MANILA Mayor Isko Moreno has valid reasons why he is pushing for the deportation of Chinese national Zhou Ziyi, who incurred a string of street violations recently.
The Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) reported that Zhou attempted to flee when he got flagged for a traffic infringement, rammed vehicles along the way, nearly running down an enforcer, and capped it off by spitting on a uniformed police officer.
To make things worse, he was found in possession of a sachet of suspected shabu. He was apparently “high” on drugs, which explained his erratic behavior.
Zhou also failed to present a real driver’s license and only managed to show a picture of it taken from his cell phone.
Moreno sought the assistance of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to facilitate the swift deportation of Zhou, whom he regards as an undesirable alien.
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The mayor wants the suspect kicked out of the country pronto, especially since the cases he is facing are all bailable, and the alien may just get released and disappear.
Moreno believes the suspect is a danger to the community. If he can do those things in Manila, he can repeat them in other cities as well.
He is correct. If Zhou bails himself out, he can commit more offenses, seemingly with the thought that you can do anything in the Philippines if you have the money to throw around.
Many Chinese nationals staying in the Philippines are law-abiding people. Some of them, just like Zhou, are engaged in illegal activities and have no respect for our country’s laws nor the agents they represent, as shown by the spitting incident.
Some are involved in crimes ranging from extortion, illegal drugs, human trafficking to kidnapping. These undesirable aliens do not fear the law.
Meantime, in the West Philippine Sea, the Chinese coast guard and even their fishermen continue to bully Filipinos fearlessly and drive them away from their decades-long traditional fishing grounds.
They assume that because they have the money and the influence or power, they can get away with anything in a friendly country that is perceived to be weak and corrupt. This is why many foreigners look down upon Filipinos and their government.
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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email [email protected] or tweet @Side_View. Read current and past issues of this column at http://www.tempo.com.ph/category/opinion/firing-line/
