paranoia

one thing i hate about the 'war on terror' that the government is bandying about is that it has turned the country into a virtual police state without the benefit of a formal declaration of martial law. conrado de quiros discussed this mindset on his column there's the rub on the march 8, 2005 issue of the philippine daily inquirer. this is the kind of paranoia that makes journalism one of the most hazardous jobs in this country.

i myself experienced this paranoia firsthand while taking pictures inside the mrt:

stranger: ( looking at the camera on my neck ) boy(duh), are you thinking of taking some pictures here?

jb: yes, si...

stranger: well you can't do that. it's against the law.

jb: but am not taking pictures of the mrt by itself. my focus is also on the view outside the window.

stranger: no, sir. sorry, sir. am a security officer employed here in mrt. ( bringing out an official looking id from his bag. he was wearing casual clothes. he turned to his companion and murmured. i caught the word 'sabotage' during the exchange. )

jb: but, sir. this is a camera. not a bomb.

stranger: no, sir. it's the law.

jb: they actually turned THAT into a LAW? ( and since it's already near my stop and i don't have time to discuss the intricacies of the first amendment and the philippine constitution, i let it go at that.)

( it's cowardly of me to let it go like that. but it was a sunday and i was eager to go home, he,he. )

one only has to look at these images to see how the camera could show us what the 'war on terror' really meant.