The hostage drama in Manila the other day was outrageous. People all over the world who have watched the scene felt bad and had negative feelings against the Philippines in general. It was really a sad scenario that I for one as of this writing could not think of anything but to say sorry to the world that it happened.
To say sorry is not really enough to undo what has already been done. I would rather bring up the idea that everything has a purpose which was the reason why that happened. The hostage taker was just a vessel to allow the circumstances to transpire to serve the purposes which was at hand during that time. Whatever the purpose for this incident to transpire is still unknown. It might be that the Philippines starts thinking on what better ways to improve tourism in the land so that we stop sending OFWs abroad.
The Hong Kong and the Chinese people felt outraged and somehow dumped the blame on the entire Philippine nation as a whole. Some OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) employers have dismissed the services of their Filipino employees in retaliation of what happened to their countrymen. Many in Hong Kong have staged rallies in front of the Philippine embassy in Hong Kong to condemn the most barbaric act ever done by a dismissed police officer – to hostage tourists in open daylight. A lot of blogs in the internet all coming from Chinese writers condemning the Philippines and a lot of journalists all over the world ride on to the sentiments of the time just to get their articles read.
I am on their side really in condemning the act; but condemning the nation as a whole is entirely unfair. It is very quick for these people to throw judgment on the Philippines as a whole without even looking into how they are as a nation act as well. The Philippines does not condemn them when a ship load of drugs worth billions of pesos (millions of US dollars) coming from China are confiscated in Philippine ports similar to what came out from the news the day after the hostage incident. We don’t condemn them when substandard products are smuggled in our ports to penetrate the Philippine market and destroy legitimate trade. Drug trafficking is equally worse with hostage taking. Smuggling is equally sinful.
No matter how many times do we say that the hostage incident was an isolated case would not bare any weight if their minds are already closed to prejudging the nation. Haven’t they thought of it that a lot of Chinese migrants who came to the Philippines a long time ago to find greener Pasteur because they were starving in their homeland are now millionaires here? It is because of this nation’s hospitality that they were given the opportunity to grow and prosper which these Chinese could not have done anywhere else in the world.
When you travel to the Philippines, you will not see scenes like these everyday. The people would still welcome you with high regard because you are a foreigner in our land. Looking at Chinese with high respect is something that you will cherish in the Philippines alone because you will seldom find this kind of regard to Asians in the US or Europe and anywhere else. It is different of course if you go to those places and arrives there like an emperor, then probably Europeans or Americans will attend to you with majestic service. The Philippines does not discriminate people whether you are rich or poor, for as long as you are a visitor, you are very much welcome.
Let us broaden our minds and think of better ways to help improve humanity. Barbarism should not have any room in this new millennium. The hostage taking was a classic example of how illogical a lost man can become, and retaliating in the same illogical manner will not make you any different to the lost hostage taker at all. His mind was narrow to believe that his predicaments will be resolved by staging a grand hostage drama. Let us not narrow our minds then to believing that retaliating to every citizen of the Philippines can help contain the anger within.
I admire what Jacky Chan, a highly respected actor with high education, has said to what happened. He looked at the incident with a broader perspective and with an open mind. If an open mind is a thing only an emperor can afford, then who am I to blame you then if you get back at our OFWs working for you in Hong Kong in retaliation to the hostage drama.
