My heart is still breaking and I am in tears as I write this blog post. I've just watched "Philippines - City of Guilt", a documentary on how abortion is an ever-present option especially in the nation's capital, despite well-fed politicians and controlling religious leaders insisting that it's illegal and punishable by the law. Women who take this option without a second thought are more afraid of how to survive tomorrow than face jail time for willingly letting their unborn child be murdered. We are so quick to judge them as whores and condemn them to a lifetime of immorality. The truth may be that not all of them are, but a majority of them are hungry, afraid, uneducated, and -- indeed -- damaged.
I think it's more crazy that right outside the Quiapo Church's doorway is where the central market of abortion suppliers thrive -- not beneath the shadows, but out in the open. The documentary was filmed in 2006 and I haven't been to Quiapo in years. Is it still the same? I would expect that since abortion is still a major problem now, women who want to get an abortion still know who or where to ask.
It seems more crazy also that so many politicians and religious leaders are spending more time up on their high horses, from there trying to control the problem of abortion, distribution of contraceptives, unwanted pregnancies, and the damnation of our pro-RH supporters' souls, instead of actually acting on the causes of these problems, one of them being HUNGER.
A tweet the other day shared a statement uttered by an OFW who was interviewed on TV:
In the fight to survive each day, what are people resorting to doing when their stomachs are grumbling? Imagine the choices they are making and not making -- and the choices they wish they could make, but couldn't.
Adjacent to my office building in Ortigas Center, on one of the corners of a busy intersection, is a family of 8 squatting on the pavement. Two sets of parents and four kids (not sure which kid belongs to which parent). One of the mothers is baking a new bun in her oven, and it looks like it'll be ready in 4-5 months. The dads are tricycle drivers, sharing one tricycle and plying the Kapitolyo/Pioneer area. The moms are selling candies and cigarettes. The traffic police who are monitoring the area see them there, but do nothing. Or maybe they've tried to help the family or move them out of the area, but they keep coming back anyway. The 4 children -- all under the age of 10, it seems -- are running up and down the sidewalk, barely an arm's length from the road, where traffic moves perpetually. I wonder about why they "live" on that corner and how they came to this point in their lives. Is this it for them? When these children develop a larger awareness a few years from now, will they feel they have no choice as well?
If everyone did not have to worry about their 3 healthy, balanced meals per day, their minds could function properly and receive education, and think about their responsibilities and decisions more thoroughly. If people became aware of their options, in proportion to their desired quality of life, and became more responsible for themselves, then they are contributing not only to their own well-being, but also to the well-being of their fellowmen and, ultimately, to their country, because it will mean less resources to focus on feeding a family that cannot feed itself (and we seem to have such inadequate resources as it is), freeing up these resources instead for the improvement of livelihoods, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and other services.
Definitely, the RH Bill is not the only solution to hunger, poverty, and -- moreso -- corruption. But, it is one way to help create a more responsible populace. It's time for the RH Bill to be passed. It's time for RH education, comprehensive reproductive health care, sexual disease prevention. Informed choice and responsible decisions, enough with malicious misinformation and spiritual condemnation. One nation, one goal for a better Philippines. Let's start now.
It seems more crazy also that so many politicians and religious leaders are spending more time up on their high horses, from there trying to control the problem of abortion, distribution of contraceptives, unwanted pregnancies, and the damnation of our pro-RH supporters' souls, instead of actually acting on the causes of these problems, one of them being HUNGER.
A tweet the other day shared a statement uttered by an OFW who was interviewed on TV:
In the fight to survive each day, what are people resorting to doing when their stomachs are grumbling? Imagine the choices they are making and not making -- and the choices they wish they could make, but couldn't.
Adjacent to my office building in Ortigas Center, on one of the corners of a busy intersection, is a family of 8 squatting on the pavement. Two sets of parents and four kids (not sure which kid belongs to which parent). One of the mothers is baking a new bun in her oven, and it looks like it'll be ready in 4-5 months. The dads are tricycle drivers, sharing one tricycle and plying the Kapitolyo/Pioneer area. The moms are selling candies and cigarettes. The traffic police who are monitoring the area see them there, but do nothing. Or maybe they've tried to help the family or move them out of the area, but they keep coming back anyway. The 4 children -- all under the age of 10, it seems -- are running up and down the sidewalk, barely an arm's length from the road, where traffic moves perpetually. I wonder about why they "live" on that corner and how they came to this point in their lives. Is this it for them? When these children develop a larger awareness a few years from now, will they feel they have no choice as well?
If everyone did not have to worry about their 3 healthy, balanced meals per day, their minds could function properly and receive education, and think about their responsibilities and decisions more thoroughly. If people became aware of their options, in proportion to their desired quality of life, and became more responsible for themselves, then they are contributing not only to their own well-being, but also to the well-being of their fellowmen and, ultimately, to their country, because it will mean less resources to focus on feeding a family that cannot feed itself (and we seem to have such inadequate resources as it is), freeing up these resources instead for the improvement of livelihoods, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and other services.
Definitely, the RH Bill is not the only solution to hunger, poverty, and -- moreso -- corruption. But, it is one way to help create a more responsible populace. It's time for the RH Bill to be passed. It's time for RH education, comprehensive reproductive health care, sexual disease prevention. Informed choice and responsible decisions, enough with malicious misinformation and spiritual condemnation. One nation, one goal for a better Philippines. Let's start now.
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