Saturday, May 19, 2012

Throw, throw, throw, everywhere!

As I was going home yesterday, I saw a lady drinking her "palamig" (beverage) from a plastic bag while walking, and as she  finishes her drink, she dropped the plastic bag with a straw in it on the road like no one's watching her. And, as expected, people didn't even care. Well for me, I think that I don't have the right to reprimand the lady, as I am not one in authority.


Going back to university days, I remember a Philippine law that regulates waste disposal, PD 825. And as I go through the act's contents, I noticed several things that are highly violated by us Filipinos.


Section 2. Any person, who shall litter or throw garbage, filth, or other waste matters in public places, such as roads, canals esteros or parks, shall suffer an imprisonment of not less than 5 days nor more than one year or a fine of not less than P100 nor more than P2,000.00 or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the Court or tribunal, without prejudice to the imposition of a higher penalty under any other law or decree.


Are you even aware of what's written above? I think that most of us don't even know that throwing in public places can put us in jail, and let us pay for fines. I seriously think that the fine is just a small amount to pay for whatever you've done. A garbage bag thrown into a canal can cause clogging, and when it rains hard, this clog can become a reason for a flood, and flood may put others in an inconvenience and can cause destruction of several properties. Now, do you think that the fine is big enough? I don't think so.


Well, I'm also a guilty citizen.  I used to throw everything down the road. Plastic bags, candy wrappers, and everything that I can throw. I even peed on walls, and "shot" my secretions on the road. However, I seldom do it now. Knowing the consequences of my actions, I stopped. I even refuse plastic bags from stores, especially if I only buy a few items, and/or if the items can fit in my bag. I think that you can do the same!


I remember a video before, with the foreigner ranting about bad things that our country has. Well, it's sad to say that even I, a Filipino, agree with him. Our country has been abused by its citizens, and we need a very huge transformation.  The part where he bought what I think is gum, and commented about it, stabbed me as a Filipino. For very small items like that, the store gave him a small plastic bag. The store could've given the item to him directly, without putting it in a plastic bag, right? That way, there's no additional trash.

I've always been amazed with the discipline of our neighboring countries when it comes to environment. People in Singapore strictly impose the rule to themselves. They throw their trash in proper places. Did you know that they even banned gums in their country? That way, there will be no things sticking under your chairs in the bus/train station, or even your school table. And the key factor here is proper implementation.


Yes, proper implementation. The country has a very serious problem with implementation of our rules. Yes, there are established rules that should put our country in order, however, even those who implement the rules VIOLATE them. Recently, there is an anti-fixer law implemented in our country. This prevents instant processing of documents through "fixers". Others have their documents in a blink of an eye. Others, for centuries. The difference is something called "padulas" or a tip given to the fixer, in order for your documents to be processed.


If those in authority, and those who are subordinates are not even following the rules, we might as well consider ourselves trash. Let's not be hurt in their criticisms as we are not even willing to accept them and change our system. If this apathy with our system continues, we should consider ourselves as such, and throw ourselves everywhere. Remember, the change starts in ourselves.

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17 Comments:

At Saturday, July 14, 2012 , Blogger Marie said...

This is so true!

Indeed, the change starts in ourselves!

 
At Saturday, July 14, 2012 , Blogger dsfds said...

I support the poster above me.

Kung wala din kasing mag bibigay sa fixer edi walang fixer.

Dapat talaga di rin tayo aasa sa gobyerno.

 
At Saturday, July 14, 2012 , Anonymous AJ said...

That's why our country (or at least Metro Manila) is one big garbage bin. Pinoys are so undisciplined when it comes to throwing trash, among other things. I agree that there's no firm implementation of the law, but the problem is deeper than that. If we actually live in dignity, we wouldn't do that to our surroundings, law or no law. Pinoys also don't have a sense of ownership of their country. I mean, we wouldn't just throw stuff inside our houses, right? Haaay, I dream of the day when our streets are not littered with trash.

 
At Saturday, July 14, 2012 , Anonymous Franc Ramon said...

For me, it's already a habit now, if I have something to throw I hold until I see the next trash can.

 
At Saturday, July 14, 2012 , Anonymous Carmel said...

Aw, people throwing trash in the streets is one of my pet peeves. I've seen a well-dressed guy coming out from a parked shiny car withdraw money from an atm and just threw the receipt on the sidewalk. And what about people throwing trash from their car windows while in the middle of traffic??? Ugh! I try my best to reprimand when I can. Once I told a lady to tell her kid to pick up the trash she threw on the sidewalk. Some people just do it out of habit I guess. I blame the parents for not instilling discipline in their kids regarding proper waste disposal. I always tell my nephews and nieces to throw their trash in the garbage bins and if they can't find any, bring it with them instead.

 
At Saturday, July 14, 2012 , Blogger Nickle said...

I have to thank my mom for my awareness with this, I guess my school teachers as well. Growing up, I got used to holding on to my trash until I find a trash bin. Minsan mauuwi ko pa yung basura, lalo kung papel or wrapper lang naman. People just need discipline, yun nga lang maraming tao ngayon ang wala talagang pakialam, hindi sila affected. How sad diba?

My mom refuses to use paper bags, she says puno pa rin yun. So lagi syang may dalang reusable bags at yun ginagamit nya for grocery. Yung plastic bags, yun pa rin gamit namin sa basura eh. Ano nga kaya magandang pamalit sa plastic bag pang tapon ng basura?

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Blogger biyachessa said...

it's sad. many people don't even know how to throw their own rubbish.

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Anonymous Teresa Martinez said...

It really will require changing of values for most of us to do what is best for our environment and ultimately ourselves but we MUST do it.

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Blogger Unknown said...

I wish everyone would recognize that one wrapper is enough to make a mountain of trash anytime.

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Blogger Unknown said...

We Filipinos really need discipline, grabe our country is so beautiful but we don't take care of it!

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Blogger Lady Patchy said...

Filipinos usually ignores the law in the country but behaves good and obediently follows the law in another countries. Pitty how some of us ,who are educated have doesn't learn the good manners.

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Anonymous Ness said...

I agree with your post. We should start on ourselves.

 
At Sunday, July 15, 2012 , Blogger Super Mommy Jem said...

There should always be discipline in oneself. When I saw people throwing trash not on the proper bin, I usually tell them to throw it on the right bin... I believe that discipline should start within the family teaching children and showing them the proper way.

 
At Monday, July 16, 2012 , Blogger Renz Bulseco said...

Yeah agree, we need to start the change within ourselves... others will soon follow

 
At Tuesday, July 17, 2012 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

kaya nga ginagawa ko na ito eh... kahit noong bata pa.. at sa mga alaga kong bata...

 
At Wednesday, July 18, 2012 , Blogger markpogi said...

Its kinda sad that people still keep on doing that despite implementations have been set.

 
At Saturday, July 21, 2012 , Blogger Sumi Go said...

I agree with you. It's sad that the Philippines has still remained quite a dirty city. I guess it's not just about poor implementation of laws, but also of citizens' ignorance and indifference.. :(

 

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