The Philippines has been governed by a number of rules and regulations emanating from the many laws passed by the legislature. If I am to count the existing laws in our country today, it may take just a few hours to realize that we already have a lot—most of them irrelevant and even a repetition of those that were already passed years ago.
This led me to the realization that we do not need lawmakers anymore, but only strict implementation of our existing laws.
Thanks to my legwork about the smoking ban campaign of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) because I found out that the Philippine society already implements a smoking-ban law since 2003. But as reflected by reality, it has been neglected to the point that according to the Philippine Global Tobacco Survey in 2009, 28 percent of Filipinos aged 15 and over are smokers.I could not blame the apprehensions of AB students who were asked about their opinions regarding the reinforcement of smoking ban in public places. Many thought that the revamp of the existing law would be just another failure-in-the-making. As how I perceive these things, I can say that the idea of such law being implemented is good. But unfortunately, just like the many inefficient laws passed, execution of the smoking ban has its flaws.
The problem could not be the inability of Filipinos to follow rules because once stationed abroad, overseas workers could abide by foreign laws. The hitch seemed to root from our own inability to carry out rules and regulations efficiently.
Our ningas cogon attitude is also one of the reasons why we lack the means to implement and to follow rules and regulations.
Ningas cogon refers to the superficial pursuit of people to a certain new interest as the attention eventually wanes easily. It could also be depicted as the procrastination of people to address known problems.
I was not surprised when a student said that reimplementation of the smoking ban could last for barely two months. Personally speaking, I believe that we are already lucky if it lasts for 30 days.
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I got surprised with the changes implemented in our city when I went home to Laguna for a two-week vacation. It has been almost a year since my last visit and because of this, I was clueless that the local government has already employed a plastic-free-metro campaign.
The execution of the policy should have started years ago, long before the occurrence of climate change and global warming. Nonetheless, I am happy to hear about the plans of having an environment- friendly community even if it is late. At least, an effort is done to rescue the earth in distress.
I am only hoping though that when I get back to my hometown again, the policy is still being implemented and not disregarded.
It is just so funny that we know the root cause of our problems, yet we lack the drive to address them. We only find ourselves acting upon them when the situation gets uncontrollable.
Obesity should have been prevented long before acquiring a relentless eating disorder; assigned deadlines should have been met if people would give more concentration to their works; labor code for children should have been laid out properly long before the Jan Jan controversy—yes, I am rambling but I know you get the picture.
We have been used to slacking to the point that it has become our expertise. Because of this, we become professional procrastinators.
Despite all the ramblings, let us give the MMDA the benefit of the doubt. Let us hope that the smoking ban will outlast its predicted two-month shelf life.
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