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.

Illiteracy

It's definitely not illiteracy; we have one of the highest literacy rates in Asia. Then, how come many couldn't comprehend a "NO LOADING" sign? I sigh at the sight of them, the signs and the people; the proliferation of these signages all over the metro must have cost the government tons of money. The country's reading teachers and experts might have failed big time due to the increase of  street sign illiterates  who could not understand what those simple words and illustrations mean.

Disregard for signs and laws in general seems to be a reality in Philippine streets. I hope I am wrong.

I was dead tired from work one evening, and I just wanted to go straight home. This was what I did. I went to the transport terminal where, I knew, I would be assured of a seat. It was past nine already, and I decided on taking the bus since it's faster compared to a jeep, and I comfortably took my place by the window. At the Star Mall Alabang Terminal, I patiently waited for other passengers to get in for I know all buses were given a definite time to gather passengers; buses going beyond their alloted loading time literally take a beating from the terminal personnel who strike their sticks onto the buses' body to warn them of their 'overstaying.' So, just after a few minutes, the engine roared.

Just five meters away from the terminal, I saw more people on the street awaiting jeeps and buses. Jeepneys and buses took this chance to get more passengers along a street known to have a "CLOSE DOOR POLICY."

What's wrong here?

The bus terminal was a stone's throw away. Most, if not all, of the people waiting on the road were able-bodied and schooled citizens, yet they appeared to have no notion of a transport terminal. Public utility vehicles , on the other hand, risked the possiblitity of being issued a ticket for a common and known violation. As with the case of the bus I was on, the good traffic officer halted the bus so an exchange of tickets and IDs was to take place. This, among others, delayed my trip home for a few precious minutes.

You and I perfectly know that this is not an isolated situation. For as long as I could remember, people have not been responding very well to the words 'terminal' 'loading' and 'laws.' I wonder what will make them.