Upon returning from our 5-week vacation in the EU, friends watched the chaos, riots, and looting that happened in many parts of Europe particularly in Paris, France and they could not help but ask, “How was Paris?”.
People with travel plans to the continent are concerned for their safety and fear that they might get trapped between students rioting and the French police. Others were merely interested to know if all the online videos on snatchers and pickpockets were true.
My honest answer was that I saw people chasing 2 snatchers in Binondo last Nov. 2, I watched the video of 5 robbers shooting it out with cops in Cavite the other day and read about the billions of pesos being shamelessly directed for the political benefit of several congressmen. But not in Paris.
Yes, there were riots in EU long after we returned to the Philippines but very few people went further and deeper into what those riots were about. People simply accepted the easy excuse that it was about discontent among the youth and malcontents.
As many now know, the riots were orchestrated by malicious online influencers with the simple intent of creating chaos, anarchy and widespread robbery. The looting was the candy, the reward for the gullible youth who participated.
Sounds familiar? It should because that’s what happened on September 21, 2025, during the Trillion Peso March where masked men and youths wearing black shirts mingled with peaceful rallyists and cause wide spread destruction of public and private property hoping to start a riot.
What stopped it from spreading was the discovery that the “hooligans” admitted to being paid by some ex-politician.
So, why should you be asking “How’s Paris?” and why should it matter since we are so far away? Well, something else happened in other parts of France as well as the Netherlands, that any food-loving Filipino should pray will never happens in the Philippines.
One day you wake up and all the freezers in all the stores and supermarkets have gone from below zero to almost broiling. That happened in France where electronic management systems for cold storage and freezers were hacked and their temperatures set beyond defrost.
In the Netherlands, the Albert Heijn chain of supermarkets are located in many small neighborhoods. They are so conveniently located that families refer to them as their “pantry” which is walking distance and full of all the everyday supplies one needs.
Well, right after we flew back to Manila, we learned the POPs or Points of Purchase, cash registers, even self-check-out equipment suddenly stopped working in many locations. The food and supplies were safe, undisturbed, you simply could not buy or pay for what you needed.
In both incidents, intelligence analysts and cyber investigators suspect that a powerful group maliciously hacked and “unplugged” the vital equipment as an example of how easily the food security of a country can be challenged.
Experts say it was a North Korean group, while others suspect it is Vladimir Putin’s way of telling the EU NATO members to back off from supporting Ukraine. This is probably also the reason why many EU countries have advised their citizens to have a back-up life.
By that I mean life that’s “CASH” dependent not on credit card. Lights as in candles, flashlights or solar lamps not from the grid, crank or battery-operated radios not iPhone or laptops, canned food, bottled water, matches and bicycles.
Just like the French freezers and Dutch cash registers that were shut down, there is a fear that the same could happen to banks, power grids, and fuel supply.
If you’ve read the advisory to prepare for 72 hours, that applies to a first world country and not the Philippines. In EU, they are optimistic if not confident that after a cyber-attack, normalcy could be restored by governments within 72 hours.
I mean no disrespect but in many cases involving super typhoons or major earthquakes, the Filipino malasakit and bayanihan self deploys almost instantaneously and often ahead of government.
The worry is in a global, regional or national crisis, are their secured resources such as water, food, medicine and medical care to address a catastrophe or meet the needs of over 110 million Filipinos?
Some people have been worried about another World War, but warring countries have started to fight their little dirty wars in very unconventional ways.
They don’t shoot at their enemies, they simply undermine or sabotage their economy, IT systems and structure, or flood disinformation on issues and elections. That was why Ukrainian drones destroyed 3 Yandex Data Centers considered to be the Google of Russia.
Those data centers are accused of massive disinformation and meddling in electoral processes such as the Brexit elections. In recent times, the system is blamed for the rise of extreme far right groups that ultimately disturbs the political balance in countries.
Another interesting tactic is sending illegal migrants and refugees across borders to flood and exhaust a government’s resources and personnel. This is said to be the case between Spain and Morocco.
Another is to export drugs to create chemical dependency, poverty and social chaos which has happened in the United States and even in the Philippines. So, no need to worry about a shooting war; worry about not eating, fasting or famine. Start praying and planting food.
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E-mail: utalk2ctalk@gmail.com