EDITORIAL - Our country, for better or for worse

There are always two sides to a story. Here is the other side as far as the recent deportation of a European Union socialist party member and the arrest of an Australian nun is concerned. The two foreigners were engaged or tried to engage in activities that apparently displeased the Philippine government. And so it did what was its sovereign right to do.

If these official acts did not sit well with certain people, they are of course free to eat their hearts out. But the fact remains that the two foreigners did what no Filipino citizen would do in their own respective countries. In other words, if you meddle in the affairs of another country, you have to be prepared to suffer the consequences of what no Filipino would do in your country.

To be sure, we have seen on TV, read in the news, or otherwise know for a fact that there are Filipinos who do join protest actions in foreign countries. But these Filipinos are invariably already citizens of these countries. What these Filipinos do in protest in these countries are for their own interest as new citizens of those countries.

What you do not see are Philippine passport holders engaging in activities that might get them into trouble in countries where they happen to be in. Whether it is fear of reprisals or plain apathy does not matter. What is important is that these Filipinos know where they stand and recognize the limits of what are expected of them as guests in a foreign land.

And that is precisely what a foreigner is, a guest. That is the reason why you do not kick in the door when you visit another country. You knock on the door softly and ask politely to be let inside. That is what applying for a visa is, to ask permission. Once you are allowed in, you have to be respectful and mindful of your actions.

Maybe the EU official and the Australian nun really did nothing wrong. Maybe they just happened to be on the wrong side of somebody's official pique. But just the same, this is our country, not theirs. In a situation where the choices do not really descend into something as dire as murder, maybe it is in the best interest of our own country to be on its side. For better or for worse, it is we who will always remain Filipinos. The others will always be foreigners, aliens to all of us.