In their heads, an article in the IHT observed, the Germans know that the Red-Green coalition has failed abysmally to lower unemployment and restart the economy, so in their heads they are for Merkel. "They also know that reforms are necessary and they are for them, in theory, but reforms make them anxious, so they yearn for the devil they know, Schröder."
The German dilemma fascinates me. It almost sounds like what haunts us here at home. And it is this fascination that made me explore the far end of SkyCable’s spectrum of cable channels and ended up with Deutsche Welle, the German channel. Deutsche Welle isn’t quite the BBC but it is close to it. It is seen all over the world in over 30 languages.
Wednesday evening last week, I thought myself lucky to hear an announcement of an English language program about the Philippines. So I stayed on, wondering what I was about to see about my country from a German perspective.
The title sounded ominous enough, "Imprisoned in Paradise". As it turned out, it was about how Philippine immigration officials maltreated four Germans, keeping them imprisoned for up to three years in a pigsty of a detention facility, on what the program called trumped up charges.
I was deeply troubled, perhaps even devastated, by the program. I wondered to myself, is that my country they are talking about? That sounds more like a horror story out of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, not in Ate Glo’s Philippines.
I have heard and read a lot of bad articles and reports on the Philippines but this one was the worst I can remember, partly because I know the bureaucratic corruption it denounced was true and also because human suffering arising out of injustice always arouses universal sympathy. Then too, as a journalist, I thought Deutsche Welle’s reporters got a bit carried away, neglecting other perspectives necessary for basic fairness.
The feature was about the story of four Germans imprisoned by our Immigration commission for a variety of charges ranging from alleged sexual harassment to overstaying their visas and working without a permit. Filipinos, the narrator said, quoting one of the Germans, think of foreigners as piggy banks to be exploited and blackmailed for cash, or words to that effect. I thought Filipinos are a hospitable and friendly people. Has the deterioration of our national character gone this far?
Any decent person viewing the report would sympathize with the plight of the imprisoned Germans. Whatever violations of our laws they are accused of, throwing them in the filthy immigration jail in Camp Bagong Diwa for as long as three years, as in the case of a German husband and wife, is punishment that is grossly over and above what is called for.
The report however, noted a saving grace for our government. One of these Germans was actually freed by our Supreme Court who found his incarceration unjust and illegal. At least our judicial system works. But even here, it came too late to save his marriage to a Filipina who has run away to Europe with their daughter while he was in jail.
The report was also rather harsh to the local German Embassy, whose officials were accused of not caring enough to lend a hand to their troubled nationals. Unfortunately, the report did not get the side of the Embassy, as any world class journalistic enterprise should have.
But in fairness to the Deutsche Welle report, it credits incumbent Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez of trying to clean up the Augean stables left by his predecessors. The report accused a previous Commissioner of becoming a very rich person by institutionalizing a racket that victimizes foreigners for real and imagined violations of immigration laws.
I know that government office is dirty but still, that accusation was shocking to me. I know that commissioner from our college days. I can’t imagine her turning into the devil incarnate that the report said she has become. I expected Deutsche Welle, a world class television organization, to have required the report’s producers to produce proof and to get her side. None of those were incorporated in the report.
I dread to imagine the horrible image of the Filipino painted to a wide international audience by this special television report. A German or any other non Filipino national watching the report abroad must think we are uncivilized brutes, no better than wild animals fighting for survival by victimizing innocent foreigners.
Worse, how can a country that sends over a million of its nationals abroad, treat foreigners this way? Indeed, how can we now complain about our OFWs being maltreated abroad when we ourselves treat foreigners in our country with such cruelty?
I guess treating foreigners as fair game for extortion and cruelty is possible because they are not voters our political leaders, including our national leadership, feel an obligation to look after. Indeed, many in our law enforcement units see them as piggy banks to hassle and profit from.
That attitude is of course, very unchristian. The Bible teaches us to be particularly considerate of foreigners, because as Our Lord reminded the Israelites, they were foreigners too in Egypt. How dare we call ourselves the only Christian country in Asia and allow this travesty to happen!
Forget attracting tourists here if that image of the Filipino sticks. No foreigner would feel safe. Potential foreign visitors would think that anyone silly enough to come here risks having a nightmare of an experience in a Mugabe-like country. As the German television report suggested, our country should have been a paradise, were it not for some of the people who inhabit it.
The Sipadan and Dos Palmas hostage taking sagas, still fresh in the minds of the international community, were bad enough but not as despicable as state sanctioned cruelty. Terrorism will not scare tourists away because the problem is not exclusive to us. But cruelty to foreigners, for whatever reason, even legal reasons, presents us in the worse possible light to the world. Ate Glo should know that since her picture is prominently displayed in the offices featured in the report, the stink reflects on her person too.
Ate Glo should instruct the Justice department and the Immigration Commission to clean up their treatment of foreigners right away. Those with minor violations like overstaying their visas (afterall, Pinoys do this with impunity abroad) shouldn’t be treated like criminals and made to languish in filthy jails. Immediate deportation is more acceptable. But above all, Commissioner Fernandez should be given full support in cleaning out his office of misfits. Maybe, we can even have the UN Human Rights Commission audit our treatment of foreign prisoners.
I think the Ombudsman should request a copy of the Deutsche Welle report and do something about it. It was shown to a world audience and we have an obligation to ourselves and to our children to clean up the Filipino‚s image in the family of nations.
Fred and Mary got married but can’t afford a honeymoon, so they go back to mum and dad’s for the night.
In the morning, little Johnny gets up and has his breakfast. As he is going out of the door to go to school, he asks his mum if Fred and Mary are up yet.
She replies, no.
Johnny asks, do you know what I think?
His mum replies, never mind what you think! Just go to school.
Johnny comes home for lunch and asks his mum, is Fred and Mary up yet?
She replies, no.
Johnny says, do you know what I think?
His mum replies, never mind what you think! Eat your lunch and go back to school.
After school, he comes home and asks, is Fred and Mary up yet?
His mum says, no.
Johnny asks, do you know what I think?
His mum replies, OK! What do you think?
He says, well, last night Fred came in for the Vaseline and I think I gave him my model airplane glue.
Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com