(Eagle News) — Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Saturday said the Resorts World Manila attack that left more than 30 people dead should serve as a “wake-up call” for the police and the military, who should not allow it to “instill fear in the citizenry.”
This as Alvarez expressed his opinion the incident early Friday was a “clear example of a lone wolf terrorist attack targeting civilians to inflict maximum loss of lives and damage to property, as what has happened in other countries.”
Alvarez’s opinion is different from the statements of police officials, who have ruled that the incident was not an act of terrorism but a botched robbery.
Police officials have emphasized the gunman–who barged inside the Resorts World Manila building, set fire on gambling tables, and fired shots inside–had only wanted to steal gambling chips from the casino.
They argued that based on survivors’ accounts, the gunman did not shoot at people he met along the way, something a terrorist would have done.
The police added they retrieved the backpack of gambling chips worth millions that the suspect had tried to steal from the casino.
Thirty-seven hotel employees and guests were killed due to suffocation from the smoke, while 74 were injured in an ensuing stampede, police said.
According to Alvarez, among those killed was Elizabeth Panlilio Gonzales, the wife of Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales.
The gunman–who was cornered by authorities after a chase–set himself on fire and then shot himself in the head.
Alvarez said the incident in Resorts World Manila should be a “wake-up call” in that the police and military should “cooperate closely in making the seat of government and our financial and business center safe from any terrorist attack, whether by ‘lone wolves’ or heavily armed contingents as what happened in Marawi City.”
Security measures
“Our authorities should get their act together and put in place the highest level of security measures to prevent this (from happening) again here or elsewhere in the country,” he said.
He said “we must draw up a clear and better plan to secure Metro Manila and other urban centers from (Islamic State)-linked groups that we already know will attempt to kill and maim in pursuit of their jihadist ideology.”
He added that business establishments should also “do their share and exhaust all means to ensure the safety of people in places of convergence.”
“They must ensure that (closed-circuit television cameras) and similar security monitoring equipment are adequate in number and all in working condition, and security personnel are properly trained to spot and deal with susicious elements with possible criminal intent,” he said.
He also urged the citizenry to “actively help the government fight terrorism and all its forms by providing information to authorities on suspicious or unusual activities in their communities.”
“But we should not let this instill fear in the citizenry,” he emphasized, as he condoled with the kin of the victims of the attack, including Rep. Gonzales.
