SOCIAL media was abuzz last week about three things, including the “Fight of the Century” and the Veloso case.
But there was one other subject that went viral: The racial slurs made on Facebook against Filipinos by a thirtyish Thai working in the Philippines. His name is Prasertsri Kosin, known to netizens as “Koko Narak.”
Unfamiliar to many at the beginning, this Thai had been bashing Filipinos using his Facebook account for weeks. Quick-thinking netizens were able to digitally screen-capture his statements and circulate them online. To cut to the chase, Filipinos began engaging Narak in fierce debates, asking why a foreigner who earns his living in the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines is allowed to make racial slurs against its host country.
Narak, 32, has been earning his living in the country for the last three years at Cognizant Philippines, a BPO company based in Taguig City.
Screenshots that went viral revealed how damaging his words were. He described a Philippine fast-food chain as “stupid tasting.” But the brunt of his racial slurs came by way of his description of Filipinos, which he said were better off working as “maids and toilet lickers.”
While the exercise of freedom of expression in the Philippines is alive and well, more so online, there were many who took serious offense at the racial slurs. Even in the most democratic of countries, a racial slur is considered unwarranted and intolerable and, in some cases, even punishable by law. To think that Narak, a foreign national, had been earning his living in the Philippines only made matters more unacceptable.
Narak had since issued an apology for his statements, but, as expected, it was received with cold shoulders. No person by whatever nationality takes racial insults sitting down. The fiasco eventually reached the ears of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), which quickly decided to deport the infamous Thai.
In a report by DWIZ882, BI Commissioner Siegfred B. Mison issued a statement online on the bureau’s action: “Power of Facebook: This deportation process was initiated by some well-meaning friends who sent me private messages together with the link of the blogs posted by this foreign national.
“While the Philippines respects freedom of expression, we in the bureau cannot tolerate or allow abusive and foul language, especially coming from foreigners as against our own people. The subject national, upon receiving the charge sheet from our Legal Division, surrendered himself to the bureau and opted for voluntary deportation. He was supposedly terminated by his employer and has been receiving threats. He is now quarantined in our warden facility as we procure the necessary orders and clearances to implement the deportation.”
There is a thin line between the exercise of freedom of expression and the exercise of malice. While deportation may not be the better answer, it can provide safety for someone who has not taken into consideration the possible consequences for his statements.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano