This article gives some speculations on the recent bombing in Davao City. It also details the activities conducted by the City government of Davao and the reactions the blast caused.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte angrily remarked that he could not promise to restore back the peace the city once kept. He claimed however that it would be a hell for the criminal elements and perpetrators. He appears sure in his allegation that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group, a Muslim secessionist movement operating in Mindanao, perpetrated the bombing. The police authorities in Davao City have detained several individuals for questioning while formally lodging a case to Hashim Salamat and other key officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Duterte even proclaimed an all-out war to the group. After the blast, he urged Philippine key officials like Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, Interior Secretary Jose Lina and national police chief Hermogenes Ebdane to cease talks with the MILF and impose martial law in the south.

Because of the bombing incident, Duterte is encouraging authorities to conduct warrantless arrest on the MILF suspects in Davao City. Before this call was made, the Crimininal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) detained Terso Sudang, the father of the alleged bomber, and Kabacan, Cotabato Barangay Captain Muntazer Sudang for questioning. They were later charged along with Salamat and other key leaders of the MILF. Duterte saw this as lawful and even called on his critics for a debate on this issue. He feels confident that having served the Prosecution office for 11 years has given him the wisdom on this issue. This would allow them to arrest even the leaders of the MILF if they step on the Davao territory. They knew Duterte is sincere in this gesture. This made them to move out of their stations to a much safer place.

Why in Davao? Dabawenyos dismissed the claim of the Abu Sayyaf to be responsible for the bombing. Not only the Mayor is pointing finger at the MILF but also the Dabawenyos. It is interesting to note that the event happened after Mayor Duterte and the MILF group made an agreement to spare Davao City from its all-out war against the government of Arroyo. The families of Salamat reside in Davao too. Salamat also frequents Davao and it is Duterte who even personally have entertained him during his stays in the city.

The decade of peace in Davao City was definitely a result of the "iron" fist of Duterte. He personally sends criminals to jail. He is best known as the "Dirty Harry" or the "Executioner" of Davao. His critics always identify him to be the "brain" behind the series of assassinations of drug pushers (even including minors) and criminal syndicates roaming in the city. While he earned the respects of the lumads (natives), Christians and Muslims in Davao City, criminals mostly feared him.

Duterte was seen as a good balancer. He knows how to position himself in the limelight while answering the bickering of his critics. Both Christians and Muslims alike love him. But like other heroes he also has an Achilles heel. Duterte is identified with the Arroyo administration. The President is an admirer of the mayor who did manage to root out the drug and criminality problems of the City. This was further known when the President requested invited to become the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). At the same time, both Arroyo and Duterte are under the same political party, Lakas-NUCD. In a crisis "crisis manager."

Days before the incident, Duterte had premonitions something bad would happen to Davao. He admitted that there is no foolproof security against terrorism especially the wide area of Davao. He was not wrong when he claimed that a determined, well-organized and well-funded terrorist group can bide its time, pick its target and strike when and where least expected. Duterte now faces another crucial problem in the city. He became more vocal in his allegations that MILF was behind the blast. Aside from the fact that one of those killed in the blast was Sudang who apparently joined the MILF at age of 16 and has connections with a certain Jibran Ali Bin Davao, the head of the Davao-area MILF Unit. Also, the pipe bomb used by Sudang is a forte of the MILF. The group's members were also believed to be staging series of bombings to the power lines in Iligan prior to the blast in retaliation to the death of more than 200 MILF soldiers when the government stormed a camp they occupied in Cotabato. The government believed that the camp has also been utilized as a training camp for bandit groups.

Duterte personally directed the authorities to file multiple charges against Salamat and the rest of the suspects. He called on Salamat who are believed to be in hiding to give in the planners and that he could personally execute them if Salamat could not do so. At the same time, more Dabawenyos heed to the call of the government for alsa (uprising). More than a decade ago, the same concept became prevalent in Davao. It was basically the civil society's uprising and taking of arms against the "sparrows" (communist guerillas). Although it brought forth a new era of human rights violations issues, the movement became phenomenal. It contributed to the relative peace enjoyed by the Dabawenyos.

This particular move by the city government carries a lot of implications for Muslim residents in Davao City. A growing speculation looms again in Davao that the movement would create more militants and vigilante groups. If the Alsa Masa is for the guerillas, there is even a greater tension that it would be perpetrated against Muslim individuals. All of the members of the MILF are Moslems. In this case, there could be a tendency for anarchy and civil unrest in Davao City if this happens. There is a danger of a renewed animosity between Christians and Muslims in the City. The local government assured that the