EDITORIAL - Filipinos, behave

The typical Somali is dirt-poor, burdened by life in a failed state. This doesn’t justify his turning to kidnapping for ransom and piracy in the high seas. The international waters off Somalia have become among the most dangerous zones in the world, thanks to the armed Somalis who have made piracy the most lucrative enterprise in the impoverished country.

This is just to illustrate that poverty is no excuse to turn to illegal activities, especially those that bring harm to others. These activities include drug trafficking, whose victims are numerous although not known to those who become drug mules in exchange for big money. In recent years, the number of Filipinos recruited as couriers by international drug rings has increased.

A day after three Filipino drug mules were executed in China, reports said another Filipina was set for execution by hanging in Malaysia. Aida Dizon’s crime: transporting 11.9 kilos of marijuana across the Malaysian-Thai border in November last year. It boggles the mind why a 51-year-old college lecturer would be stupid enough to try smuggling drugs into a country like Malaysia, which, like China, is known to carry out capital punishment on locals and foreigners alike for drug offenses.

In the Philippines, justice is negotiable, and there are different laws for VIPs and the hoi polloi. Sen. Panfilo Lacson was even honored with a warm presidential reception at Malacañang after a year in hiding for double murder. In other countries, equal application of the law is the norm rather than the exception.

The best that Filipinos breaking laws overseas should expect from their own government is assistance in seeing to it that they get due process and fair judgment. Any assistance should be ably handled by the country’s regular diplomatic missions. The Aquino administration should stop sending high-level teams and non-members of the foreign service to plead on behalf of convicted Filipinos.

In certain instances, the government can plead for the life of a convict on humanitarian grounds, such as in the case of rape victim Sarah Balabagan. For the many other Filipinos who go abroad, each one must be reminded to behave and obey the law. Whether dirt-poor, middle class, or an affluent congressman, every Filipino must avoid being an embarrassment and a burden to his family and his country.