얼마전 퀘존의 한 한국인 식당 앞에서 수류탄이 터져 물적 피해가 발생하였습니다.

이 기사는 그 이후에 벌어진 일련의 상황을 담고 있습니다.

- 요약 -

모든 범죄자들은 먼저 문제를 일으키고 자신들이 무엇을 할 수 있는지 보여주며 일반인들은 공포에 떨게되는데 이번 한국인 식당의 수루탄 폭파 사건 이후 퀘존시에 있는 4 곳의 식당에서 돈을 (두 업체에는 5만 페소 요구) 내지 않으면 뜨거운 맛을 보여주겠다는 협박 전화를 받았다고 한다.

어쩌면 4 곳의 식당 뿐만아니라 다른 곳에서도 협밥 전화를 받지 않았을까? 그리고 자신들이 수루탄과 같은 강력한 테러에 자신을 보호하거나 맞설 수 있는 힘이 없다면, 돈을 지불하지 않았을까?

원문:

All that troublemakers need to do is stage one attack, to show what they’re capable of, and their scare factor becomes magnified. Following a grenade explosion in a Korean diner last week, four restaurants in Quezon City reportedly received phone calls at different times on Friday, threatening similar attacks unless the management paid a certain amount, with P50,000 mentioned in two cases.

The four cases were reported to the Philippine National Police. Did other establishments receive similar calls, but the owners were too worried to report the threats? Did these establishments give in to the extortion? Some individuals might pay up, if they fear that the threat is real and the state is powerless to protect them.

People usually yield to extortion if perpetrators in similar cases are not arrested and the crimes remain unsolved. This happened at the height of the kidnapping spree in Metro Manila about two decades ago. After a spate of ransom kidnapping cases, all that the thugs had to do was make a phone call and threaten to kidnap the target’s child, spouse or other loved one.

Protest rallies were staged, demanding an end to the crime spree. Ransom kidnapping became one of the most lucrative industries in the country – until the PNP launched a brutal crackdown, implementing what the public suspected was an unwritten policy of taking no prisoners.

As in any crime, the best deterrent to kidnapping at the time was the certainty of being caught. Ransom kidnappings have since abated. Now there appears to be a budding trend to engage in extortion using bomb threats. Thanks to the grenade blast that rocked the Korean diner, business establishments are taking bomb threats seriously.

Police can prevent this type of violent extortion from spreading by arresting those behind the explosion in the Korean restaurant. At the same time, the PNP and other law enforcement agencies must tighten measures to stop the proliferation of explosives and bomb-making materials. Why does it seem so easy for unauthorized persons to obtain a grenade in this country?

Fortunately, there were no casualties in the grenade explosion that hit the diner. Every effort must be made to prevent this problem from escalating.

원문: https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/07/16/1935031/editorial-budding-threat