Three dead Filipino drug mules later...

It's the day after three Filipinos were executed over at mainland China.  All three were found guilty of carrying drugs.  Many people question if all three of them knew they were carrying drugs or if some (maybe one?) were just unwitting victims used by unscrupulous individuals.

It would really be tragic if just one of them didn't know that they were bringing heroin into China.  Forget the fact that each of them carried in excess of 4 kilos of heroin.  Hard to overlook that kind of weight.  (If they didn't know what they were carrying, what did they think it was?)  Unfortunately, whether or not they knew didn't really seem to matter.  The fact is that Chinese law called for them to be punished by virtue of execution.

Hopefully, the issue doesn't end there.  (This might be a tall order given the short memory of Filipinos...)

A representative of a human rights group hit the nail right on the head.  The reason that there are Filipinos who end up becoming drug mules is because of the lack of opportunities for gainful employment in the Philippines.

That makes perfect sense.  After all, why would anyone want to risk life and liberty in a foreign land (communist China, no less) when they could find a decent source of income at home?  Granted there are (sadly) those who might still do it, but you have to question their intent.  If there were decent jobs available, only those with a get-rich-quick mentality would agree to becoming drug mules.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to poverty and the lack of social services.  And that is due to the massive corruption here in the Philippines.

President P-Noy won on a platform of change.  "Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap!"  -- If there were no corruption, there would be no poverty.

Now, if only that slogan could be implemented into concrete action plans all over the country for it to become a reality.
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