The Chinese connection

For several years now, China has been intensifying its fight against drug trafficking especially since it has become a major transit route for international drug syndicates operating in Africa and Central Asia. In 2009, more than 50,000 drug trafficking cases were tried in Chinese courts, with almost 28 tons of drugs seized by Chinese authorities. Of particular concern is the increasing number of foreigners involved in the illegal drugs trade, especially women who bring in mostly heroin and methamphetamine that weigh an average of more than one kilogram.

China executed a British national in June 2009 and a Japanese citizen in June last year despite repeated calls for clemency from the convicts’ respective governments. And just recently, the Hualien District Court imposed 22 life sentences and 210 years in prison on a Chinese convicted of drug pushing. According to information we received, 209 Filipinos have been arrested in China for being drug mules with a total of 70 given the death sentence but with two-year reprieves.

If China is strict with its own citizens and other foreigners found violating anti-drug trafficking laws, is it any wonder then why it is standing firm in its decision to impose the death penalty on the three Filipinos who have been convicted of drug trafficking? As Filipinos, we commiserate with the families of these overseas Filipino workers whose hopes and dreams for a better life have been shattered and whose lives hang in the balance. But as revealed by Tessie Ang-See, the three Filipinos facing the death sentence in China knew they were smuggling illegal drugs, and that it was not the first time these people have brought in drugs to China. Sadly, poverty is the most compelling reason why many of these OFWs have agreed to become drug couriers — an extremely risky undertaking that offers quick earnings of as much as $3,000 for every kilo of illegal drugs, depending on the purity and quality of the “product.”

No one will argue that no country should ever bend over backwards when it comes to punishing those guilty of illegal drug trafficking. Drugs not only destroy lives; they are also the number one cause of heinous crimes. Brazil for instance is intensifying the war against drug trafficking and drug use by establishing 49 regional centers in public universities where health professionals will be trained and drug addicts will be treated. Aside from prevention, the focus will also be on helping users deal with the addiction and giving assistance to their families.

In Mexico, the drug wars are crippling the tourism industry, with more than 34,000 people killed in drug-related violence in the last four years. The Mexican government is spending billions to combat the drug gangs who have become very powerful, with even policemen acting as lieutenants for drug lords. The US has been especially affected because an estimated $40 billion worth of drugs from Mexico pass through the US border every year — money which allows these gangs to smuggle high powered weapons that they use against Mexican and US authorities. Incidentally, a fatal heroin called “China White” because of its purity is diverted to the so-called Golden Triangle (encompassing Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) with the United States as a main destination.

In the Philippines, majority of clandestine drug laboratories are located in Metro Manila, and approximately 60 percent of foreign drug suspects are Chinese nationals who have transferred their operations precisely because China has intensified its crackdown on illegal drugs. Ask ordinary people why the Chinese (and other foreign nationals for that matter) prefer the Philippines as a center for their illegal operations and they will most likely tell you that it’s because we do not follow our own dictum of zero tolerance for drug traffickers. It is a fact that several foreign suspects got away for unknown reasons and one couldn’t also help wonder why drug couriers are able to get in and out of our airports despite the presence of sniffing dogs and scanners.

China’s decision allowing our vice president Jojo Binay to meet the president of their Supreme People’s Court and the subsequent postponement of the execution of Sally Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain is a positive development, but there is no mistaking China’s strong message — “We don’t tolerate anyone going against our laws.” The high profile drug charges against Ilocos Sur Congressman Ronald Singson in Hong Kong and the possibility of conviction is already a clear sign of what the Chinese message is. The underlying message, too, is what a diplomat conjectures — the Chinese are up to this day disappointed with the Philippine government’s handling of the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis.

As a La Salle professor pointed out, there is a great difference between China’s and our legal system (including the imposition of the death sentence) and as such, we should be careful in dealing with Chinese authorities to avoid any embarrassment on both sides considering the sensitivity of the issue. But the most important fact is that China is now the number two biggest economy in the world and fast becoming a super power. Undoubtedly, we must nurture our relationship with them, perhaps in the same way we value our relationship with the United States. In reality, China has more to offer today in terms of trade and economic assistance than any other country in the world. Chinese Ambassador Liu has told me on several occasions that his country is very eager to expand economic ties with the Philippines.

Clearly, our Chinese connection is extremely important. We cannot afford to make any more diplomatic goof-up like what happened with Taiwan and the Quirino Grandstand hostage incident.

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