Red for Japan!

My co-teacher Steh proudly wearing her nice red shir

All employees of the school are asked to wear a white or red top for the next three days as our way of showing support and condolences for disaster-stricken Japan. I am slightly defying this order by wearing maroon. You see, I take the the public transport a.k.a. jeep to get to my school in the posh Ayala-Alabang Village, and all construction workers must enter the village using uniformed-color shirts and they take the jeep, too. Today just happens to be red t-shirt day for our dear laborers.

By entering the wealthy village using the jeep, I am already branded as poor; I owe it to whatever dignity I have left in me not to be identified as a construction worker. I have got nothing against these wonderful skilled workers, but I just would not want to be marked as one. I am never a fan of labels and unappealing uniforms.

Tomorrow, I shall wear white, perhaps although, personally, I don't think it has to be seen in the color of the shirt or the pins one wears to express grief over or support for something. I am one with everyone whose prayers are for Japan. I laud the school, however, for the awareness they are trying to raise among the members of the school community. Japan is devastated by the triple catastrophe it is experiencing. Whatever little help we could give will surely mean something. I give them my prayers.

That's me wearing a maroon shirt

Buy condoms in Las Pinas



A young family



Since I work around the  Barangay Ayala-Alabang area, I can't help but be concerned with the barangay ordinances they come up with. The barangay council of south Manila's most affluent village address recently issued an order seeking to penalize anyone selling and buying contraceptives without a doctor's prescription. This ordinance made some noise the past week, mostly objections, citing that it conflicts with other laws and presents itself to privacy issues. As for the part of the barangay, they were firm in their ordinance. However, the city of Muntinlupa has recently disapproved the ordinance at the height of the issue. This now means that anyone in Barangay Ayala-Alabang can freely buy condoms regardless of reason. Getting a prescription costs at least P250, whereas a three-piece condom pack is just P10. If this ordinance got in the way, I think I would suggest to a possible condom consumer to shell out eight pesos for fare to Las Pinas or Alabang instead of seeking a prescription worth P250. It is good that it didn't. I have to laud the barangay, though; it did show some balls in there by coming up with that barangay resolution. But, apparently, there were more with bigger balls, who went against the influential barangay council.

The barangay condom issue came at a time when the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill is making its rounds at Congress. At mass this Sunday, there was a prayer dedicated to counter the RH Bill. The sight of the people kneeling and saying the prayer sends a strong message, I have to admit. I did kneel with the rest, but I prayed more for my future wife and mothers who would make decisions in their lives later on. I hope they make good ones as the one I am making in support of the RH Bill.

Passenger Series 2: The postman

I have seen him a couple of times before. He takes the jeep to Ayala-Alabang Village, usually around noon time when the sun is at its peak. Sometimes, he travels with a partner; that day when I took his picture, he was alone. The posh Ayala-Alabang Village is his turf. I just don't know if he covers the entire 700 hectares of the village by foot. Unlike the many postal employees I see, he doesn't have a bicycle with him. He wears a long-sleeve shirt with PHILPOST on it and a fisherman's cap. That is his work uniform. It's good to see that there is still work for the likes of him although I doubt if he still gets to deliver social letters. I surmise all he has in his messenger bag are bills and more bills.

I don't think I'll be getting anything from him,  for, one, I don't live in the village and, two, I get all my mail in my house in Paranaque and not in my workplace. The only time we will ever cross path will be when I take the jeep with him again. But if ever he has something for me, I pray he brings with him some good news. I would really like to have some.

Fare

If I had chosen to work in a school in Makati, I would be spending around P 200++ a day on fare and food. I realized that a day's food and fare allowance in Makati would be able to pay for a whole year's education of one student in this school I'm teaching in, and yet some of my students wouldn't easily be able to shell out that much come enrollment. I teach in this mission-driven school inside a posh subdivision in the southern Manila area. Some students of mine are children of househelps, or househelps themselves. Some are working students while others are children of regular Filipino families who desire a good yet inexpensive secondary education.

