Besides today being Valentine’s Day, the day of hearts and the day of reds, people are on their toes and on the red for whatever might happen this day – either favourable or not. Albeit denied by the police and military authorities, the fear of terrorist attack in Eastern Visayas by the Maute group in collaboration with the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, keeps the people in the region vigilant. Tacloban City was earlier reported a target of the Maute group’s bomb attack.
On Monday, February 13, an explosion happened in the heart of Tacloban City, causing people to fear that the Maute group has already staged its threat. The paranoia sent people to surmise that what exploded was an improvised explosive device (IED) paralyzing some activities in nearby offices and institutions. The explosive and ordnance unit of the Tacloban City Police Office later announced that what caused the explosion was the detonation done by the EOU of a suspicious package of celfone with wire attached to a speaker with some wires with them wrapped in plastic bag. There was no IED that exploded.
Although the police authorities have already declared safety in the city’s environs, they advised the people to remain vigilant. Stay on the red and be on your toes are among the best principles to carry on these days. Tacloban City Vice Mayor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin, in his social media post urged the Taclobanons to continue to be vigilant to ensure their safety. Otherwise stated, the people’s safety is in their own hands not in another’s.
While that may be in a bigger scale, the smaller one, such as the lovers’ celebration of Valentine’s Day now, take on same caveat. The safety of one does not completely depend upon another persons gesture but upon one’s own vigilance.
