Filipinos asked to take ‘fuller responsibility’

For the umpteenth time, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has called on Filipinos to take “fuller responsibility” for their social behavior, to be vigilant against individuals who would net them into the dreaded illegal drug trade.
“They should not agree to carry any packages or luggage for strangers, even supposed friends or employers, or consent to carry packages in exchange for money,” DFA said as it called for a coordinated holistic campaign against illegal drugs.
“Our people can take fuller responsibility for their actions by always being on guard against such inducements,” it said.
DFA suggested that the campaign be led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), coupled with the “aggressive apprehension and prosecution” of international drug traffickers operating in the Philippines.
DFA’s call follows up on its recommendation in February this year for the creation of an inter-agency task force on drug couriers.
The execution on March 30 in southern China of Filipino drug mules Ramon Credo, Sally Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain gives the campaign more urgency, DFA conceded.
The campaign should be able to build on the intense publicity generated by the death by lethal injection of the Filipino drug couriers, DFA noted.
However, of the known 500 cases of Filipinos imprisoned abroad on drug-related charges, many are OFWs wanting to earn more to support families back in the Philippines.
In this regard, DFA said, the “protection of overseas Filipinos should start at home, where the capacity of the Philippine Government to help them is at its highest.”