Predators

This story fascinated me when I first heard it. A guy fresh out of college decides to try his luck out abroad. He did not have a pile of money to live comfortably right away, so upon reaching the “greener pastures”, he had to work menial jobs despite graduating from one of the Top 500 universities in the world.

Fast forward, and he’s now well-employed and earning a decent wage. He is good with his hands and is an avid car enthusiast. So he naturally gravitated to a car repair shop. Prior to that, he even worked in the US postal service, sometimes having to lick partially opened envelopes!

This is when a relative starts to notice his “good life”. He is then tipped off by this relative to the INS. His visa did not legally allow him to have a job, so he ends up in jail! He finds a way to become a US citizen (we all know how that is achieved), and is set free.

He then finds a business being sold by an elderly couple who already wanted to retire. Buys it, runs it, runs it well. Now, he has two houses, several cars including Italians and Germans. Successful by any standard.

I was reminded of this story when I read about an Indian syndicate preying on their fellow wealthy and influential countrymen in the Philippines . Hiring the scalawags of the Quezon City Police District to do their nefarious deeds.

Although I am not surprised as to why fellow nationals would do harm to each other in a foreign land, I am saddened that it seems to be the norm. Surely envy plays a big part. Plus the fact that expats are always vulnerable to crime, especially here in the Philippines where we have a police force that is not one hundred percent police!

This is way beyond the crab mentality that one may think. This is predation in its human form. Are we seeing a new trend in crime? Do we start looking at foreign nationals, who apparently have the capacity to organize crime syndicates, with the help of the local police!

We have Chinese nationals involved in illegal and dangerous drugs, we have Indian nationals into kidnapping and murder. Are the Koreans next, whose numbers have steadily grown in the past years? Heaven forbid, as we can’t even police our own criminals like former Gen. Garcia!

Seriously, this should be a concern for the government. We are already known for so many unedifying things. Becoming the Mos Eisley of southeast Asia we definitely do not need. (FREEMAN)