Calaidescope World

We're OK!

And I hope you are, too. Wherever you are.

It was the beginning of a Midnight Madness shopping weekend. Most of the students at the mall had been on sem break and many were hanging out in TimeZone. Half a business unit from our company was having lunch in Kaya (Glorietta 4) when the bomb went off in Glorietta 2. Two of our managers almost had lunch at Luk Yuen (close to "ground zero" of the blast) and decided against it not too long before the explosion. Many of my officemates went to the mall, but were on their way back to 6750 when it happened. My seatmate's Mom was in her little shop near Quad. Thankfully, most of them are ok. Lucky me, I was on my way back to the office from RCBC and was advised to turn around.

Did it have to come to this for security guards to suddenly become more vigilant and more strict about carefully checking bags of people entering malls and office buildings? They finally realised that their magic wands didn't work! And that they really should look INSIDE the bag and at all the bag's contents. How can you not find bomb materials with all that bag-checking and trained dogs, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Inside job or not, public safety should be their main concern. It's not that difficult.

Whoever made that press release about the explosion being caused by an LPG tank is insane. We've seen the pictures on MMS and email. Apart from the fact that an LPG tank cannot cause that kind of damage (and one doesn't need to be a CSI fan or to work for an oil company to figure that out), restaurants in Glorietta are hooked to a central LPG system. They do not have individual LPG tanks on the premises. No mall allows individual LPG tanks on site.

The latest press release of the Philippine Bomb Data Centre, care of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, is that the bombing was "most likely a deliberate attack" (you think?!). They said that a C4 bomb caused the explosion, and an investigation is underway to determine if it was military grade and if it was timed or set off remotely. Eight (8) people have died and over a hundred were injured. One woman was speaking with her husband over the phone when the bomb went off, the line went dead, and she could no longer contact her husband who was in Glorietta. Her husband has not been heard from or found. This poor woman has been going all over Ayala Centre and from hospital to hospital searching for her husband.

Some people are blaming terrorists. Others are blaming the government (they say this is a cover up to divert people's attention from the bribery charge against Malacanang). At this point, I don't care who did it or how it happened (I will later!). I just want to know if everyone I know who was in the Ayala Centre area is alright. Stay safe!

posted by Calai @ 10:11 PM