“Television reports showed that Rolando Mendoza, the cold-blooded hostage-taker, was laid in his house in a coffin draped in the Philippine national flag. The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines condemns the brutality of the criminal and expresses its strong indignation over this irritating act . . . The person who deserves a national flag at the funeral should be someone of heroism, decency and integrity, not someone who inflicts atrocity on innocent lives. This is nothing but a smear on the dignity of the Philippine national flag.”
The Chinese official statement is candid and true that the draping of a flag on a casket is reserved for heroes and citizens who lived an exemplary and honorable life.
(At this point, may I remember my hero Muelmar Magallanes, an 18 year-old boy. At the height of typhoon Ondoy he went out from his modest home and patrolled the flooded streets of Manila and saved 30 lives. He died while working in the flood waters doing his search and rescue effort but I am frustrated that his casket was not draped with a Philippine flag. He was interred somewhere instead of the Libingan ng Mga Bayani [Hero’s Cemetery]).
The news story tells instances of finger pointing and rationalizations about the flag-draping issue. Mendoza, a decorated but sacked police officer is believed to be responsible for the killing of eight Chinese tourists in the now famous massacre at the park. In fairness to Mendoza before falling from grace, his feats are commended. Adulations and decorations that made him the talk of his department turned instantly into dust when he hijacked a tourist bus loaded with foreign nationals that ended in tragedy. How could a police officer do the unthinkable?
As a result of the crime of one man, our diplomatic relations with China is deteriorating rapidly but I am optimistic that when heads cool off, everything will be back to normal. All of a sudden as of this writing, our high profile delegation to mainland China and its Hongkong territory is momentarily unwelcome. Five hundred Chinese flights coming to the country were canceled; a high ranking Chinese premiere’s visit is put on hold indefinitely; our consulate in the former British territory is bombarded with protests. Two Chinese Magsaysay awardees from the mainland are not coming for the ceremony. Hongkong authorities want to participate in the hostage-taking investigation while the Philippines invoked its right of sovereignty. Here and around the world, questions and condemnations are rife on our police capabilities and government efficiency. Without pun intended, the world is laughing at us.
Everything is falling apart between us and the Chinese.
Everything is falling apart between us and the Chinese.
The root of all of these is caused by a single person and certainly, he does not deserve a flag on his casket or any farewell honor. His remains do not even deserve a police uniform. He did evil to his country, compatriots and the innocent who happen to be foreign nationals who came and pay a visit to our country and us.
It is time that we review our knowledge in observing flag protocol. The flag, we were taught when we were in the elementary grades, is the symbol of our country and her people. In it rests the history of the country and our struggles etched with our sweat, blood and tears.
What an insult to our heroes and our dignity as a nation to see a flag draped on the coffin of a man who put this country into shame and now the subject of hatred!
We are in a difficult time. The country must quickly recover from where it fell. It’s time to set aside political differences, join hands even for a moment and rally behind our president and the government. Each of us has a role to play to make this government stronger in this time of need. We must not forget that we are a people under one flag which all of us must honor and respect. -30-
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