Mary Jane comes home

For sure, there will be many epal or credit-grabbing moments with the return to the country today of Mary Jane Veloso.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

Politicians will be scrambling to promise her ayuda courtesy of taxpayers. After all, their generosity won't cost them a single cent out of pocket. And there will be more where the ayuda will come from, with the 2025 national budget packed with billions for patronage (AKAP, AICS, the padded public works allocation) on top of the new pork barrel, the unprogrammed appropriations.

If we didn't have such folks with the gall to call themselves public servants, there will surely be far fewer Filipinos who are compelled to find work—any work—overseas, even if it means leaving their loved ones at home.

With universal quality education, our people need not take on jobs overseas that citizens of the host countries refuse to do. Better education and higher skills mean decent compensation and a long-term, sustainable way out of poverty, unlike occasional dole-outs that depend on the political season.

We have one Filipino drug mule saved from execution or life in prison in a foreign land. We still have dozens more, languishing behind bars in other countries including China, which like Indonesia is tough on drug trafficking. Some mules go into the illegal trade willingly, aware of the massive profits from drug trafficking. The sustained global crackdown on prohibited drugs helps reduce the scourge, but greater risks also drive up prices and consequently the profits.

Others, however, engage in drug trafficking with fear and reluctance, driven by desperation arising from financial need. Still others are genuinely unaware of the illegal nature of the activity, but are conned into serving as mules.