrugged: "The stock markets, as might be expected, plunged today, but they will bounce back very shortly."

He explained: "We’re used to these attacks, as well as riots in our city and elsewhere in Indonesia." He pointed out, on the other hand, that the bomb-attack on the Australian embassy and the diplomatic/business district seemed to have been a well-planned operation.

Without a break in stride though, candidate SBY (Bambang) went through with his birthday celebration in the stately old Hilton – in the Lagoon wing. We were there as guests when Bambang breezed in, tall (about 5 feet 9, I guess), in a royal blue Batik shirt – exuding confidence, charm and charisma.

He shook hands, then posed for cartoonists who were drawing his portrait (to be auctioned off, I suppose, for election expenses). All over the rooms were large photos of SBY in action – praying, shaking hands with old couples, plying the market like "Mr. Palengke", bouncing all over. Each portrait is being "sold" for either Rupiahs 25 million (P160,000), with the lesser ones going for Rupiahs 9 million – the equivalent of US$1,000 or P56,000. Just like those $1,000-a-plate fund-raising dinners they give for American Presidential candidates. Anyway, it was his 55th birthday, and everybody present wanted a photo with, possibly, "the next President".

But Megawati ain’t to be ruled out – yet. Remember GMA and FPJ. Draw your own conclusion.