MANILA, Philippines — The “taho” incident involving a Chinese woman may be a petty issue for some, but not for Senator Panfilo Lacson.
On Monday, Lacson backed the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) actions against Jiale Zhang, a Chinese national who threw taho (soy pudding) at a cop detailed at the Boni station of the Metro Rail Transit 3.
READ: Chinese woman charged for throwing ‘taho’ at MRT cop
“Well, tatanungin ko kayo, meron ba sa inyong natutuwa (Let me ask you: Is there anyone here who is happy about the incident)?” Lacson, a former PNP chief, said in a phone patch interview when asked about the incident.
“Sa akin lang, kasi she’s an alien, and she’s undesirable, so tama lang yung move ng PNP to have her declare as an undesirable alien (For me, she’s an alien and undesirable so the PNP’s move to declare her as an undesirable alien is right),” he said.
Aside from the cases filed against Jiale, Lacson also backed her deportation.
“Dapat lang talaga tuluy-tuloy i-deport na (It is only proper to deport her) because she’s undesirable. We will not like her to be here in the country,” he said.
The senator disagreed with some people who viewed the incident as trivial.
If a Filipino does the same thing in Hong Kong, he might end up in jail, deported and maybe even banned forever, Lacson said.
“Ang sampal sa atin dyan, kawawa na nga tayo tapos meron pang mangyayaring ganyan, lalong naha-highlight pa na kawawa talaga tayo (It’s a big insult to us. It highlights our pitiful condition),” he said.
“So dapat bilang mga Pilipino, magkaisa rin tayo na, hey maliit lang kaming bansa, mahina kaming bansa, mahirap kaming bansa, huwag nyo naman kaming apihin ng ganyan na parang kayan-kayanan nyo kami. Tayuan naman natin,” the senator added.
(As Filipinos, we must be united. Even if our country is small, weak and poor, let us not allow them to treat us this way. Let’s stand by it). /ee