Since not all of us can go to Halsema to see the opium poppies planted by our kailian from Atok, Benguet (who was not aware that she was planting opium and that opium is illegal), I decided to upload this video which would hopefully make us a little more familiar with what the plant looks like.
You surely would not want those “pretending to be in a movie” drug enforcers to surround your house, point their AK-47 guns at you and your kids, and manhandle you like a common criminal mainly because you planted an opium poppy which you didn’t know was opium poppy, no?
Now that you are familiar with how an opium plant looks like, what would you do if you see some of them planted in one of our mountain ranges in the Cordilleras. Pick your answer from the multiple choices below.
A. Report it to authorities. Hope that they won’t accuse you as the planter. And wish that they will give you some reward.
B. If the opium was planted by someone, blackmail him/her to share whatever income s/he will get from the illegal plant or else you will report him/her to the authorities.
C. Steal the opium plants once they are ready for harvest. Get the seeds and plant them in a secret mountain range. Become very rich from trafficking opium. Be a drug lord and control all influential Filipino politicians. In other words, be the country’s king/queenmaker like those cocoa drug lords of Central/South America.
D. Take out your digital camera, take photos, and videos of the opium plant and blog about it. You will do this because you don’t want to get in trouble, you are not interested in any rewards if any, and you don’t want to help drug authorities because they are crooks.
So what’s your pick from the above choices? The Good Bill Bilig will probably pick letter A, the Evil Bill Bilig will choose letter C, while the Neither Good Nor Evil Bill Bilig will most likely choose letter D. What you gonna do?
RELATED POST: In Halsema, the Poppies Grow. VIDEO CREDIT: Simworks.
C sounds like fun! So i’d choose C. hehehe!!!
Sabi nitong katabi ko: “Yeah, Right!”
I would rather prefer “D”, those are beautiful flowers if only we could appreciate the beauty within it, but not to the point that we use those beautiful flowers with the most devastating effect..I admire the picture and the music of the photo video..Sometimes man abbused,just like the marijuana that is used for herbal medicine supposed to be, but we use them INSTEAD TO falsify our brain hehe.. duno the effect di ko pa sinubakan hehe..
Hi Ferri,
Meron din palang evil version si Gandang Igorota hehehe. Dapat tayong magpa-exorcise during the Holy Week para we will chose either “A” or “D”
Hi Nats,
You’re right, the flowers really look good. Kaya nga lang may negative side effects. As you said, may medicinal value din yata ang opium like marijuana. Huwag nga lang abusuhin at diyan na nakakasama pag inabuso.
These flowers of various colors and sizes are planted in many a front yards in the neighborhood I stroll. They are very pretty. They’re easy to find as all sorts of stores sell them.
I agree with nats, and I’d pick “D” myself. But did I understand right that they’re now guarding them? Why not uproot and burn, like what they do with MJ?
Oo nga pala, baka pwedeng mag-complain ang lola sa company na nagbenta sa kanya ng seeds, for reimbursement and for all the agony. Sue them for the grief that those seeds brought upon her and her family, he he he. On second thought, it’s not a big deal, it could be legal to distribute poppy seed from that country, huh?
Popppies in diff colors??? Didn’t know, thought they were all green like afghanistan’s..
Anyway, definitely not A, no reward pesos will come your way. Chance of dying of bangungot is greater than dreaming of your reward. B is too risky, that “someone” might get u eliminated, not worth it. Logical choice is C, only when everything goes w/o a snafu. Since those digicam experts were slightly thrashing my sony cyber shot cam, will sacrifice and get me da best digicam out there and follow D. Only coz of these lowly despicable
cops (ha ha, di naman lahat..).
Drug test for Lola Lilia may enorate her or put her behind those lace covered windows?? Hope not, she might be related. She seems forthcoming and nothing to hide. Won’t vouch for her though…quite touchy scenario.
Goodhealth once again..
TruBlue
oooppps..line 11, enorate should be exonerate..thx
TruBlue
Hi Bill,
I like what you said here: “not aware that she was planting opium and that opium is illegal.”
It’s certainly not a “novel” defense, but it can still pass off as a defense- depending on the judge hearing the case.
It reminds me of a cattle rustling case back home. The defendant raised this defense: he claimed to have picked up a rope – not knowing that there’s a carabao tied to the end of the rope.
Thanks..
Mandy M. Dornagon, Esq.
Attorney at Law
http://attydornagon.com
Hi Meling,
Yes, the latest reports I read stated that drug enforcers are guarding them. And you brought up a very valid point that I also didn’t think about. Oo nga ano, they should have burned the whole thing na instead of just guarding it. Weird.
The seeds, along with other cutflower seeds, were sent to her by a sibling from London who may or may not have included it by accident. Who knows. But, as you said, baka legal ang opium plant sa London as it is, based on your story about seeing them there in neighborhood yard, in the U.S. Thanks.
Hi TruBlue,
Hehe don’t be sensitive naman about your Sony digicam at least ikaw meron. Ako wala hehe. So you might want to do letter “D” now; kunan mo ng pictures/videos ang mga pulis na nagbabantay sa opium and ask them Meling’s question on why they are just guarding the plants and not burning it. Sige na, malapit ka naman yata sa Atok eh, mabisita mo pa si Lola Lilia 🙂 Thanks.
Hi Mandy,
It would be an interesting case kung sakaling the authorities would decide to file a charge against our Lola Lilia (nakikilola na rin ako hehe).
Siguro taga-Kiangan ang nag-raise ng defense na yan (rope and carabao). Thanks.
http://www.ethnobotanicals.com/opium-poppy-seeds.html
check this out.