EDITORIAL - Three-day blindness

As this was being written, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and consequently Malacañang, which relies on the DFA for inputs, continues to be clueless about whether there were any Filipinos involved in the crash of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 at the San Francisco airport last Saturday.

If the Philippine government is that inefficient, it should not flaunt it. It should not keep on giving periodic statements to the media about how the Philippine consulate in San Francisco continues to check on the status of any Filipino passengers, if any.

There were no Filipino passengers on that ill-fated aircraft. Period. As early as early Sunday, it was already apparent to everyone -- except of course the clueless Philippine government functionaries -- that no Filipino was involved in the crash.

CNN and all the other international television networks, which apparently have better data gathering procedures than the Philippine government, were already announcing to the whole world that the only nationals involved in the crash were Koreans and Chinese, thus ruling out Filipinos.

As a non-party to the accident, the Philippines may be forgiven for a little delay in determining whether any of its nationals may be involved. But three days after the accident? To remain clueless three days after the accident is unforgiveable.

Moreover, it is embarrassing. It not only shows the kind of inefficiency people do not want to see in their government, it also exposes the inability of that government to be even aware that it suffers from such an efficiency.

Right up to Tuesday, or three days after the accident, the Philippine government cannot remain clueless as to whether there were any Filipinos on board the crashed aircraft. And the Philippine government cannot just say so in public, more so if it is the only one in the world that continues to stare at a blank wall.

It is one thing to be prudent and careful and not issue statements that might be proven wrong later. It is another to remain in the dark all the way up to Kingdom Come. More so if the ones flaunting such ignorance are the very agencies that are supposed to be in the know at once.