I've been looking for the Anti-Mendicancy Law like forever. After a tedious search... EUREKA! I found it. I've always wanted to write something about this matter. For those who are not aware, the Philippines has an Anti-Mendicancy Law known as Presidental Decree No. 1563 which was passed by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos on June 11, 1978. A mendicant is defined as "any person who has no visible and legal means of support, or lawful employment and who is physically able to work but neglects to apply himself to some lawful calling and instead uses begging as a means of living" (Section 3, Par. 3, PD 1563). Mendicants have a criminal liability (Section 5). And for the information of everyone, abetting mendicancy also has its punishment.The law also covers exploited children. They are those who are utilized by their parents or by other mendicants to beg. Any child found begging should be placed under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The DSWD has a special program for these children. There is a different rule though for minors who acted with discernment. For the complete text of the law, please visit http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/presdecs/pd1978/pd_1563_1978.html.You, the reader, might wonder why I am writing about this topic. It's because I have a daily experience on this matter. Most people would give money to children who beg from them. I remember buying something from a certain pharmacy one time. A child was begging from the pharmacy's clients. When the child approached me, I refused to give her any money. Two students beside me gave the child some money and looked at me like I did a horrible, terrible, horid thing, and that I am a horrible, terrible, horid person. I wanted to give them a lecture on the anti-mendicancy law, but there was no time. Hehe... I pity them for their ignorance.Yes, I admit, I don't give money to beggars. And I have my reasons.First, not all beggars spend the money you gave them on food. There are children who use the money to buy solvents (especially rugby). If you think that you've helped someone by giving him money, you are wrong. You actually helped someone become an addict. If you want to help a beggar, give him/her food instead.Second, there are syndicates that run the "mendicant" business. These syndicates actually "employ" children to work for them by begging. The money these children "earn" go to the syndicates. I actually witnessed a child giving his "earnings" to their "boss". It happened along Araneta-San Sebastian Streets one night.Third, I don't want to tolerate laziness. I have noticed that most mendicants are just too lazy to find a real job and to actually use their energy in a useful pursuit. I was in this pharmacy again and two women approached me. The younger woman was "leading" the older woman in their begging. The younger woman was physically bigger than I am. She was a bit plump. I was both surprised and irritated that a healthy person like the woman spend all her time begging when she can find a real job.Fourth, I don't want to be a lawbreaker.I am speaking in general terms in here. There are exceptions. But think twice before giving that beggar a coin.
I haven’t blogged for a long time because I couldn’t think of anything worth blogging. If I want to write senseless things, I just simply post them at the Bulletin area of Friendster. Hahaha…
But there is this important matter that needs discussing: Rules to follow when riding a public jeepney. Almost all of us ride public jeepneys to work or school everyday, so I think this matter is essential. There are actually many rules to follow but I summarized them into ten rules to simplify things. Also, these rules are based on my own personal experience.
1. Say “Please” and “Thank You”. It is common to ask someone else to pass our fare to the driver. What I hate the most are people who hand me their fare without saying “Please” and “Thank You.” Please guys, show some manners.
2. Do not touch anyone. This might seem like a strange rule but I experienced this a gazillion times already. Some people tend to touch other people when they board the jeepney. They would use my knees as a sort of support to keep their balance. This is acceptable if the person boarding the jeep is an old person over sixty years of age. But for young, strong people, especially men, I deem this as a lame excuse for a perverted act. Another “touching” incident in the jeepney is when some people touch my arm or leg if they want me to pass their fare. Some older women would tap my arm quite hurtfully and say “Day, lihog gani bayad.” Aargh… You can just call my attention by saying something, not by touching me!
3. If the situation calls for it, hand your fare to the driver by yourself. Ever been in a situation where there are only two of you inside the jeepney, and both of you are sitting at the far end? Of course, my conscience dictates that I should hand my fare by myself and NOT WAIT for the other person to do it for me. Naturally, not everyone has my conscience, and so they purposely wait for others to hand their fare, and just ask that person to hand their fare, too. I even had the experience where the person who was with me was a male college student. How I wanted to berate him. Of course, I didn’t say anything, though in my mind, I wished that he would not have a girlfriend his entire life.
