Misplaced compassion

The Filipino’s proclivity towards making rash judgments is shown once again in the outpouring of sympathy for the old man in Asingan, Pangasinan, who stole his neighbor’s mangoes and was charged in court.

Eighty-year-old Leonardo “Lolo Narding” Floro got misplaced compassion from the public after he was jailed for the theft.

Floro really stole the mangoes, period. He deserved to be charged in court.

He had been stealing from his neighbor’s mango tree in the past before the neighbor, Robert Hong, who was portrayed in early news as a rich man, decided that enough is enough and filed charges against him.

In fact, Hong is just a truck driver and quarry worker. That’s a hell of a rich man!

Every time Floro was caught stealing mangoes – not by pieces but by kaing (crates!) – he would apologize to Hong and steal from him again.

Ten crates of mangoes are no longer for food, as Floro claimed, but for personal gain. Floro was selling the stolen mangoes.

Barangay officials mediated between Floro and Hong every time the old man was caught stealing the latter’s mangoes.

Netizens have threatened Hong with bodily harm for filing charges against Floro.

Even the police in Asingan town got into the act and chipped in for Lolo Narding’s bail. The police were driven to do that because of the flood of sympathy from netizens.

The old man was able to collect tens of thousands of pesos from bleeding hearts. Some netizens even promised to take care of Lolo Narding’s basic needs.

Does it pay to be a thief?

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It seems that the Filipino doesn’t weigh things before arriving at a conclusion.

We saw that in the Vizconde massacre case in 1991, wherein those accused were deemed guilty by the public even before the court verdict. The judge who tried the multiple murder-rape case was obviously influenced by the public sentiment. We now know that the accused were found innocent by the Supreme Court.

We saw the Filipino’s propensity for rash judgment in the case of truck driver Angelo dela Cruz who was held hostage by Iraqi militants in exchange for the withdrawal of the Philippine medical contingent in Iraq.

The flood of sympathy for Dela Cruz, who was not supposed to be in Iraq as there was a ban in sending workers to that country, forced then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to give in to the Iraqi militants’ demand.

He was held captive for a few days in July 2004 and released a week later after we withdrew our medical contingent in that war-torn country.

One graphic picture of “over-acting” or going overboard in sympathy for Dela Cruz was then Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman hugging the obstreperous Filipino contract worker, supposedly to protect him from the media.

Dela Cruz returned home to a hero’s welcome.

Dela Cruz got millions of pesos from bleeding hearts, with no less than President Arroyo giving him a new house and scholarships for all of his eight children!

Dela Cruz’s popularity got so much into his head that he ran for town councilor in Pampanga but lost. Apparently, his townmates knew his real character.

Dela Cruz was fired from his job, given to him by another bleeding heart, after he was caught smoking in a prohibited area at the Clark International Airport.

Now, let’s look at the consequences of sympathizing with Dela Cruz.

The country became a pariah to the free world for giving in to the Iraqi terrorists’ demand.

We were ridiculed as a nation of cowards. American popular comedian Jay Leno made a wry comment about the Filipinos on the issue of Dela Cruz.

Leno said: “A new world record has been set in the 100-meter dash, it was set by Filipino troops fleeing Iraq.”

Let’s admit it, Leno was right.

The military aid promised by then US President George W. Bush never came.

The military aid was in the form of helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, Hercules cargo planes and other military hardware.

The Bush government had implored President Arroyo not to give in to the demand of the terrorists by withdrawing the Philippine medical mission.

Anyway, the stint of the Philippine mission in Iraq was about to end in a month!

But GMA, who was running for president at the time, gave in to pressure from her unthinking countrymen who would not vote for her if she didn’t grant the demand of the Iraq terrorists.

The Bush administration considered the Philippines a non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally.

As a NATO ally, a country in Europe receives valuable financial and military assistance from the United States even without asking for them.

Bush gave our country the “non-NATO ally” tag during GMA’s first state visit to the US on Nov. 15-20, 2002.

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The country mourns the passing of a great diplomat, former foreign affairs secretary Roberto “Bobby” Romulo who followed in his father’s footsteps, Carlos P. Romulo.

During the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, Bobby Romulo was fired as foreign affairs secretary for no reason except to satisfy the cry for blood by the public over the issue of Flor Contemplacion.

Also fired as a sacrificial lamb in the altar of saving FVR’s butt was labor secretary Nieves Confesor.

As I said in Tuesday’s column, the FVR administration was on the brink of collapse over the Flor Contemplacion issue. Firing Romulo and Confesor saved the day for Mr. Ramos.

Contemplacion, a housemaid, was executed by the Singapore government for murdering her friend, Delia Maga, and four-year-old Nicholas Huang.

The Singapore judicial system, patterned after that of Britain’s, is just and Contemplacion’s death by hanging was reasonable.

However, Filipinos back home protested Flor’s execution, again because of misplaced compassion.