Many Filipinos and those working abroad as to what happened to Congress building in Quezon City three days ago. At least, a Muslim congressman, who used to be a former Moro National Liberation Front commander during Marcos time and at the time of his death representing the province of Basilan in southern Philippines, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Far Eastern Univerisyt Hospital in Quezon City. While a driver of another opposition congressman and a legislative staff were killed, too.
I was covering Congress as one of my beats during my active years as a journalist. I knew that security, which is provided by the Philippine Marines, is very strict at the entrance gate of the Batasan Pambansa building. If I remember it correctly, the only reason why mediamen could have easy access to the building is because most of them are accredited by the House’s Media Office. This is not to mention the press cards that are being issued by the Office of the Press Secretary. One of these is the International Press Card, which must be worn at all times when covering media events and coverages.
Once this is worn, security personnel would be less suspicious and eventually allow mediamen to come in. But I couldn’t reconcile to myself how on earth a civilian riding on a motorcycle could be allowed to get in, without even checking if he had brought an explosive inside the premises of Congress. At least, if there was a sniffing dog present, perhaps, the incident could be prevented because the animal would be able to detect something unusual in the motorcycle. Perhaps, it is about time that the security personnel at the gate should use their instincts when doing their job because of the sensitivity of the issues being tackled right now in the halls of Congress.
Now, reports are circulating that Cong. Wahab Akbar was the target because he had been allegedly instrumental in the arrests of some Abu Sayyaf members in Basilan. Or it could be, too, to scare the hell out of the legislators, particularly those who are espousing for the impeachment of the president.. Which ever reason, it should be a cause for alarm for those concerned. Everybody hopes this is a prelude to the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines.