Protocol in shambles

THE recent Jolo bomb­ings, particularly the Mt. Carmel Church ep­isode, has once again underscored the fragile peace that exists in Mind­anao and vulnerability of churches to attacks.

While the motive behind the tragedy, which cost twenty-two lives, was not religious in nature and had nothing to do with the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the undercurrents it created have rocked the Catholic hierarchy. Con­sequently, the bishops at once came out with guide­lines restricting devotees from bringing in bags, knapsacks, and backpacks during church rites.

The ecclesiastical regu­lations, sad to say, have resulted in confusion and chaos. Churchgoers who carry bags to church are not allowed to bring them for the simple reason that the general rule being passed around say they cannot bring any container except small purses.

The irony here is that women, especially mums with children, bring with them diapers, baby bot­tles, milk flasks and a host of other personal and hygienic items. Under the present rules, even with­out frisking and inspec­tion, they are promptly turned away.

What about construc­tion workers who bring their tools with them, or teachers carrying a mountain of test papers to correct? Surely, they carry workloads or work-related items in the hope of doing them at home. And what about those who bought food items in the work­place and stocked them in their shoulder bags be­fore proceeding to attend church rites?

There’s no arguing that safety comes first during a period of confusion. But the Jolo incident could have been avoided had the security protocol been stricter. The failure to de­tail a lady cop or female soldier to frisk female churchgoers was a mortal failure amid the intelli­gence report the authori­ties received on the plan to attack churches.

For devotees to become indirect victims of security lapses is not a welcome development. If there’s a threat such as the one that rocked Jolo, installing lay­ers of police and military inspectors should ensure that only ordinary bags can still be brought inside a house of worship.

The issue about security protocol is that it is only strictly instituted while the incident is still fresh. But as days pass by, you find security officers, whether blue guard, cop or sol­dier, being content with just taking a peep into the bags and leniently al­low anybody to enter the church.

Inspecting bags and frisking people should not be made as a matter of routine; they should be conducted following regu­lations that scare bad ele­ments but do not violate churchgoers.