breaking the silence

i have been down with a really bad cold and intermittent fever this week, so i wasn't in congress when the blast occurred.  still, my sense of security was shattered...  had it been an ordinary work day for me, i would have been in the congress complex around that time, either finishing up at the mitra building, or walking around the main or south wing lobbies in transit from my office, to the an waray office, to the session hall, to the atm machines, etc., etc...

i didn't know what happened until i received texts and calls from some friends and officemates asking me if i was okay.  in turn, i texted and tried to call all my friends who i knew would usually still be in congress around that time... bem, spocky, nad, malen, the an waray staff.  everyone was okay.

when the news came out, i got more texts and calls from concerned family and friends, even all the way from the states.  thanks to all for the concern and for worrying about me.  mwa. mwa.

two news alerts later, i found out that maan, a former kalayaan dormmate and friend, was one of the victims of the blast and was in very critical condition.  i called up spocky to rush to malvar.  and knowing how close they were and that he would not have access to tv news, i then tried to call nad, but his phone couldn't be reached, so i texted him about maan's whereabouts.  since i wasn't allowed to rush anywhere given my condition, i fell asleep restless around midnight, hoping nad or spocky or anyone else would keep me updated on maan's condition.  at around 2am, nad texted me that maan had passed away.  i said a little prayer and reminisced about our last deep conversation about traveling and finding true love... sigh.  rest in peace, maan.

(nad has written a very touching tribute to maan in his blog.  you can read his post here.)

i will not attempt to make any conclusions on why the blast occurred, or whether or not it was really cong. akbar who was the target.  for me, any act of violence involving the use of force is an act of terrorism, whether directed at a single individual or to create a political statement. 

but i blame the ineptness of the PNP house security for the incident.  considering that congress is a seat of power, i know for a fact how easy it is to get inside the congress premises.  they do not need to blame the tiangge that was ongoing this week.  tiangge or no tiangge, PNP personnel at the gate seldom check the vehicles of guests and employees.  and as long as the passenger holds a congress ID, even a taxicab doesn't need to go through a security check.  what the newspapers report are true:  security checks at malls are more stringent than congress security. 

earlier today, i asked my brother to go to my congress office to pick up a document for me.  since my car doesn't have a congress security sticker, i gave him my congress ID just to make sure he wouldn't be harassed too much at the gate if he would be questioned.  when i texted him how security was in the complex, he immediately replied: "te, i'm in UP na.  it wasn't hard to enter the gate.  i didn't even take long."

tsk tsk tsk.  this again, only two days after the incident.  que horror.