Murder and mayhem in the high seas

In one national paper last week, a human interest story was buried deep in another story. Apparently, the editors of the paper felt the human interest story was too petty compared to the one that carried it.

The story involved two Filipino seamen who used to work for the same foreign shipping company but got fired for fighting. Sent packing home, they inadvertently booked passage on the same flight.

The story did not say so, but perhaps they did not see each other on the plane. Or if they did, maybe they had sense enough to get a good grip of themselves and not cause a commotion on the plane, which is a terrible offense in a world grown nervous over terrorism.

But as soon as the plane landed in Manila and no sooner had the passengers made their way to the terminal than the two Filipino sailors broke into a brawling fistfight, right there in front of everybody.

The entertainment was free, and it was good while it lasted, which was until the two protagonists were whisked away by police. Since that was all that the story was about, maybe that is why the editors chose to bury it in another.

On second thought, however, that story was not a simple human interest story involving two Filipino seamen in a brawl at the airport. It is part of a larger story involving the conduct of Filipino seamen abroad.

In fact, the story came on the heels of a much bigger one that broke just about two weeks ago. In that previous story, a Filipino seaman has been taken into custody by police in the United Kingdom as a suspect in a killing.

That killing took place not just in an ordinary place. It happened right on the Queen Mary II, the largest luxury cruise ship in the world operated by the famous Cunard Line and whose crew is made up mostly of Filipino seamen.

The victim was also a Filipino, and he was supposedly killed by his compatriot in a bloody fight while the ship was in the high seas. The Filipino suspect was first detained in his quarters until the ship reached port, where he was arrested.

Had nobody been killed in this incident, and had not the fistfight in Manila between two sailors fired for fighting taken place in public, perhaps these stories would not have made news, perhaps filed away simply as unfortunate incidents involving Filipino seamen.

But these things should not escape our notice. Lest we forget, Filipino seamen were among our first world class manpower exports before the demand for Filipino nurses simply exploded. Up until today, the demand for Filipino seamen is still great.

Indeed, had it not been for the murder on board involving Filipino crewmen, the detail about Filipinos making up nearly 70 percent of the crew and staff on board the world's largest luxury cruise ship would have been cause for a great surge in national pride.

This being the case, with two incidents coming on the heels of one another, both involving fights between Filipino seamen in foreign lands, perhaps Philippine authorities need to take a long second look about the policies in place regarding the hiring of Filipino sailors.

Perhaps an additional requirement should be put in place regarding the psychological capacity of Filipino sailors to endure foreign employment, especially when they are at sea for many weeks.

This particular " manpower export " is a very crucial source of foreign remittance that helps prop up the sagging Philippine economy. We cannot afford to have this lifeline cut because our sailors have grown notorious for murder and mayhem.