Hundreds gather in Manila vigil for Paris victims

Hundreds of French nationals and their friends gathered at the Alliance Francaise, the French cultural centre, in Manila on Monday (November 16) to pay homage to the victims of the Paris attack.

 

A minute of silence was led by the French Ambassador to the Philippines, Thierry Mathou, and held at the same time (1100 GMT) as the one held throughout France, some 11,000 kilometers (6,800 miles) away.

 

Mathou added that though no specific threat had been identified, French establishments overseas should remain vigilant.

 

"So when we are overseas we always have to be permanently extra vigilant. So as far as French establishments, such as embassies, consulates, cultural centres, the Alliances Francaises, we have to ensure that these places are secure and security is re-enforced with the help of local authorities," he warned, adding however that it should not mean giving in to the fear of more potential attacks.

 

"We certainly should not allow ourselves, however, to be afraid or go paranoid because then the terrorist would have won. We have to live normally, go to stadiums - here that would mean going to basketball games," he said.

 

A French resident in Manila Jean Baptiste Cassin, who had come to the Alliance Francaise to commemorate the victims of Friday's (November 13) tragedy, said attacks in the same mould as the one in Paris can now happen anywhere.

 

"There have been attacks in Manila too, it can happen anywhere. We have a kind of terrorism now where anyone can be affected anywhere," he said.

 

Philippines' former Commissioner on Human Rights, who came to sign the book of condolence at the centre said the moment of silence was a global one.

 

"We must be one with the French people. And we must come together globally. So the moment of silence is a moment silence for humanity," said Loretta Ann Rosales.

 

Back in Paris, French President Francois Hollande led a moment of silence for the victims in the deadly attacks on the city as police raided homes of suspected Islamist militants across France overnight. A source close to the investigation said a Belgian national in Syria was suspected of orchestrating Friday's mayhem.

 

The Paris carnage, which killed at least 129 people, has led to calls for the European Union to close its borders to asylum seekers and for the coalition to increase their volume and ferocity of their attacks on Islamic State.  — Reuters