EDITORIAL - No wonder China shows no respect

It is bad enough that the Philippine National Police would stand accused of selling millions of pesos worth of high powered firearms and ammunition to the communist New People's Army, it is worst when none of the people on top are taken to task for this act of treason.

From what has been reported, only a few officials of a particular unit are being implicated in the crime. There is no word of even an attempt to go higher or outside this unit. It seems as though the PNP itself is not interested in knowing how far the scam would go.

Had the Philippines been a more mature democracy, such as the United States or Japan, the likes of Mar Roxas, the secretary of Interior and Local Government to which the PNP belongs, and PNP chief Alan Purisima, would have long resigned given the magnitude of this mess.

But not only have Roxas and Purisima not resigned, neither have also given the slightest indication of being interested in seeing that the crime is resolved in the quickest way possible. It is as if nothing has happened to disturb their usual routines.

Even the president, who is supposed to be the commander-in-chief of all armed and uniformed services, has not seen it fit to even pull Roxas and Purisima aside to inquire about what's this he read in the papers about police guns being sold to the rebels.

The sale of police guns to the enemy is an earth-shaking development. It hits at the very core of our nation and drastically redefines what we are as a people. And yet the leadership of the country and the actions of those accountable have shown nothing but indifference and nonchalance.

This incident could not have come at a worse time. With the country's sovereignty and its resolve to protect it being openly and humiliatingly tested everyday by China, nothing gives the Chinese more resolve to keep on doing what it is doing to us than this incident.

In the eyes of China, the Philippines is disintegrating, so might as well grab some of the pieces outright. After all, if a country can sell guns to its own enemy, that country will be a piece of cake to deal with if things end up in some negotiating table in the future.