Sunday, December 4, 2011

Philippine Drug Mules


China has tried, convicted and sentenced to death a Filipino man. The crime, running drugs.

President Aquino requested publicly that China grant mercy and withdraw the death penalty. He also sought to send Vice President Binay to China on a mission of mercy.

China declined to receive the mission and informed the Philippines that the execution will be conducted as planned.

I find the case interesting. I personally think the top officials of government have better things to do than try to impose upon China's sovereign rights or gad about the globe trying to free wayward Filipinos.

First of all, it smacks of double standard. The Philippines is the place that was so outraged that Private Smith was held at the US Embassy rather than in a Philippine jail as the Nicole incident unfolded. "The humiliation, the humiliation!" cried Senator Santiago. And most of the nation. The Philippines wanted the US to respect the Philippine legal process.

The consistent approach would be to respect China's legal process.

The argument likely to be encountered: "The Philippines does not execute people." The American response would be, "Does it try them quickly and fairly and according to law, rather than ulterior motive (politics, public outcry, media glare, bribery)?"

It is confusing to me as to why the Philippine government believe China should curtail its due process simply because the convicted man is Filipino.

Is this a racial statement? Or a statement of Philippine patriotism? Or a statement of morality, opposed to the death penalty?

I rather see it as the underbelly of Filipino pride, where pride is related to saving or showing "face". It is hard for Filipinos to see a brother-Filipino "besmirched" by China.

Also, in the Philippines, justice is fluid, simply a favor or protest or bribe away. Certainly China would be receptive to similar influences.

Ummmm not here, not now.

And what about the condition of Philippine jails? Of Philippine justice? Of the Philippine judiciary?

How many Filipinos are cheated out of their lives by failed due process, left to rot in an overcrowded jail without access to good attorneys, or unable to pay the required court fees or bribes.

Or how many alleged criminals are outright murdered by local vigilante death squads? (Cebu, Davao.)

How many women are locked into an abusive relationship because they cannot get a divorce? Or treated as indentured servants to deadbeat fathers. How many kids don't get milk because the father took off, and the government doesn't care?

No, no. The Philippines needs to look inward at its own human rights violations and not try superficially to raise its  moral standing by pretending to be above China's standards.

I think trying to send the Vice President to rescue a criminal was foolish. Misguided. Embarrassing, actually.

There are so many abuses in the Philippines.

Deal with THEM, and the social dysfunction that allows them to persist.

Establish a strong moral platform from which to speak and others might listen better.

10 comments:

  1. Filipinos are simply ego maniacs. Rational discourse is all but impossible with these folks as their thinking process revolves around their ego which, in their belief, the whole world must accommodate.

    This is why they are blind to their own faults and they are easy to criticize others. To even consider the idea that one is deficient in any form is unacceptable to an ego maniac.

    But there is a reason for this method of thinking. Ego maniacal behavior is a self preserving adaptive trait that develops in an environment of extreme stress and negativity. For if a person loses all self worth then it cannot continue to exist. Denial is the best defense. Ignorance is, indeed, bliss.

    So instead of Prozac, the average Filipino need only find comfort by absolving themselves of any responsibility for the situation. That is why when tragedy falls upon the Philippines it is always the fault of others.

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  2. Anon, you said more bluntly the general tendencies I have seen. I'm hoping youth, exposed to the internet, will be more open to accepting responsibility.

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  3. "Ego maniacal behavior is a self preserving adaptive trait that develops in an environment of extreme stress and negativity"
    The only solution for them is economic growth. Education and upbringing values will most likely wont change unless their life gets better.
    The differences between the Filipino men that I know and socialize with here in New York and the men in Philippines are day and night. Why?
    They both embrace and respect their culture, right? However you will not see me having the same fun in the company of a native "traditional" type of Filipino man in the Philippines as I have here in New York. The ego thing, the pride issue, ignorance and the abnormal very limited social skills they have back in the Philippines are likely to keep me away from them. Interestingly when I'm in the Philippines I have no problem having great conversations with Filipinas but not Filipino man in general. They have issues.

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  4. Attila, "Interestingly when I'm in the Philippines I have no problem having great conversations with Filipinas but not Filipino man in general. They have issues."

    I have the same difficulty, generally because I am not inclined to recite my background or opinions, and most of the men display no intellectual curiosity. I think this is rooted in poor education, or education that taught them to memorize things but question nothing. Often they move to macho jokes, which I don't enjoy, and frequently too early (or too intimately) into the relationship. On the other hand, one Filipino and I really clicked. He ran the property tax assessor's office in a mid-sized town, like to read (American books), and was highly curious about my banking background, personal background and investments. Reading means a lot, I think.

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  5. I was told that in the Philippines being quiet is a sign of being a "deep" person. Asking questions and answering questions comes with the risk of loosing that image (face?).

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  6. Attila, fascinating, actually. Low risk, low gain.

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  7. I wonder why the "brilliant" "intelligent" haughty-snooty-englsichtzes-snob Philippine Media is not making noise to force the Senate and the Congress to investigate Singson who his drug suppliers are.

    They get his drug suppliers, they get the drug suppliers that sent the 3 Filipinos to their death in China.

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  8. Mariano, indeed, good point. Go to the source, if it is in the Philippines. I suggest the Philippines adopt a motto for 10 years: ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY. If at the end of 10 years, people don't get it, just pull the plug on Pinatubo and blast the place to Hell.

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  9. HA! HA! HA! HA! That is why I was totally in favor of now-mothballed Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plant in Bataan that sits right on the geological fault to finish the Filipinos off.

    The filipinos are still paying for this Nuclear Power Plant.

    I wish Pinatubo, Taal and Mayon Volcano would erupt at the same time.

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  10. I hope you'll be the first one to be hit by the blast, Mariano..

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