Since the school is in this posh village, commuters can only take the recognized jeeps made for village transport. On my way to work one day, I happened to take the jeep with my student. Our small talk began.

"Bakit ka absent kahapon?"

"Nagkaproblema, sir, sa bahay ng amo ko," he respectfully replied.

"Ahh...ok." I did not want the talk to continue as I sensed it was not supposed to be discussed with me.

"Ninakawan po kasi yung bahay. Inimbistagahan ako ng mga security." He continued, "Wala naman ako palagi sa bahay. Kasama ko amo ko palagi."

I listened to his story although my eyes were fixed on the road ,and without me noticing, he was handing P 14.00 to the driver. "Dalawa po 'yan."

There was something wrong there. I hurriedly looked for my purse and gave him the same amount. He refused. I didn't push it since I felt he had sincere intentions on paying for the both us. But I planned to pay for the both of us, too. It's in one of my jeepney fare treat rules (see 1.2. below). I felt bad and thought of the extra seven pesos he had to spend on me.

This got me thinking as to what dictates paying for someone else's fare? I have my own guidelines as to when one can shoulder someone else's fare.

1. Relationships
1.1. A boyfriend to a girlfriend
1.2. A teacher to a student
1.3. A parent to minor children
1.4. An older and wealthier family member to a less-fortunate relative
1.5. A boss to a subordinate
1.6. A husband to his wife
1.7. A working adult child to his/her parents or grandparents
1.8. A richer friend to his/her poorer friends
1.9. An ordinary person to a bloodsucking free loader
1.10. An eager friend to a long-lost friend
1.11. A pretentious person to people who believe that the person is moneyed
1.12. A former student to his/her retired teacher
1.13. A boy to a girl whom he is courting
1.14. A genuinely good person to others

2. Conditions
2.1. It's one's first pay check or payday.
2.2. One has extra cash.
2.3. It's a favor being returned.
2.4. It's culture.
2.5. There's only one person to pay for.

The list can vary from person to person. Treating one for fare is still subject to certain conditions.

I explicitly did not include to write worker to a co-worker, although this is a practice of many, because it is not to happen while I'm in my present department. A senior member of the department during the early days of my commuting to school said, "Sir, kanya-kanya tayo dito ah." Huh? Like I would ask anything from her. I have seven pesos in my wallet noh! That was one of the very few exchanges I had with her. I plan to keep it that way.  She is so not like my student whose gesture will be rewarded in heaven, but while here on earth , he will be rewarded as I think of him when I work on the conduct grades. God bless him!

Gate Pass

Entering a posh subdivision like Ayala Alabang Village (AAVA) may bring a lot of inconvenience to a commuter especially when he or she is a non-resident. Imagine you have to fall in line to secure a piece of paper allowing you entry into the subdivision. Upon entering the gates, you get off the jeep to show your entry pass or any recognized ID; the security officers check your belongings as well. It is pretty much like the airport, minus the frisking and the metal detectors. And since the jeeps take specific routes, you will have to walk some more if your destination is not along that route. Oh well.You are lucky if you are exempt from this security ritual. I cannot completely blame the AAVA for the measures they undertake; the residents pay big bucks for them to bask in their expensive southern Manila sun.

I remember a few years ago, the AAVA implemented tighter security measures. Few days earlier, there was a reported 'robbery.' Since it was a big incident that concerned some important people, the security personnel took precautions and inspected everyone --- anyone who did not use a private car when entering and exiting the village gates was a suspect. I felt more poor and low every time they would inspect my bag in hopes of finding loots. They failed all the time. In my mind, the thieves were those with cars and not the helpless bag-toting commuters! Later I found out from an AAVA resident and neighbor of the victims that it was a family fight over money that had gone violent. To add credibility to the true story, I read a similar blind item/story on a daily that week. Sad story.

Poor rich people, poorer poor people.

to be continued...