4. Do not sing too loudly. Okay, you’re the vocalist of a band, you’re a karaoke king/queen, you’re the sister/brother of Mariah Carey, you even have your multi-platinum album – but this doesn’t mean that you should sing loudly inside the jeepney. Some people prefer to have a quiet ride. So, please stop splattering your saliva all over my face. Thank you.
5. Do not take somebody else’s seat. Everyone’s favorite seat is at the far end of the jeepney. I admit that I also like that place myself, except when it is raining (you should know why). So here I was, sitting at the far end of the jeepney, then there was this young woman who hailed the jeepney. She got on and asked me to move because she also wanted to sit at the far end of the jeepney, too. At that very instant, I felt like pushing her off the jeepney and laugh diabolically as her skull shatters on the sidewalk. Too bad, I wasn’t able to push her. This rule has an exception, of course. I would gladly give my seat to old people especially if they are carrying lots of stuff. But for the rest of the world, no, thank you, the seat’s mine.
6. Do not be a “poser”. It is common for jeepneys to have this really loud stereo system, and the driver would turn up the volume really loud especially in the late afternoons when the radio stations would be playing rock songs. And so, there were these three college guys who were slammin’ with one of Bamboo’s songs. One was “drumming”, using his legs as the “drums”, the other was strumming an invisible guitar, and the other one was so into his “bass lines”. Those guys must be in such a loser band that they were so in need of a stage. Since nobody really wants to hear how they play, they just made the crowded, hot jeepney as their fantasy stage. So you’ll now, really talented musicians don’t strut their stuff inside a crowded jeepney since they are already secure with themselves and their talents. They don’t need a Bamboo song to give them any affirmation or sense of purpose.
7. Do not flaunt your techie stuff. I don’t why some people just want to show off their 3G phones, iPod, etc. inside a jeepney. I mean, haven’t they heard of the word “snatcher” before? ‘Nuff said.
8. Watch your hair. Both genders nowadays love to sport long hair. That’s fine with me so long as they are not letting me eat their hair inside the jeepney.
9. Do not be a bitch to nice people. I was inside a packed jeepney and I was sitting somewhere in the middle. There was this young woman who asked an older woman in front of her to pass her fare to the driver. The older woman didn’t pass the young woman’s fare. Somebody else did it for her. I realized that the older woman was deaf. Yes, she was really so deaf and so blind that she thought she was the only person inside the jeepney. She did not want her manicured hands to be defiled by another person’s unsanitary coins. During the whole ride, the older woman did not, not even once, pass anyone’s fare despite the fact that she was near the driver. She was a bitch who was pretending she was rich.
10. Your fare is as good as mine. So, I don’t know why you are sitting in a diagonal manner and taking the space of two persons.
These are just general rules. There are exceptions.
I admit, I am naive when it comes to spa stuff. I've never been into one. But just this Saturday, July 26, 2008, my friend, Lalaine Villalva, treated me to one. Yey! Thanks Momi Laine. First, we went to the sauna. The menthol inside the sauna was soothing. Hmmm.... While we were in the sauna, Lalaine and I talked about stuff. Haha... It's for us to know what we talked about. Lalaine Lam and her daughter arrived later on. (Yeah, I have two friends named "Lalaine", and it can be confusing at times).After the sauna, we had facials. The facial at the spa is not the "cruel" facial treatment you get in a skin clinic where they squeeze out the dirt out of your pores. In the spa, they just use facial masks and facial massage. We got a total of 3 facial masks. I think it is to make sure that our pores were really clean.While waiting for the facial masks to dry out, the spa people also gave us arm massage with reflexology. Ouch! Yup, it felt painful but it was good in a way. I'm writing this blog because I promised Momi Laine that I would "publicize" her kindness through the internet. Hehe... Again, thanks Momi Laine.
