With President Duterte's drive for war on drugs, regular drug raids have been occuring with good results. One of this week's raid resulted to a capture of a 50 year old laundry woman found with a small amount of SHABU, can just be for her own consumption. It was just a small amout, costing to about $200, the price shooting up due to less supply. But what made her a user?
"I dont get tired ."
It's really sad for her to resort to using drugs so she can do more work. Doing somebody's laundry doesn't pay much. It's manual so it's hard work as well. It's one of the jobs for those that didn't finish school or for stay-home mothers with kids that they can bring along while doing the laundry. In the provinces where there's no washing machines available, this is the norm. A day's work can earn $2-3 per household. This lady probably can do more households in one day. Take note though, work can be irregular. Some families make ends meet doing odd jobs, and more often, work isn't always there. And with kids to feed, school tuition fees, where can they get money from?
In the Philippines, poverty has always been a critical problem. The latest data in 2014, the Philippines' poverty line was a 100, 534 pesos per capita of income in a year. That's about $2,100, which 70% goes to food expenses annually.
I agree that not a lot of drug users aren't evil. This lady could just had become a drug pusher if she wanted to have more money. Compared to some politicians who have a higher than most regular income who resorted to protecting druglords for money.
(image from wsj.net)
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