EDITORIAL - Philippines visa for Americans

If developments go from bad to worse, Americans may soon need a visa to enter the Philippines.

After US senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy moved to ban officials involved in jailing Philippines senator Leila de Lima from entering the US, Malacañang hinted that the Philippine government might soon require visas for Americans who want to come here.

There is no doubt that requiring Americans to get visas will become a very popular move with Filipinos who have had to contend with getting the voluminous requirements to apply for a US visa, only to be denied. They might say it’s our turn to give Americans a hard time and half the time deny them visas without any logical explanation as to why.

However, such a move will have advantages and disadvantages.

On the side of the pros, it will mean additional revenue for the government. An application for a visa always comes with a fee, it’s easy to imagine we can make a hefty killing with the fees Americans will be paying to get Philippines visas.

The imposition of visas, will also be a strong statement of our sovereignty. Just in case the US forgot, we are no longer their colony, in fact we haven’t been for over 70 years. Maybe a visa will remind them they are not in US territory anymore when they are on ours.

On the side of the cons, requiring a visa will possibly complicate things for American tourists, investors, aid workers, and those others who come here and directly or indirectly contribute to our economy.

And what about those Americans already working here? Or those Fil-Ams? Or those Filipinos who have been naturalized with the US? Or those who are technically Americans but are still Filipinos at heart who spend a good part of their time in their home country? What about them?

However, since Malacañang did not reveal further details about such a move, let’s hope it will come under further scrutiny and thought.

Whatever the government decides, let’s hope they take all possible advantages and disadvantages into consideration. This won’t be an easy decision to make, and there is no shortage of the consequences our imagination can produce as to the results of such a move.