Image: Instagram/@inigopascual
As far as street children are concerned, it looks like actor-recording artist Inigo Pascual is “so done” seeing them beg for money. The young Pascual, whose boy-next-door smoldering looks mirror that of dad Piolo Pascual, recently took to his social media to air out his grievances regarding the continuing presence of street children in the city.
“I’m so done seeing kids asking for money from people in cars,” wrote Pascual on Twitter last Aug. 27. “Kids are meant to have a childhood… They deserve to play and learn life.”
https://twitter.com/OneInigoPascual/status/1034036064346750976
Pascual, too, has a message to parents who bring children into the world despite not having the means to do so: “Wag mag-anak kung hindi maalagaan. Hindi nila kasalanan na hindi kaya ng magulang nilang suportahan sila…”
(Don’t have kids if you can’t take care of them. It’s not their fault that their parents can’t support them.)
Pascual’s tweet has since garnered 2,000 views in two days, with many of his fans echoing his own sentiments. A certain Ayrich (@ILoveArtist_29) replied to Pascual’s tweet on Aug. 27 and agreed on his stance.
“Tapos isisisi sa gobyerno kung bakit sila naghihirap!” wrote the netizen. “Sana sila na lang yung mahirap hindi yung paparamdam pa nila sa anak nila yung hirap ng buhay dito sa mundo.”
(And then they would blame the government for their suffering. They should just be the ones suffering and no longer let their kids feel the hardships in this world.)
Tapos isisisi sa gobyerno kung bakit sila naghihirap! Sana sila na lang yung mahirap hindi yung paparamdam pa nila sa anak nila yung hirap ng buhay dito sa mundo.@iamjoshuagarcia @BarrettoJulia #NAKProposal
— Kilala mo ba ako? (@IAEG96) August 27, 2018
Pascual replied to the netizen on the same day. As per Pascual, the Philippine government is corrupt, but asserts that all countries have their own lapses in one way or another, and that’s not the only reason for poverty: “This! Oo corrupt ang gobyerno natin! Lahat naman ng bansa may sarisariling pagkukulang.Pero di ibig sabihin na yun lang ang rason kung bakit naghihirap.”
“Laging pwedeng merong gawin. At laging isipin ang mga bata ay [may] karapatan [para] maging bata,” Pascual added.
(There’s always something that can be done. And [we have to think that] children have the right to be children.)
https://twitter.com/OneInigoPascual/status/1034038140694982656
It’s palpable that Pascual meant well in his tweets, brought upon by being upset over the sight of street children knocking on car windows to beg for alms. But his sentiments also beg the question of whether other factors, such as family planning (or lack thereof) among the poor, along with the Catholic church’s opposition to contraceptives, among others, were considered.
Access to readily available forms of contraceptives is a necessity that is critically important for all citizens. When President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 12 back in January 2017 to provide free contraceptives to the poor, it was hailed by the United Nations Population Fund as a major push for the government’s family planning program — a program that has long been hindered by opposition from pro-life groups and the Catholic Church.
But the problem seems far from over. Despite the availability of contraceptives, a 2013 study on the Global Journal of Health Science showed that barriers still exist concerning the use of modern contraceptives among Asian women. Apart from limited knowledge on contraceptive methods and reproduction, the study also bore to light that religious factors can also serve as a barrier. For some religions like Islam, and perhaps Catholicism, it appears that the use of contraceptives may still be a subject too taboo to consider. JB
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