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Filipinos fear Al Qaeda has brought war to Manila Manila taxi driver Cesar Cabatu was so unnerved by the sight of an unopened cardboard box in the backseat of his cab that he drove straight to Philippine National Police headquarters, fearing a bomb was ticking inside it. Left behind by a passenger, the box yielded nothing more than a Santa Claus doll. Fear of bombings in the wake of intelligence reports that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has spread its reach to the Philippines is changing the lifestyles of many Filipinos in this largely Roman Catholic country. "Even the United States, the world's mightiest country, became a victim of terrorists. So for us here, we are doing everything that we can do. We are conducting extensive intelligence collection to identify probable targets," said Col. Jovito Gutierrez, the police chief of Manila's Makati financial district. The Oct. 12 blasts which killed nearly 200 people on the Indonesian resort island of Bali and a subsequent series of bombings in the Philippines have heightened the sense of fear. The taxi driver's reaction was not an isolated case. Elsewhere in the Philippine capital, fast-food chain manager Corazon Go and her husband had just stepped into a movie house hoping to enjoy Jackie Chan's comedy-action film "Tuxedo" when she began to wish she had stayed home. "There were just six of us on the balcony. I just wanted to go home rather than stay inside the theater. It was so eerie," Go told Reuters. Last week, shoppers rushed out of a mall in Makati after an abandoned box was found in the parking area. The box contained bottles of coffee. In the past, Filipinos would normally ignore an abandoned bag that they might find in malls or office buildings. A few might be solicitous enough to turn it over to the lost and found counter. Now, they immediately call in the bomb squad. LONG HOURS As a result, Manila's bomb disposal teams have had to work longer hours -- in some cases, leave has been canceled -- to enable police to respond 24 hours a day to calls from frantic residents reporting the presence of suspicious packages. The calls have mounted since Oct. 18 when a bomb ripped through a Manila bus, killing two passengers and wounding more than a dozen. Earlier in the month, a U.S. soldier and 11 Filipinos were killed when bombs exploded in a shopping mall, a karaoke bar and a religious shrine in Zamboanga city. Police suspect the bombings to be the work of local Muslim radicals linked either to al Qaeda or to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiah. Since the attacks, bomb experts in Makati have been going out at least four times daily to inspect abandoned packages. "Here in Makati, people are very much aware, especially security guards," Gutierrez said. "We have taught them how to identify parts of explosive devices. That's why when they see anything suspicious, they call us right away. "It's not necessarily increased nervousness on their part; they are just more cautious." There are about 1,530 business establishments in Makati, including 53 embassies and consular offices, enough to keep the city's bomb squad on their toes night and day. Metropolitan Manila, with 10.5 million residents, gets at least double the number of bomb reports that Makati receives daily. Every report is pursued. "My instruction is that they should not take a chance," metropolitan Manila police commander Gen. Reynaldo Velasco said. "We cannot just take things for granted." GUARDS, BOMB-SNIFFING DOGS Crowds in Manila's major malls have thinned since the spate of bombings. There are also fewer cars seen in their parking lots. Some residents now avoid the big malls, preferring to shop in smaller stores, thinking they are less likely to be a target. But business appears to be picking up again in some malls in recent days, in part due to efforts by mall owners. The sight of more guards and the presence of bomb-sniffing dogs may have helped calm nerves. "We have increased our security detail ... The police are more visible," said Raul Irlanda, senior vice president at Ayala Property Management Corp, which manages Makati's major malls. Commuters say they now avoid sitting at the rear of buses and keep an eye on packages left under seats. Police said the Oct. 18 bus explosion was caused by a home-made bomb placed under a seat at the rear portion of the bus. Shoppers say security guards at malls at best only make cursory checks of baggage. One commuter easily got through a check by a guard at a train station. Asked by a guard if he was carrying a cell phone, he said no and was let through, although his phone was clearly bulging in his pocket. Police have said the recent bus bombing was set off by a cellular phone.
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