January for businesses of all scale in the Philippines is the time for the yearly renewal of business permits… in other words, time for the government to get some juice out of trying to get by Filipinos. This year I took charge in renewing related permits for our small business and in the course of my expedition… learned something new.
I started out my day’s business with the community tax certificate or commonly known as “cedula.” So… I went to the Barangay Hall where I belong and unluckily they don’t have any cedula to issue which is ironic because the day before… they were reminding people in our barangay to get our necessary permits. Having wasted some spit-sized fuel for that journey, I decided to go to the Municipal Hall. To my surprise it’s already computerized… wow… what an improvement! With my computer printed cedula on hand… I went to the barangay hall that covers the location of our business. And what I witnessed there is what this blog is all about.
When I arrived, there was this couple whom I recognized since they live not that far from our store and for the fact that the guy is a usual customer. So I chatted with the guy and I started to get nosy… just to kill time while waiting for the barangay hall officer.
“What’s your business here?” I asked.
He answered that they are about to get married and they have to get some certificate.
“Certificate for what?” I asked again.
“Certificate that we’ve planted some trees” he replied.
“What is that for? Is that a requirement nowadays before getting married?” I inquired.
Turns out, there’s this law that requires couples to plant trees and they must obtain a certification from the barangay they belong that they did.
“So… did you plant some trees?” I asked again for the nth time.
He answered. “No (with a mischievous smile)…”
I almost blurted out my signature laugh but luckily I noticed that the barangay officer is just around the corner.
The barangay officer sits down and after some pleasantries asked the couple… “Did you plant some trees?”
The couple answered as if they’re singing a duet… “Opo (Yes sir)!”
“So what kind of trees did you plant?” He probed.
For that question I thought the barangay officer have hit the jackpot! But then again the couple replied….
“Mahogany po!”
I almost laughed but then again… controlled myself causing myself a gas build up. I thought the officer almost cornered these guys… but man they’re good and they practically covered any possible question to be thrown at them. So in short, they got their certificate… eventually to pro-create without following a simple environmentally related law.
I was disappointed with the officer for not probing deeply and myself for not spilling the truth (because I’m not a rat). I was thinking that maybe the next move for the officer is to ask for some proof like a picture. Hmmmm a picture… what if they took a picture of some other tree they saw down the road? Whoever thought of the said law have good intentions but like any other laws of the land, implementation is always an issue.
I guess I’ll just have to plant additional trees in case it’s my time to tie the knot. Come to think of it… this is probably one law that the poor and the rich are on an even playing field. But that’s not too comforting… di ba?
