The year has just started but a prime candidate for the video of the year was dropped last week, where we were treated to the assassination attempt of a Mindanao mayor using a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that was caught on CCTV.
The target of the brazen, daytime attack was Akmad Ampatuan, mayor of the town of Shariff Aguak in the province of Maguindanao del Sur. He had apparently already survived three previous attempts on his life – in 2010, 2014, and 2019, and was wounded in the last two. That was why he was in a heavily armored Toyota Land Cruiser.
The daring attack, which spectacularly failed even if a direct hit was scored, as the warhead apparently failed to penetrate the armor of the targeted SUV, has raised many eyebrows, and questions as well.
THE ATTACKERS
Where did the attackers get the weapon and the training? We all know that illegal and loose firearms have been a long standing problem in this country, but the RPG attack puts an exclamation point on the issue. The attacker surely didn’t use a licensed RPG, so it makes us wonder where they got it. Was it from a 11-11 sale on an online shopping app? How many loose high powered firearms are out there, anyway?
Aside from the high powered weapon, there is also the training. Firing an RPG is something you can’t learn from reading the manual, watching a YouTube video, or playing Counterstrike or GTA. The fact that the RPG guy had only one quick shot to make under immense pressure, and that he was able to score a direct hit, means that he was either super lucky or had adequate training. That means he had access to RPGs and a firing range for practice. That is something our authorities have to address, and even though it is more difficult to do in the lawless parts of the country, our expectation is that such weapons and training should be as inaccessible as possible.
The only consolation from the failed RPG attack was that they made the wrong choice of ammo. If they had used an armor piercing or HEAT (high explosive anti-tank) round, they could’ve beaten the Land Cruiser’s armor and succeeded in eliminating their target. If they trained enough to be able to hit their target (albeit slow moving), they should’ve known that it was armored. The assassins failing to have the right ammo for the job means that either their intel, or their ammo supplier was poor.
An RPG attack in broad daylight, in a populated area, even if it is in the wilder parts of Mindanao, does not bode well for the perception of peace and order in the country. Politicians and VIPs can just order heavier armor for their SUV convoys, but for ordinary citizens, the prospect of attacks involving rockets and high powered firearms is scary.
THE TARGETS
Another question that the RPG attack on a local politician’s armored LC raises is how our politicos can afford such expensive protection. Do taxpayers pay for it? If not, then who? Is it normal for the mayor of a third class municipality afford an armored Land Cruiser that can withstand an RPG hit? If you consider that a basic LC is already out of the reach of the regular folk, how much more can the armored version cost?
It is understandable that the armored LC was a necessity for the mayor Ampatuan, who had been the target of several previous attacks. If he had not been riding in an armored vehicle, the RPG attack would have been successful and he would probably have been instantly killed.
However, the question that we cannot help but ask for all elected officials who putter around in armored SUVs is… who paid for that, and if they didn’t, and the taxpayers didn’t, how is it possible?
We seem to assume that it is normal/ok for some public officials to be motoring about in armored SUVs, but it doesn’t seem like we really ask how it is possible for them to do that on a public servant’s salary, when some of them declare in their Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth a value that cannot even afford a secondhand or basic LC, much more the premium added for armoring it.
If you come to think of it, we wouldn’t have this problem if the situation were such that armored SUVs were unnecessary, especially for people who are supposed to be public servants. If peace and order were guaranteed by our security forces, loose guns, cannons, and RPGs rounded up, public officials should be able to get around without the need for armored SUVs or bodyguards. Furthermore, those that do choose to do so should be able to justify those costs, ensuring the public that they are supposed to serve that their armored or extravagant lifestyles match their declared incomes.*
