On the surface, everything appears normal in the Philippines after a bomb attack at the House of Representatives killed a congressman and three legislative aides. The stock market and the peso are up, while lawmakers proceeded with their sessions at the House of Representatives, unmindful of the destruction caused by the explosion.
But beneath the facade of calm was the frantic search for answers and gnawing fears - that there is no safe place in the Philippines anymore and Tuesday's bombing at the Batasan Pambansa complex was a part of a more sinister plot.
Immediately after the incident, authorities dispatched additional security forces to the Senate and the Supreme Court and other key government installations. Congressman Rodolfo Antonino, chairman of the House committee on public order and safety, admitted the bombing debunked the notion of invincibility of the Batasan Pambansa.
"What has become very clear here is that no place is safe," he said. "My initial reaction to all of this was that ... you should think twice when you feel safe because that's when you may be most vulnerable." Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri noted the brazenness of the perpetrators.
"The perpetrators of this kind of crime are becoming bolder and fearless in carrying out their crime," he said. "What could be the next target of these criminals, the Senate or maybe the Malacanang (presidential palace)?"
The bombing occurred less than a month after a powerful explosion ripped through a shopping mall in the financial district of Makati, killing 11 people and wounding more than 100 others.
The police theorised that the cause of that explosion was a mixture of toxic gases at the basement of the building, but nobody seemed to believe it. Last week, the chief legal officer of the Commission on Elections was gunned down at a busy street in Manila.
Senate president Manuel Villar expressed alarm over the series of high-profile violent incidents, which he hinted might be related. They occurred at a time when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was fighting renewed calls for her resignation over new bribery and corruption scandals.
Villar said the bombers at the Batasan Pambansa, whatever were their motives, wanted to challenge the government. "The perpetrators of these attacks are getting bolder," he said. "Whoever they are, they no longer respect the authority of this government. Obviously this group is not scared or afraid of anything."
Villar also said there might even be a cabal in the government that was responsible for the attack. "It's a challenge," he said. "The mere fact that they attacked Congress, they wanted attention, they knew how to terrorise."
In an apparent bid to play down the attack at the House of Representatives, police said initial investigation showed that Congressman Wahab Akbar, who was killed in the bombing, was the target of the assault.
The 47-year-old Akbar had the reputation of being a supporter of al Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels, and in his first privilege speech in July, he lashed out at marines in Basilan for entering into territories of Muslim secessionist rebels in violation of a ceasefire agreement.
Some military officials blamed Akbar's followers for the ambush and for the killing of 14 marines in Basilan, 10 of whom were beheaded or mutilated. Whether the attack was an act of terrorism or vendetta, observers noted that it was still a big cause for alarm.
Alejandro Lichauco, a political analyst and activist, warned that the bombing might be part of a series of events that would serve as a prelude to Arroyo declaring martial law or the military taking over.
"There's only one way of interpreting the Batasan explosion. And that is, whoever were the elements behind it - the Palace or the opposition - the event signalled the collapse of the political system," he said. Amid all the speculation, Senate majority leader Francisco Pangilinan urged people to be vigilant, warning that only anti-democratic forces could have been behind the attack.
"Our children, our people do not deserve a nation now reeling from bombings, from corruption and lawlessness," he said. "We should be steadfast in getting to the bottom of this latest dastardly act.
-dpa