We have to protect our young girls
Many of our young girls from the outskirts of the city, from the hills, from the mountain barangays, graduate from high school but do not go to college. They are tasked by their families to earn a living and to help send the rest of the siblings to school.
They come to the city and are employed by families who badly need their services. However, our city boys pounce on their naivete, their wide-eyed wonder at city life. Those employed in the heart of the city are drivers and houseboys of neighbors, construction workers, who while coming from the outskirts themselves, have become “citified.”
The young ladies employed in subdivisions fall prey to habal-habal drivers (motorized bike drivers) to men employed in stores, even to some store owners themselves.
In all my years of managing Kamuning Pension House, I’ve seen young girls hide their pregnancy under loose fitting T-shirts and later on they are left to fend for themselves by married Department of Public Works and Highways staff and construction workers who would come knocking at the door to ask for a glass of water during merienda breaks.
Here at the condo unit, I had a case of a young help who I thought was safe but again using loose fitting T-shirts. I only found out when she confessed that she was six months pregnant. Her boyfriend was a habal-habal driver and single. So, I tried talking to both of them regarding their plans for marriage. The boy insisted that she live with him and his family first. The birth of the baby must come first. When I called for the parents of the girl, the only answer I got was, “Oh well, the unborn child has a father, right?” They didn’t even bother to see me.
Because I’ve lived in my condo since 2012, I’ve seen older women fooled by married men whose wives ran after them. Once the woman gets pregnant, she is left by the wayside.
The young ladies are so very young and pretty that the city boys are drawn like bees to honey.
Days off and cellphones are what contribute to illicit trysts. So what am I really asking from our families to do? Christmas time gives our “chick boys” extra money to treat innocent, naive young helps into dates. Let us be second mothers to our young companions in life and make them aware of the dangers of becoming unwed mothers. If we still fail, at least we have tried our best to open their eyes and shown them concern and love.