Eight minutes

Netnet Camomot

IT took London eight minutes to catch the three men responsible for the Saturday night terrorist attack.

Well, it was “kill” instead of “catch.”

But the focus should be on this: eight minutes.

Now, how long did it take Manila to catch the man responsible for the Resorts World Manila attack?

And how many days has the Marawi siege been going on and on and on? Or are we counting weeks now?

Conspiracy theories abound as the Marawi siege continues. Conspiracy theories that can be easily discarded as fake news. But once President Rody Duterte is the one revealing them, is it still fake news?

Addictions can make the world go crazy. Cagayan de Oro has long shunned the entry of a casino here, and the latest revelation on the gambling history of the Resorts World gunman surely gives Cagayanons a more solid foundation on which to continue their anti-casino protest.

As for Marawi, President Duterte, through his report to Congress, said that the attack is funded by illegal drug money.

It’s again a chicken-and-egg thing. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The casino or the gambler? The one who created illegal drugs or the drug user?

And if you’re looking at this from Mars, the bigger picture will reveal that it’s all about money. When meeting basic needs is not enough, when honest work is perceived to be non-profitable, when the craving for money and power becomes insatiable. “Money, money, money/Must be funny/In the rich man’s world.”

Money—P52 million cash, P27-million worth of checks—was indeed found in a Marawi house, described as the Maute group’s “abandoned machine gun position.” But what if the money belongs to the house’s real owner who doesn’t trust banks. Because that’s indeed possible in this age of ATMs and online banking—people who still prefer to keep their money right beside them, so they can see their hard-earned cash 24/7.

If only people can sit back and relax, and trust that good always prevails, then, this world will be a better place. There’s John Lennon again and his wishful-thinking song, “Imagine”: “Imagine there’s no countries/It isn’t hard to do/Nothing to kill or die for/And no religion, too/Imagine all the people/Living life in peace.”

But this world does have countries and religions. If you believe that your country or religion is the best one, and you’re now trying to prove that it is, trouble may start from there.

Military planes and choppers have been flying overhead. It’s not a reassuring sound, it’s not the kind that inspires deep sighs of relief.

But this may inspire some relief. In photos and videos of people fleeing from the scene of London’s Saturday night attack, there’s a guy holding on to a pint of beer. He’s not exactly running but casually walking, as if carefully guarding for the beer not to spill a drop. And that guy now has a name—his friends claim he’s Paul Armstrong from Liverpool. He has become a symbol of London’s resilience, inspiring comments such as this: “Why Isis will never win. Attack just taken place but fella on right refuses to spill his pint. Nazis, IRA tried. Didn’t win.”

Another social media comment says, “Forget the queen, this guy should lead us.”

Yup, life goes on.

After the bombing at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, she organized “One Love Manchester,” a benefit concert held 13 days later, which featured not only her but also Coldplay, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Robbie Williams, Black Eyed Peas, and other artists.

For Marawi, San Miguel Corp. has pledged to help the slain soldiers’ families recover through business start-up packages. And that’s while the siege is still ongoing.

One can see through photos and videos the devastation in Marawi. Without the captions, you would think these are for other places like Syria. But they’re right here in Pinas. As to when these will end, each of the parties involved in the Marawi siege must be praying to their God, wishing the siege will end in their favor.

Meanwhile, the world has warmly welcomed “Wonder Woman,” giving its opening weekend $100.5 million in North America plus $122.5 million in the international arena. Whoa.

Women’s empowerment, anyone?

Female athletes were cast as Amazonian warriors in the movie, with the thought of making this as the female version of that other muscle film, “300.” They still had to go through months of training, though, for “Wonder Woman” despite their background in sports. Which proves that Hollywood never takes movie-making lightly.

We’re hoping Resorts World Manila has also learned not to take security measures lightly.

Oh, well.