Has the car bombing trend finally arrived here?

Just a week after that deadly blast in Cagayan de Oro City, which left  eight people dead, another blast struck Mindanao, this time in Cotabato City. It was a car bomb that killed another eight innocent people, two of them were little boys, and wounding 30 people. Car bombings are common in Pakistan or in Iraq, but not in the Philippines. Or are we seeing a new bombing trend here in the Philippines?

While authorities are still facing a black wall in the Cagayan de Oro bombing, initial reports coming from the office of Mayor Japal Guiani, Jr. of Cotabato City, says the mayor suspects the bomb was aimed to kill his sister, Atty. Cynthia Guiani Sayadi, who just passed by on board her bullet proof vehicle when the bomb exploded. Her police escorts on board a separate vehicle were among those who were killed. Incidentally, among the injured is Chief Inspector Abubakar Mangelen who is the Chief Intelligence Officer of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The incident raised questions like why did the mayor's sister have a police escort when she is only a city administrator? I thought the days of “wang-wang” were already over in this era of  daang matuwid.  Atty. Sayadi survived the bombing as she was on board a bulletproof Chevrolet. Where did she get the money to purchase such an expensive vehicle? So the final question is, was this a terror bombing or an attempted assassination?

What's happening in this country, especially in Mindanao,when supposedly the Philippine government agreed to a 75-25 percent sharing in favor with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)? This bombing incident causes a grave embarrassment to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan, Jr. who, only last Monday, was reported in The Philippine Star as saying, “Locally, we have not monitored threats, but definitely we will be on our toes to prevent any acts of terror, and to make sure that our citizenry are safe.” Of course he was referring to the US global threat that Filipinos are safe because the AFP are on their toes. Hmmmm.

While Mindanao is now in flames because of this twin bombings, however Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III has been busy meeting at the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, the second “modern” Navy vessel that used to be a US Coast Guard Hamilton Class Cutter. Why is the President not flying to Mindanao? We'll find out in the next few days.

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Is the Philippine Senate on the right path in not investigating the hottest scam that has hit the country with the P10 billion scam involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) a.k.a. pork barrel from some senators and congressmen? This was revealed by Sen. Teofisto Guingona, III chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee who made this announcement after a closed door meeting with his fellow senators.

Of course, it is easy to understand why the Senate doesn't want to investigate itself… because they are scared that it might just open up a bigger can of worms. We know too well that the pork barrel is the single biggest motivation why these senators and congressmen ran for public office in the guise of helping the poor. But at the end of the day, they end up helping themselves into their own pork barrels in the most imaginative ways so that money goes into their pockets.

We don't have to look far because in 2003, the Cebu media reported the case of then Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez of Bogo when monies from her PDAF found its way into her own bank account, then supposedly it went to the Girl Scouts of the Philippines Cebu Council, which was also under her control. But why did it have to pass her personal bank account? To date, there is an arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan against her. But it still has to be served. Apparently the Sandiganbayan warrant officers are scared to arrest her in her turf in Bogo City. So much for daang matuwid.

Meanwhile the so-called Napoles Scam which has been hugging the headlines of the national newspaper for nearly two weeks now is still under what we call a “media circus”, meaning the media has been uncovering damning evidence of the ill-gotten wealth of Janet Napoles who allegedly used fake NGOs in order to funnel the pork barrel funds of senators and congressmen into her private accounts. Although she insists that she is a legitimate businesswoman. This remains to be seen. But no case has yet been filed!

It doesn't help matters that Janet Napoles daughter Jeane has been subjected to all kinds of scrutiny by  netizens who were appalled at her luxurious lifestyle and flaunting their wealth. So we need to find out whether their wealth came from a legitimate source or were they using the pork barrel of our senators and congressmen. If so, this means the ordinary Filipino has become poor because monies supposedly for their needs have been siphoned off to the pockets of our lawmakers and Napoles. Shame!

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