If you think dress codes are limited to your school days, think again. In Caloocan City, they have an ordinance prohibiting their residents from going topless or wearing short shorts in public places.
According to GMA News TV’s State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, under City Ordinance 0439, those who don’t oblige will be given a warning for their first offense, a penalty fee of P500 for their second offense, and a P1,000 penalty fee plus possible imprisonment for not longer than two days for their third offense. However, it also states that if the person caught can’t pay, he or she is given the option to clean the barangay for two to four days instead.
GMA News notes that although the ordinance has been in existence since 2007, it’s not really implemented properly. One barangay official admitted to the news show that though they have been arresting men who go topless, they don’t penalize those who wear short shorts. “Hindi naman po namin ipinagbabawal sa barangay namin ‘yung naka-shorts lalo na kung mainit t’saka mas comfortable po kasi dito sa amin mga naka-shorts dahil mga busy,” Barangay Kagawad Beng Tabada said. (We don’t really ban people from wearing short shorts here in our barangay, especially when it’s hot out, and it’s more comfortable for them because they’re busy.)
Meanwhile, the community had mixed thoughts about the ordinance. “Natural din naman sa babae, ayos lang ‘yon, millennials na ngayon,” one resident told GMA News. “Eh kung g*go ka talaga gagawan mo ng masama ‘yung babae. Pero kung hindi, hindi. Nasa pag-uutak ng bawat isa ‘yun,” (It’s natural for women [to wear short shorts]. It’s fine, they’re millennials now. It all depends on the person. If they’re assh*les, then they will do something bad to the women, but if not, then they will leave them alone.)
I personally don’t agree with the ordinance in general. I don’t really see the point of it, and I think our culture is just too fixated on modesty, which I find unnecessary. Also, that resident’s way of thinking, I just can’t ignore. To simply accept that some people are bad, and seemingly dismiss women getting harassed as a “natural thing”—that’s infuriating.
What do you think? We’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
[GMA News]
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
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