Ayaw paawat! (Update on the goings on in Brgy. AAV)

ON March 19, Saturday, a hearing was finally conducted on the controversial ordinance of Brgy. Ayala Alabang prohibiting pharmacies within said barangay from selling contraceptives to customers who don't have a doctor's prescription.

According to former Rep. Ruffy Biazon of Muntinlupa City in his blog The Way It Is, both groups supporting and opposing the ordinance were given time to air their views. According to Biazon, after all the arguments were made, it was pretty clear by the end of the hearing that barangay council should withdraw the ordinance.

However, proponents of the ordinance are up to new tricks, if rumors are to be believed. Biazon also presents the reasons why their new tactics would not, or should not succeed.

In his blog, Biazon says supporters of the ordinance now want to employ the People's Initiative so it can be directly passed by the voters of the area and instituted as law.

"...Republic Act 6735 known as the Initiative and Referendum Act... provided the mechanism on how citizens can 'directly propose, enact, approve or reject, in whole or in part, the Constitution, laws, ordinances, or resolutions passed by any legislative body'.

"Under the said law, any registered voter of may exercise the power of initiative and referendum for laws or ordinances within their jurisdiction. That is, any registered voter may exercise the power to pass a national law or a registered voter in a particular barangay may use the power of initiative and referendum for a barangay ordinance.

"It is this power which proponents of Barangay Ayala Alabang Ordinance No. 1 is rumored to be planning to employ. With the strong possibility that the barangay council will withdraw or water down the ordinance because of the iron-clad arguments against it, they are looking for ways to circumvent the barangay council and hopefully pass the ordinance through their direct action." (Read the rest here.)

Meanwhile, in the interest of fair play, I'm posting the statement of Msgr. Ernesto Joaquin, parish priest of St. James the Great in AAV, kinda explaining why they had to use the Masses on March 6 to distribute petition papers asking for parishioners to support the barangay ordinance.
St James the Great Parish's Statement on Brgy. Ayala Alabang's ordinance vs condoms

Think, before entering Alabang (UPDATED)

This photo was supposedly taken near the last exit towards Ayala Alabang. Hahaha. Winner.

Probably Photoshopped, but brilliant nonetheless. Got this off the Facebook wall of blogger Carlos Celdran. Hope he doesn't mind me sharing this.

People are still talking about that controversial ordinance of Brgy. Ayala Alabang. There's much ridiculing of course, with the Professional Heckler even announcing that Pope Benedict XVI had just declared the posh village as a "Little Vatican of Asia."

Interestingly enough, most traditional media outlets haven't touched the controversy, except for mentioning the ordinance. As far as I know, none of the dictatorial barangay officials have been interviewed. Well, let's give them the benefit of the daw, perhaps my media colleagues have just been too preoccupied with the People Power 25th anniversary activities to investigate this.

Meantime, I'd like to share this piece from Rina Jimenez-David, who has dubbed this development in Brgy. Ayala Alabang as "reproductive coercion."

JUST DAYS after writing about “reproductive coercion” in the United States, here comes news about a development in our very own country, in the posh confines of Ayala Alabang Village, in which “reproductive coercion” is being carried out not just by a single male or a group of males, but by the barangay council itself.

“Reproductive coercion” refers to the use of violence or coercion by men on their female partners or wives to “sabotage” the women’s efforts to prevent pregnancy or to force them to become pregnant—against their will. (Click Rina Jimenez David for the rest.)

(UPDATE) It appears it's not the Opus Dei members who are just behind this controversial ordinance in Brgy. Ayala Alabang. It is also Couples for Christ, another group against the RH bill pending in Congress. I just read a story from the Manila Standard Today which quotes lawyer Luis Sison, spokesman of the Ayala Alabang Village Association, challenging those who protest the ordinance to bring their case to court.

