EDITORIAL - Filipino TNTs are not explosives

The attack on America's iconic Boston Marathon by two brothers who trace their roots to Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya has provoked some rather strong feelings among Filipinos beyond the usual disdain for cowardly acts of terrorism and sympathy for the victims.

Because attacks on American soil have generally been perpetrated by Islamic jihadists, with the most devastating being the infamous 9/11, many Filipinos have gone to thinking why the US continues to open its doors to these people.

As what had been gathered so far, the Boston bombers appeared to have freely entered the US on academic visas, with one of them quickly become a US citizen. There appears to have been none of the usual suspicions that almost automatically descend on Filipino visa applicants.

To be sure, the more-than-normal closer scrutiny to which Filipino visa applicants are subjected to by the US was brought on by Filipinos themselves, many of whom end up violating their visa restrictions and US immigration laws.

But at least these are non-lethal offenses that do not bring America down to its knees in terror. Filipinos in the United States, whether there legally or not, all work for America's growth and progress as much as for their own.

Filipinos abroad, not just in America, are normally hard-working and law-abiding. Except for that one fluke of an incident in Miami in which a Filipino murdered fashion giant Gianni Versace, there is hardly any other blip on the criminal radar that would involve a Filipino.

Filipinos in America put their heads down to work and work for the good of the communities they live in. Yet the almost automatic suspicion that greets Filipino visa applicants does not do justice to Filipino contribution to American life.

It is therefore easy to see why Filipino resentment comes to the fore everytime America is again attacked by foreign terrorists, many of whom America seems to allow more freely to enter than it would its supposed friends from the Philippines.

Again, a few who do get to enter through the sieve end up becoming TNTs. But these TNTs are not of the explosive kind. They are not bombers who kill people. They are merely driven by the desperation to work for a better life for themselves and for others, including Americans.