Get the terrorists

The headquarters of the Philippine National Police is attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade. Bombs go off in two of the biggest shopping malls in Metro Manila. Business establishments and government offices receive bomb threats. A convoy of boats bearing local officials and President Estrada's eldest son is ambushed on a narrow river in Pampanga, leaving a radio journalist dead. The violence in Mindanao continues. And the mess across the country pulls both the stock market and the peso to a 19-month low.

What is happening to the country? Yesterday, an alarmed Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin raised fears about a vacuum in leadership, commenting that government policy makers must get their act together. Sin rarely has kind words for this administration, but he echoed public anxiety about a government that seems to be losing control. Palace officials downplayed the failed attack on Jojo Ejercito, pointing out that he was not the target but the mayor of Sasmuan town. How Palace officials came to this conclusion in the absence of suspects is a mystery. Economic managers also downplayed the peso's slide to nearly 43 to the dollar yesterday, emphasizing that the downturn is temporary.

The rumor mills are on overdrive. Several scenarios, all of them alarming, are being painted in the media, the coffee shops, in text messages and e-mail. The rumor mills fan public anxiety, which in turn further pull down the peso and the stock market. No amount of reassuring words from government officials can stop this descent into confusion.

The only effective way of calming these jitters is to catch the terrorists. But days after the attacks on Camp Crame and the shopping malls, the PNP appears to be facing a blank wall, with defense and police officials giving conflicting statements about the cases. Even Ejercito's ambush, which was immediately blamed on communist rebels, may not be solved. President Estrada has urged the public to stay calm, promising that the government is prepared to protect the people. If he wants his words to have some ring of truth, his law enforcers must do their job and get those terrorists.