Said Sison, who is former president of the Phil. Nat'l Construction Corp : “Everyone is free to file a case in court, by all means. It would be better so we will all face each other and argue in court.” Read the rest here. I personally know him and his wife Triccie Cepeda Sison, and know them to be members of Couples of Christ.

With all due respect to Sison and his wife, who I hold in the highest regard after being on the same side of some environmental issues years ago, I don't know how a barangay council can just force an ordinance down the throats of its residents without even bothering to consult them. For a Coryista like Sison who has fought against the dictatorship, I find their barangay council's actions very Marcosian. Tsk tsk.

Fortunately, the Muntinlupa City officials have wisely overruled Brgy. Ayala Alabang's ordinance. Their letter to womb patrol chief/head taliban Alfred Xerez-Burgos Jr. as follows (via ANC):

Muntinlupa City Council overrules Ayala Alabang ordinance on condoms

Bravo! Long live freedom of choice!

Welcome to the Dark Ages!

I ALMOST tagged this under "creative writing" and "humor", but there's nothing funny about this ordinance banning the sale of artificial contraceptives without a medical prescription. But the brilliant officials of Barangay Ayala Alabang think they have rights over the reproductive health of its residents.

(Alfred Xerez-Burgos Jr., holy anointed womb patrol chief/head taliban of Brgy. Ayala Alabang. He is vice chairman of realty firm Landco Pacific, whose chairman is Manuel V. Pangilinan. Hmmm...I wonder what MVP thinks of this ordinance on condoms? Photo from Gibbs Cadiz)

And of course, now there are jokes circulating about the inordinately high number of Opus Dei members living in this posh subdivision who are behind this ridiculous ordinance. As you may know, the local Opus Dei chapter is vehemently opposed to Reproductive Health bill currently filed in Congress. I can't confirm the exact number of Opus Dei members living in Ayala Alabang, but I would like to stress that I do respect their religious beliefs, even though they are sounding more and more like the taliban. (As one pundit noted, pretty soon, only Latin Masses will be said in the area's churches, and women required to wear white long sleeves dresses below their knees, and veils over their faces. See? Taliban!) I just wish they respected the beliefs of others.

No one has any right to rule over women's wombs, or the sexual conduct of other people. What happens in the bedroom is the sole business of the people who own it. Whether or not they want to use contraceptive methods - artificial or otherwise – for whatever purpose, be it to prevent the transmission of STDs, or contraception, it is no one's business except their own. No lowly barangay officials should be able to regulate the use or sale of these contraceptive methods, especially since the products' sale are unregulated by the national government.

If the barangay officials are actually serious in protecting life, perhaps what they should address is the apparent rampant sale/drug use in the area (remember the Alabang Boys?) and sale of liquor to minors. Just walk around the restaurants or bars in the vicinity and you will see teenagers below 18 years old, guzzling down beers and other alcoholic beverages.

The ordinance also prohibits teachers, health workers and RH advocates from conducting activities in the barangay to educate the children on sexual reproduction and other similar issues (De La Salle brothers are you hearing this?), and bans the advertisement of contraceptives (sorry there, Robin Padilla). Wow, welcome to the Dark Ages talaga!

Anyway, I am hoping the smarter residents of this village sue their barangay officials for their sheer audacity in trying to impose this ridiculous illegal ordinance No. 01-2011. (Oh, Mr. Xerez-Burgos is on Facebook. Friend him pls, and bring him back to the 21st Century.)

Brgy. Ayala Alabang's Ordinance No. 01 (Series of 2011) banning sale of contraceptives

Btw, if you are a resident of Ayala Alabang, know that your barangay encompasses Alabang Town Center and that area where PureGold grocery is. Other than those areas, you may freely purchase your contraceptives in the pharmacies located in South Supermarket, Festival Mall, and along the Alabang-Zapote Rd. without a doctor's prescription.

And on this 25th anniversary of the People Power revolution, my only wish is for Ayala Alabang residents to free themselves from their taliban dictatorship! Condoms and birth control pills for all, damnit!