Helping our “heroes”

THE Philippines is no stranger to the grave problem of illegal drugs, itself hard-pressed in fighting a deeply entrenched criminal industry that is involved in the production, trading and distribution of such drugs as methampethamine, known locally as shabu.

The government is thus sending the wrong message — both to local drug crooks and the rest of the world — by attempting to interfere in the justice system of foreign governments, particularly when it has been proven that the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) accused of carrying narcotics were indeed guilty as charged.

First we react strongly when foreign governments, like the US for example, appeal for their citizens who have done something wrong on our land. Yet, we grovel for our own citizens find themselves in the same predicament in other lands. While our government tries its best to show its strong hand against illegal drugs, we appeal for clemency when our OFWs are found committing the offence in foreign lands. Seeming to have double standards will only serve to weaken our country’s standing in the international community, not to mention how it will likely embolden domestic and foreign drug lords in their operations in the Philippines.

Laws versus illegal drug dealers make no distinction about gender, nationality, religion, etc. A drug pusher is a drug pusher.

Of course there is the matter of our nation’s soft spot for our OFWs, hailed as “heroes” of the country for their remittances. But lines do need to be drawn on who among our so many OFWs in trouble — either due to illegal entry, other legal predicaments, abuse by employers, sickness, kidnapping and hostage situations, or emergency situations brought by political turmoil or natural calamities — really deserve help and how far the government should go in terms of assistance.

This is something that the provincial government must seriously prepare our OFWs for – to warn them of risks should they violate laws, particularly use, possession and sale of illegal drugs, and culture of host employing countries.

Let’s protect our law-abiding OFWs whatever it takes but our government must be circumspect in approaching cases where OFWs have been found guilty of committing major crimes, particularly drug-related crimes.

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