A Day of Criminal Frenzy

After the riotous "tea party" over at Meralco a day after, three successive criminal events happened. Yesterday, a terrorist attack killed 2 people and injured scores of others in Zamboanga City. As of presstime, police are still investigating who masterminded this dastardly crime. Whoever it was, surely, this attack showed that the Bangsamoro rebellion is now assuming a different and critical level, reminiscent of the 2000 war. It could be an attack to pressure government to return to the peace table. Or, it could be part of JI training of new recruits. Whatever the cause, this has serious implications both in national and regional security.

A love-torn hostage taker killed one of his hostages yesterday at Lubao Pampanga. A certain "Rey" reportedly held a Genesis bus bound to Cubao at gunpoint and held its passengers hostage after his wife left him. After releasing most of his victims, police crack teams pounced on him, killing him.

Another notorious criminal was killed yesterday by members of the newly formed RCBC Task Force. A certain Montano was gunned down while allegedly buying grocery over at Camp Aguinaldo, an AFP camp. Police claimed that Montano was part of the gang who mowed 11 people down and took more than 20 million pesos worth of loot.

Were all these incidents related? To an untrained eye, no. Except for the first incident, the two other incidents are aberrations. However, note that these violent incidents happened two days after the riot in Meralco. Were these incidents a sociological reaction to a perceived chaotic situation? What prompted Rey to ran amuck and become a hostage-taker? What's the relevance of May 29 in the criminal mind of the terrorist who blew up those people in Zamboanga? And why was Montano killed by police yesterday? Was it chance encounter? Or a setup?

Probably, they are all unrelated. Expect criminal incidents to increase in the next few weeks, an anticipated social reaction to the perceived chaotic and depressing socio-economic-political landscape.