EDITORIAL - Is Phl seriously against drugs or not?

What is wrong with this country? Last week, at the wake in northern Luzon of one of the Filipino drug mules executed in China, Vice President Jejomar Binay made it a point to go there and pay his respects.

 As vice president, there is no way to see the visit as anything but official, thereby sending the worst possible message to everybody in this country -- that this government holds convicted criminals in such high regard no less than the vice president had to go pay respect.

 To grieve and commiserate with families who lost loved ones is something that runs deep in the Filipino. But official acts of government need to conform to certain parameters regardless of the personal feelings of the officials performing them.

 If Binay felt personally saddened by the loss of a compatriot to the harsh but sovereign laws of another country, there are a variety of means at his disposal to express his sadness without compromising the official stand of government against all crimes.

 If Binay needed to convey his condolences to the family of the drug mule, he could have done the prudent thing to do, which is to send flowers or offer Masses. But for Binay to show up at the wake in person was, to say the least, very uncalled for.

 To be sure, the interests of its citizens must be of primary concern for all governments. But governments also need to instill law and order or else society will descend into chaos and not survive. The interests of one citizen must be weighed against the larger interests of others.

 And no matter what the personal feelings of anyone are regarding the execution of the drug mule, the fact still remains that she was a drug mule and must suffer the consequences of such a serious crime against society.

 The Philippines to this day continues to struggle against the drug menace in a battle that many fear it is losing. Its government simply cannot afford to be caught in ambiguities regarding its stand against the menace.

 If the government is serious in its battle against the evils of illegal drugs, it must manifest this seriousness in all its forms. For no less than the vice president to go to the wake of a convicted drug mule manifests the exact opposite of any seriousness in fighting drugs.