EDITORIAL - No Remittance Day

The anger against the pork barrel is understandable. Some of the protests against it are not. For example, on September 19, overseas Filipino workers in a number of places across the globe have decided to hold an anti-pork protest called "Zero Remittance Day."

As the name suggests, "Zero Remittance Day" means no remittances from OFWs will be made on that day to their families back in the Philippines. Any good that will do in the fight against the pork barrel. After all, the protesters can make their remittances the day before, or the day after.

A single day of no remittances will not result in the sudden demise of pork. But it can backfire on the protesters, in addition to causing a lot of collateral damage to innocent parties who have nothing to do at all with pork.

Look at what could happen if no remittances are made, even for a day. What if a relative back in the Philippines encounters an emergency and badly needs to have money, quick. Can the emergency wait another day until the "no remittance" protest is over?

And what happens to money remittance firms who rely on Filipino remittances for much of their business? They will lose business for a day. And to think these firms have nothing to do at all with the pork barrel. Yet they will suffer collateral damage as a result of the protests.

The guess is that anti-pork barrel activists did not think out their protests properly. They merely came up with ideas but did not consider the consequences. All that probably attracted them was the catchy name "Zero Remittance Day" but did not bother to go through its ramifications.

Well, let it be spelled out to them as clearly as possible -- a single day that no remittances will be made means absolutely nothing if remittances are made the day before or the day after. What is a day's delay? Unless, of course, there is an emergency.             If an emergency occurs on the day the protest kicks off and no remittances are ever made, God help those who are caught on the short end of the protest. May these innocent victims of sloganeering survive their ordeal to tell the tale of how pork nearly got them killed.