In our country, corruption is everywhere. We always hear about it in the news, whine about it, but never do anything about it. We always expect officials/personnel from higher office to come up with plans to eliminate corruption but we never thought about how we can help in our own little way.

Corruption is not isolated in government offices, we experience and see it in our daily lives -- e.g. not issuing official receipts to avoid the appropriate taxes, cab drivers not giving any change to passengers, paying fixers to illegally expedite processes, etc. But for this particular post, I want to zero in on bribery after committing traffic violations. If each one of us, especially the drivers, steer away from bribing police officers / traffic enforcers to get out of these situations, that "business" will eventually die. As they say, walang magnanakaw kung walang magpapanakaw.

During my first year of driving, I was apprehended a couple of times (Yza has been a witness in all of these violations. hihi). I admit, I bribed my way out more than half the time. However, after a few occurrences, it felt so easy to disobey traffic rules because of how easy I can get away with it (by bribing). So after a year and a half of driving, I promised to myself that: (1) I should obey traffic rules as diligently as I can, and (2) if ever I get apprehended for a traffic violation I did commit, regardless if it's intentional or not, I will NOT resort to bribing and will follow due process.

You know what? It worked, I was able to condition my own mind. It has been a year and a half and I never committed any traffic violation.

Until last week...

They say jokes are half-meant. I say that is true. Case in point, June 3, Sunday.

It started after surfing in Bagasbas last May 12-13 (blog post here). Chino and I were joking about doing this more often. Week after week, we always jokingly invited the group to go surfing “next weekend”. This went on for 3 weeks but excuses were always there – other commitments, etc. Until finally, we explored the option of going to La Union for a day trip. I had a seminar to attend to last June 2, which I already paid for, so I can’t bail on that. So Sunday, June 3, was the only day available.

There was no clear plan throughout the week prior. Maybe everyone thought this was a joke, which it was, at first. All we knew was that we will go there in the morning, surf and go home in the evening.

Surprisingly, plans began to materialize Saturday night. It was only up to Chino, Yza and me to come up with plans since everyone else passed. They were either out of the country during that weekend or “pagod”.

Although plans were in place, it never felt real yet until the next day when I woke up at 4:30AM on a Sunday. By that time, I began to feel like this was really happening. I wouldn’t wake up at 4:30AM on a Sunday if I didn’t want this to push through (my alarm clock didn’t even go off, I woke up out of pure excitement. haha!).

Left the house around 6:00AM, fueled up, picked up Chino in Quezon City, then we headed for NLEX.

Now, it’s real!

The group usually goes out twice or thrice a month to either watch movies or just gather and eat out (to celebrate something or if we're bored at home). Last May 26, Billy decided for the group to try bowling again and gear away from the usual Saturday night-outs we have. It's been a while (6 months ago) when the group last played bowling so Yza and I joined.

We reserved a lane in E-Lanes Bowling Center (http://www.elanesbowling.com/) along Ortigas Ave., near Greenhills for 9PM. Billy specifically picked this place because of the sulit packages they offer.