Thou Shalt Not Pleasure Thyself

House Bill 4509: “An act penalizing the distribution, possession with intent to distribute and production of any device for the physical stimulation of human genitals for anything of pecuniary value and providing penalties for violations thereof.”

After reading this statement, a few questions popped into mind: What about electric toothbrushes? Back massagers? Bathroom bidets? Cellphones on vibrate? What about vegetables? Are eggplants going to be banned?? I'm going to miss my tortang talong! What about *gasp* hands?

 Ban sex toys in PH, bill urges 

MANILA, Philippines - Two party-list lawmakers are proposing a bill that would prohibit the ownership and distribution of sex toys in the country. 

House Bill 4509, authored by Buhay party-list Reps. Irwin Tieng and Mariano Michael Velarde, aims to "protect the morals of the society," they said in a statement. 

If passed, violators would be penalized with one-year imprisonment and a P30,000 fine. 

"The influence of obscene devices primarily for the physical stimulation of human genitals may seem unnoticed. The proliferation of these obscene devices which are insensitively and openly displayed in shops or stalls is very alarming," Tieng said. 

"This is also in keeping with the policy of the state to value the dignity of every human person and to promote and safeguard its integrity and the moral, spiritual and social being of its citizenry from the pernicious effects of obscene devices," Velarde added. 

Tieng and Velarde defined sex toys as any device that "can be used to stimulate human genitals," "could trigger sexually impure ideas" or "can give room to sex-related offenses." 

HB 4509 came on the heels of a debate among lawmakers on the Reproductive Health Bill, which would see the state give condoms to the poor. 

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/06/07/11/ban-sex-toys-ph-bill-urges

Let me get this straight, if this is just for the regulation of the sale and display of said adult toys then I can support this bill. That shops should have adult sections in their stores and that the bangketa display of these kinds of materials in populated areas be prohibited is not at all that bad. However, from the generalization of the terms and the reason presented for this kind of law to-be, I think these politicians are trying to bite off more than it should chew.

Fine, we can rationalize this as a measure for maintaining the innocence of the minds of our Filipino youth (because, God forbid, they should have zero knowledge about sexuality and even on how their own bodies work), but saying that these kind of gadgets can "trigger sexually impure ideas" and "can give room to sex related offenses" is just plain rash.

A piece of advice, if they want to ban sexually impure ideas, then ban brains instead. Thoughts are one thing that one cannot control but acting upon an idea/fantasy is another. Objects are just inanimate things that solely rely on the person using them. These rubber-made / battery operated devices have no intention nor motive to stain the world with lust and violence. And if these respectable gentlemen worry about proliferation of sex related crimes, instead of banning sex toys, maybe they should ban PRIESTS instead. But seriously, I think having a working and updated sex offenders' database is better than banning everything that vibrates and is shaped like a penis from the market.

Why is it that these holier-than-thou religious folks treat any thing related to sex and pleasure without the main intention of creating a child as automatically evil and immoral? I quote Stephen Fry on this when he said,

It’s the strange thing about this church, it is obsessed with sex, absolutely obsessed. Now, they will say we with our permissive society and our rude jokes, we are obsessed. No, we have a healthy attitude, we like it, it’s fun, it’s jolly, because it’s a primary impulse it can be dangerous and dark and difficult, it’s a bit like food in that respect only even more exciting. The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese, and that in erotic terms is the Catholic Church in a nutshell.

Source: BBC's Intelligence Squared Debate: Is Catholicism Force of Good in the World?

Look who's copying who, now?

A world of freedom of expression, of informed choice and accessibility to that choice is upon us. A society free from religious jurisdictions and twisted dogmas. I believe these nuisance bills are just to further delay the widely contested RH Bill which actually values the intellect of the Filipino people.  They may dilly dally all they want, but the reality that women are dying everyday, because some people are too blind to see the facts that are staring at them in face, is still here to stay. Unless we do something about it.

Reality or dogma. You choose.

The word of the cleric is not the word of God. It is the word of a man who has studied the word of God.  

- Sen. Miriam Santiago