The presence of Abu Sayyaf bandits in Cebu City and Dumaguete City, while alarming in itself, should not be cause for residents to be overly worked up or render them in a catatonic state of panic that would paralyze their movements and schedules.
At the very least, the report received by the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) from their counterparts in Zamboanga City should serve as a heads-up and a call for action on Cebu’s community to mobilize support for monitoring and assistance to police and other law enforcement agencies in order to facilitate the terrorists’ immediate arrest and detention should they have nefarious plans set in motion in the province.
Supt. Julian Entoma, chief of the PRO-7’s Regional Intelligence Division, said the five Abu Sayaf bandits who included a certain Alhabsi Misaya plan to kidnap prominent personalities as well as bomb certain commercial establishments either in Cebu, Dumaguete City or some other place in Central Visayas.
Metro Cebu and Dumaguete City are attractive targets for these bandits if only to make themselves appear as still formidable threats to the country’s security which they demonstrated with that Davao City night market bombing last month.
Lest we forget the holiday season is upon us and amid the frenzy for last-minute shopping and revelry, criminal elements including the Abu Sayyaf are merely waiting for the right opportunity for them to strike when least expected.
Such is the nature of these bandits who thrive on kidnapping to sustain their existence long after they’ve been denounced by law-abiding Muslim citizens as a bane not only to their relations with fellow Filipinos but a disgrace to their faith.
That said, their capacity for inflicting mayhem and wanton destruction shouldn’t be underestimated regardless of their meager number when compared to the entirety of the country’s military and law enforcement agencies.
It’s precisely their meager number and recent tie-up with the radical militant Isis that make them especially dangerous and enable them to blend in with the crowd.
There is the Muslim community support in times like these, but Cebu residents can do their share by just watching their backs and being extra careful. While bomb jokers can make mall security personnel jittery, extra care should be taken to thoroughly inspect everyone going in and out of commercial establishments.
While avoiding crowded places is advisable, it doesn’t prevent anyone from going there, and the likelihood of doing so will be higher since people will be heading to the countryside as the year’s end nears.
The Abu Sayyaf bandits have been tagged and identified, but while we should not relax our guard now that they’ve left for parts unknown, they should not be allowed to dictate on our fears and loathing for violence.
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