Traffic

I wish I were talking about something as mundane as the speed by which we travel the roads of the city. But no. We have had our fill of the illegal drug trafficking trade, culminating with the execution of three Filipino drug mules caught and sentenced in China. I will leave the aftermath, or what I perceive to be the wrong direction everyone seems to be taking with regards to the three executed Filipinos. A lot has already been said, voiced out, texted and written about how the three seem to be “glorified”, so I’ll leave it at that.

 I am talking about on human trafficking, which honestly, I did not know has exponentially grown the past year. I’m reminded by the movie “Taken”, where Liam Neeson’s daughter is abducted by an Eastern European human trafficking syndicate specializing in turning young women into unwilling drug addicts and eventually, prostitution. Such a syndicate already exists in the Philippines. Recently, a fourteen year old girl was rescued from her captors, but not before she had already been subjected to the syndicate’s malevolent intentions. She is now back with her family. I cannot imagine the psychological stresses that will haunt her for a long time.

 In another case, a Bureau of Immigrations officer assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is being charged with human trafficking, after she tried to facilitate the departure of seven apparent victims of human trafficking. Who knows where these women would have ended up if they were able to leave the country! All because of an insider within the system of government. Such is the depth these syndicates’ tendrils have gone into the bureaucracy. We can only speculate as to who else in this government have already been blinded by the promises of quick wealth, care of the traffickers.

Which is why an intense information campaign with regards to human trafficking, their methods and means must be made available to the public. I would prefer it be spearheaded by government and non-government agencies, than by circumstances similar to what transpired with the three drug mules. If anything, their execution helped to generate awareness of the problem, and hopefully, the arrest of those behind it. With human trafficking, anyone can become a victim. All the more reason that everyone should be made aware of it, and know how to stop it!