JEDDAH, 20 July — The turning back of seven Saudi men at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on July 10 by Philippine immigration officers caused one Indian colleague of mine to protest the decision. I was amazed by his reaction, believing that any sovereign nation has the ultimate right to decide who it wants to admit or exclude.
Although all the facts of what actually transpired at NAIA are still not known, it seems that the seven Saudis, arriving without visas, were planning to visit Mindanao. It just so happened that at that precise moment the Philippine government was planning a massive crackdown on Abu Sayyaf supporters. It is also a well-known fact that many Saudis have given both moral and financial support to various Philippine Muslim groups that are currently at war with the government. With the ongoing Abu Sayyaf kidnapping saga, in which three Americans among others are still being held captive, it’s no wonder that immigration officials balked at letting in a group of seven Saudis who intended to go to Mindanao.
What puzzled the immigration officers was that none of the seven could tell them where they would be staying in Mindanao as tourists. Would it be in a hotel, resort or the homes of Filipino friends? Surely no one just arrives and declares they are going to traipse around a dangerous and huge Mindanao?
In a slightly funny side incident, Saudi Airline’s station manager in Manila tried to intercede on behalf of the barred visitors and was then arrested himself for working in the Philippines on an expired tourist visa. As it turned out, the manager was having his work permit processed by the Bureau of Immigration.
The Philippines is an open and generous society. It usually welcomes most foreigners, including Saudis, with open arms. I have been to the Philippines many times myself without ever getting a visa beforehand. Upon arrival at NAIA, I was always admitted into the country as a tourist for 21 days. If I happened to stay beyond 21 days, getting an extension at the BID was easy and took only a few hours.
It is ironic that the Saudi ambassador in Manila should complain about the exclusion, since we are one of the hardest countries of the world to get into. Not only that, but nobody is allowed in without a visa, least of all Filipinos, unless they are a citizen of a Gulf Cooperation Council nation. Perhaps we should remember that the next time a Saudi complains about being denied entry into a country.
****
CIVIL rights groups in the Philippines have been expressing fears that human rights are being trampled on in the current government crackdown on Abu Sayyaf supporters in Mindanao. Military troops have been fanning out and arresting hundreds of people suspected of helping the rebels. Under instructions from the Department of Justice all must be charged within 36 hours or released. That’s less than two days, a much better standard than many countries that I know of.
I think that it is inevitable that someone’s rights get shortchanged during a crackdown, as by their very nature crackdowns are anti-democratic. As long as the government makes sure to keep these to a minimum and charges swiftly all of those against whom it has compiled evidence, then there will be less problems. Hopefully, the government will succeed in substantially weakening the Abu Sayyaf, who have been plaguing successive administrations with kidnappings of foreigners which harm the country’s image abroad immensely.
****
IT will be of little comfort to parents of children at the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) to know that their school is not the only one wracked by violent differences of opinion.
If you will remember, Efren Rodriguez, the IPSJ chairman, was mercilessly hit on the head with a metal chain by one of the school’s Filipino bus drivers on July 12 during an IPSJ assembly. Bloodied all over, Rodriguez had to be taken to a hospital for treatment. We were told by IPSJ officials that the cause of the attack was a misunderstanding provoked by people for reasons only they would know. According to our sources, Rodriguez and other school officials had actually decided to act favorably on the driver’s concerns but someone told him the contrary. Without asking any of the officials concerned, the driver went after Rodriguez, not only placing himself in trouble but ruining the whole democratic process that was going on.
I recently read an interesting article about how the former governor of Colorado is coping with being the education supervisor of Los Angeles County, the second biggest school district in the United States with over 700,000 students and an annual budget of $9 billion! He hasn’t succeeded yet in improving the school system’s standards but is battling on trying to do so. The fact that so many people in Los Angeles, teachers, politicians and parents, are locked in an intense battle over education and its attendant spoils, reminded me of the never-ending spats at Philippine schools in the Kingdom. In the case of Philippine schools in the Kingdom, unfortunately, it seems that anything that has to do with jobs, money or position brings out the worst in the Filipino.
Who would have thought that education could be such a lucrative concern? Lucrative enough to spawn bloody and life-threatening violence. Is this what we really want to teach our children? That violence is OK in the name of greed? I don’t think so.