Drugs and gambling

Hopefully, now that our government is no longer coddling and/or kowtowing to our big neighbor to the north, we can look objectively at and deal with two major problems plaguing the country: illegal drugs and illegal gambling.

Instead of the small fry, the users or the tingi-tingi sellers of illegal drugs, authorities should now focus on and use its resources to catch the big fish, the large-scale drug smugglers, manufacturers and distributors.

The arrest the other day of the son of a top official who imported high grade cannabis sends a positive signal that government has finally realigned its focus to zero in on major players. The public, and especially media, should be vigilant and keep an eye on the direction of the present version of the “drug war.”

As for illegal gambling, the POGOs have got to go. Whether the tourist “blacklist” by China is misinformation or not, the fact is that we are fostering an industry targeted at Chinese gamblers so that they can evade the ban in their country and carry out here in our country what is illegal in their country. There is a very big disconnect in this view, especially if we consider that the previous administration claimed a “special friendship” with China.

The pro-POGO voices threaten lost jobs and empty office spaces, but solutions to these concerns have been pointed out. The Mandarin-speaking locals employed by POGOs can easily be trained to become tour guides for when the Chinese tourists come again (and they won’t as long as we have POGOs, blacklist or not). The office spaces can house BPOs and other businesses that should be coming in when the investment pledges come to fruition.

Instead of bellyaching and whining, they should put their minds to re-inventing themselves, re-tooling their skills toward truly productive and truly legal activities. – Lesley Santos, Pasay City