We must be vigilant against terrorism!

The reign of terror continues to plague the world. This time it struck Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in India where seven train stations were simultaneously bombed killing as of last count some 175 people with scores more wounded. This happened just a week after the 1st anniversary of the London train bombings. There is no doubt that this was a very well coordinated attack. But as of press time, there has been no one who claimed as the mastermind of this savage attack.

This incident tells everyone here to always be vigilant especially that we in Cebu are playing host to the ASEAN Summit. Just a few days ago, a potential terrorist plot was thwarted in New York's Holland that links Manhattan Island to New Jersey. Whether that was an Al Qaida plot, we have yet to find out. Another potential terror threat comes from the missile firing by North Korea, which naturally scares the Japanese who demanded sanctions from the United Nations (UN) Security Council. But as usual, China continues to support its belligerent Communist neighbor. Perhaps it is time for the UN to teach China a lesson that it cannot continue helping North Korea who continues to rattle its sword to the world. We know too well that North Korea continues to do so because it has the backing of China.

Back here at home, I'm pretty certain that Al Qaida through its Indonesian arm the Jemah Islamiya would try to disrupt the ASEAN Summit, which is why the Philippine government ought to do more than just the usual cursory security preparations. Perhaps the best way to thwart this terror threat would be to offer a P200T reward to anyone who would report a potential terrorist and if the report is true then the reward can be given. This way, people especially in our shanty communities would surely keep their eyes open to something out of the ordinary.

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Perhaps the only real terror threat that Cebu faces today comes from our homegrown Communists and its armed wing the New People's Army. As we gathered from news reports, there are less than 50 armed NPA regulars in the entire Province of Cebu. Perhaps a more imminent threat comes from the dreaded Sparrow Unit who accordingly has been reactivated.

But then last June 2, Governor Gwen Garcia issued her most unexpected call for an all-out war against the Communists! This would be the first time that a Cebu governor or a head of local government unit (LGU) makes such a call... and it comes from a woman at that! But the Governor's call couldn't have come at the right moment. For too long, the NPAs have been pillaging the countryside, winning minor victories by raiding police outposts and Globe Telecom cellsites.

Until Gov. Gwen Garcia issued her call, no one cared to come up with a focused attempt to finally put an end to the Communist threat. Everyone thought that fighting the Communist meant doing so with kid's gloves, which is why this insurgency lasted for more than 30 years. Two weeks after her call, no less than Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) issued her own call for an all-out war against the Communists. Now the NPAs can no longer relax and take their sweet time to attack innocent civilians.

A week ago, we wrote a column asking the President and of consequently Gov. Garcia for a blueprint of this all-out war. Last Friday, during a lull in the joint RDC/Cabinet at the Malacañang sa Sugbo, I had a one-on-one talk with the President and impressed upon her this message... that we must know when this war is over, otherwise we would end up like the Americans in Iraq looking for a way out of the hole they dug themselves into. The President assured me that this was being done. At the same time, I told her that the morale of the military establishment (of course, we refer to those who are not trying to overthrow the government) is on an all-time high with her call to finish the Communist insurgency.

I also had a long talk with Gov. Gwen Garcia a few days ago specifically on her own blueprint to fight Communism. We're not printing this blueprint so as not to telegraph to the Communists the Governor's strategy to win this war. Suffice it to say that the military would take care of the aspect in fighting the NPA through arms, while the Province of Cebu would go to great lengths to ensure that once Communist-influenced barangays would completely understand and realize how wrong they are to support the Communist insurgency.

More importantly, the Governor wants to install Citizen's Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGU) in those barangays to ensure that the NPAs can no longer find a friendly haven for them to operate. From the way the Governor described to me her plan, it sounds very workable. So the only thing left to do is weed out those Sparrows hiding in our urban centers. The best way to do it is to give rewards to those who would report them.

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