By Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA CITY – “We will use all our might
to catch you!”
This was the stern message of Mayor Beng Climaco in her
State of the City Address (SOCA) today to the perpetrators of the explosion
near the Guiwan bus terminal, which claimed the lives of two people, and
injured about 50 others.
“The long arm of the law will catch up on you; I will do
everything in my power to suppress all acts of terror and put an end to
violence here,” declared the Mayor.
The mayor openly admitted to numerous problems that she
has been facing ever since she stepped into office two years ago. “We have
threats of terror from all possible angles,” she emphasized.
“Bien de malas daw gad yo,” (they say I must be cursed)
she said, pointing out several instances like the grenade blast on her first
day in office, the shooting incidents that claimed many lives, then the bloody
September 2013 siege and the events that happened as a result thereafter.
She appealed to residents to show their support to her and
the authorities in becoming more vigilant. “Our security forces cannot do this
alone and it is a shared responsibility.”
On Sunday (January 25) President Benigno S. Aquino III met with
Mayor Climaco and local officials regarding the security issue in the city.
Accordingly, he has already directed Interior and Local Government Secretary
Mar Roxas to draft a memo creating an inter-agency and multi-sectoral body to
enhance security measures here.
Moreover, the President has also directed Justice
Secretary Leila de Lima to “file the necessary motions to hasten the transfer
of the high-risk inmates in the city jail,” according to Climaco. Authorities
believe that Friday’s explosion was a retaliatory attack by
the Abu Sayyaf, whose jailbreak attempt last week was foiled by jail guards at
the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center.