Dead drunk

HER name says it all -- how much Precious meant to her parents. And when Precious made it to the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City, what an occasion for pride and celebration that must have been for her family, as well as her townmates in Trinidad town in the northern province of Benguet.

When I dropped in the other day at Precious Baldo's wake, her parents were wearing UP T-shirts. Former Benguet Congressman Ronald Cosalan was also there, and he talked about how rare it was for people from the Cordillera region to make it to UP Diliman. The congressman himself graduated from UP Diliman, first obtaining a degree in political science and then finishing law, so he must have identified closely with Precious, a philosophy major due to graduate next year, with plans to go on to law or medicine. Precious died four days after a BMW sedan rammed into a sidewalk near one of UP's dormitories, where she and her companions were passing time before a concert. Besides Precious, two other students were brought to hospitals in critical condition, while five others suffered less severe injuries. The two occupants of the car, Richard Ong and Dick Kenneth Soriano, were described as "reeking of liquor" when they were apprehended after the accident.

We are bombarded with ads that tell us how drinking enhances one's masculinity, how it fosters camaraderie and community spirit, "iba ang may pinagsamahan," with a split-second token reminder at the end of each ad saying, "Drink moderately."

But what is "moderate" for the Filipino drinker, especially the male? I once heard someone claiming to an American that Filipinos handle their drinks well, and that we don't have the problem of binge drinking like they do in the States.

Sure. Check our beerhouses and watch how people drink. We do binge, and not necessarily late at night. Precious and her companions were hit by the BMW at 6:30 p.m., with such great impact that the car's front bumper fell off. It is clear the two kids in the BMW had been drinking earlier that afternoon.

One can't help but wonder about things beyond the usual lethal mixture of alcohol and drinking. There's class and power involved as well. A poor man who gets drunk drags himself home, certainly still a nuisance to his family but more or less safely grounded. In fact, if anything does happen it's usually the drunken fool getting mugged on the way home.

A rich drunk kid, on the other hand, with some sleek car like a BMW, maybe with a license plate carrying magical numbers like "8" [the license plate number of congressmen] and other trappings of power, now claims all the roads for his own, converted into one drag racing strip for his private use. And woe to anyone who tries to stop these power-crazed drivers, especially if they have a gun.

In fact, the television cameras that rushed to the scene of the accident at UP caught the two young men arguing with, almost threatening, the police and hinting they had political connections.

What can we do? I'm cynical about passing new laws but it might help to have tough sanctions against "DUI" (driving under the influence). In the United States, spurred by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) who lost their children to intoxicated drivers, DUI penalties have become stiffer each year. Fines can reach as high as 2,000 dollars, jail terms up to five years, even if the driver has injured no one and the driver's license can be permanently revoked. Some states have even classified habitual offenders as felons, meaning they could lose their right to vote. The message is clear: Drunken driving is a serious crime.

Mind you, even with fairly good law enforcement in the developed countries, the tough laws are not enough to deter drunken driving. There's a pathological side to all this, of addiction combined with distorted notions of power. So the laws also require offenders to undergo psychological tests and to get treatment if they are alcoholics.

Whether in the United States or the Philippines, we badly need to rethink and reorient our drinking culture. For starters, we'd have to challenge norms that equate hospitality with free-flowing alcoholic drinks, or that pressure people to drink out of "pakikisama" (getting along).

I'm already seeing some encouraging changes locally, taking off from Western countries: For example, invitations to parties will state that alcohol will be available for guests from a cash bar, meaning you have to pay for your drinks. A good host, too, will not think twice these days about gently chiding guests who are pushing the limit with their alcohol, and for those who have gone overboard, the host may have to look for someone to drive the inebriated home, or suggest the person stay overnight.

When the gang goes out drinking, or to a party, it should also become standard practice to have someone as the evening's designated driver, that person agreeing to keep off alcohol so he or she can get everyone home safely.

Precious' mother, Nancy, is a vegetable vendor and her father, Bernard, is a meter reader. Humble people with humble dreams, shattered after two kids had a bit too much during happy hour.