A Black Day Today
It is a Black Day today, indeed, for today, a lot of people are grieving for innocent lives lost and hurt at Glorietta mall in Makati early this afternoon. Allegedly, an LPG tank exploded that caused huge damage to Glorietta 2, the impact killing 3 people on the spot, hurting many others, and ripping through the interior of the said mall that it caused a huge hole on top of the building. But there are speculations that the real cause of the explosion within the mall is an improvised explosive device, planted by someone or some people whose intentions were to terrorize and to bring about hurt and death to the most number of people as possible. As of time of writing, 8 people were reported dead and a hundred others injured due to this catastrophe.
I shudder at the thought that I could have been one of those people who were hurt or killed, as I was thinking to go to that mall early today because I’m only required to stay for half a day at the clinic today. Good thing that I changed my mind during lunch and just decided to go to a nearer mall to watch a movie. And as I sat watching the movie, many questions ran through my mind. What if the blast was an act of terrorism? What if those terrorists also implanted a bomb in the mall where I am watching a movie? My paranoia grew. I would have texted all my friends, especially those working in the Makati area and those who I knew to be always hanging out in Glorietta to ask if they’re okay but they got to me first. If I was feeling that way, how much more the loved ones of those whom were injured and killed in the blast? Imagine the worry of parents whose kids they knew are always hanging out at the mall.
What unavoidably comes to mind is the question, “who’s to blame?”
I don’t know if it’s fair for me to blame the security system of the mall but I have seen too many times mall and MRT/LRT guards who’d ask me to open my bag only to dip their sticks in it without even looking at what I could have been carrying because they were too busy chatting with one another. Sometimes, they just even let people pass by without inspecting their things. Perhaps they were also lax in inspecting delivery trucks that come to the mall. I think I could not be blamed for thinking that this could have given the terrorists (if it’s a terrorist act) the opportunity to do their plan. However, as the old saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way. But that way could have been made more difficult if only some guards are more serious about their work. Am I blaming the security for this catastrophe? Well, not fully. However, I still think they have some responsibility for it still. And yes, I’m just also another person who’s looking for answers and finding questions too many.
I could blog nothing more of this as there are many others who have seen more and read more. You can begin by reading MLQ3’s post about the catastrophe here as he has a good compilation of the different posts by bloggers, some have been direct witnesses to it.
My heart goes to all who have been victims of this blast, whether it’s a terrorist act or just an unfortunate accident. I only hope that investigations will start and be thorough so that justice will be swiftly given.
Others who have blogged about this:
- Magnetic_rose
- Explosion at Glorietta by Dominique Cimafranca
- The Glorietta Explosion: Accident or Bombing by Keysinunez
- Glorietta 2 “LPG” Explosion by Jepoy
- Glorietta Explosion/Bombing Photos
- Design Lessons From Glorietta Explosion
- Explosion Rips Through Glorietta Mall
And yes, foreign newspapers also wrote about this:
- Death toll rises in Philippine Explosion in CKNW News
- Bomb kills eight in Philippine mall in Washingtonpost.com
- Blast hits financial district in Forbes.com
- Explosion at Philippines kills 8 in Ledger-Enquirer.com
I wonder how the world will see this and what will they say about it. Could this have another negative impact on our economy?
Filed under: Lifelogs, News And Social Issues by Prudence
right, poor security should be blamed because as you’ve said, the guards would never really check the passers’ bags. they just dip their magic sticks inside and hoping it could sense danger without actually looking at the contents. on the contrary, maybe the terrorists did not passed through where the guards are guarding if that was really a terrorist attack.
i was relieved that i don’t know anyone from the list of casualties but i’m praying for the victims and their families.
[...] only make my way to different places if I have the MRT/LRT as a landmark or some shopping mall like Glorietta (and some bunch of morons blasted it away!). But, yes, I’d say I can be an intellectual sometimes, though I don’t really think of [...]
“…on the contrary, maybe the terrorists did not passed through where the guards are guarding if that was really a terrorist attack…”
— Perhaps. But there shouldn’t be vulnerable places for terrorist attack isn’t it? And how could we even expect that these vulnerable places for attack be minimized if even in the obvious places like entranceways, security is very lax? And even now that I went out, the security at the MRT is still the same as before. Even the malls aren’t really tightening security that much. How can we be so sure that other important measures are being carried out to ensure safety?
[...] thoughts are in Prudence and Madness and in A Day in the Life.. In IndioSign, there’s an observation about the limitations of [...]
sad and terrible day
to jeff:
I first learned about it through text messages by concerned friends who know that I like hanging out there at Glorietta. And knowing it through text is already horrifying. But seeing the photos and the videos on TV news…it’s inexplicable. That it could happen so fast and that it could hurt a lot of people who never knew it coming.