Playgrounds

I agree with the ban on minors below 15 years old from entering grocery stores and supermarkets. Some people may ask, why not ban them from entering shopping malls not just grocery stores? I agree with that too, but with reservations.

Most children in the city these days see the shopping malls as their primary recreation place, and they miss the place. Recreation these days is the whiff of pizza and fastfood chicken and burger, and the sights and sound of cushioned indoor play areas. It’s the simulation of computer arcade games, the dim of the movie theater with its large silver screen and massive surround sound. We rarely have open green spaces and parks in the city for children to play.

A massive bridge is met with celebratory anticipation at every important milestone of its construction. It’s as if we can’t wait for it to be finished. Yet beautiful parks and well-designed open spaces like the one built in the City of Naga, Cebu get nary an attention. Every time I have a court hearing in Toledo City, I always drop by Naga’s public park and boardwalk. The residents there are lucky to have a city government with the right priorities.

Yes, city parks are supposed to be a priority. Parks play an essential role in the social, economic, and physical as well as mental well-being of our cities and their residents.

I used to frequent the Cebu IT Park for its large green space surrounded by convenience shops. I understand that every square meter of the business district has to be optimized for its high real estate value, but I now find the place to be dull. Modern yes, but it’s more of a grey and drab collection of tower blocks and other urban aesthetics.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, no one is talking about parks and open green spaces. The only reference to the outdoors I often hear is outdoor dining. We do really love to eat. Yet we need public parks and open green spaces where our children can play and socially interact safely. Studies show that visiting public parks can significantly improve overall physical and mental health of individuals.

I grew up and lived in the city all my life. Back in the 1980s, Metro Cebu didn’t need special public parks because there were always green spaces in every block for children to play in. In Casals Village in Mabolo where I grew up and lived until was nine years old, there was a sugarcane field at the boundary of the village. There was also farm inside the village where I played with other kids, flying kites made of newspaper and tied to unwoven sack strands because the elders would not lend us their sewing strings.

At Doña Rosario Village in Basak, Mandaue City where the family later transferred, my playground was way larger. There were cornfields where we kids could hunt for birds and spiders. There was the “basakan” or naturally irrigated fields where we could get muddied looking for turtles, halwan (a sort of mudfish) and piyo (another type of fish). There were plenty of fruit trees to climb; my favorite was the lomboy tree, with its fruit leaving a violet stain on kids’ teeth that always invited much laughter.

It didn’t mean we kids of the ‘80s never played indoors. For the well-off kids, there was Atari computer game, the predecessor of today’s PlayStation. There was also Nintendo’s Game and Watch, and of course, Betamax, the predecessor of today’s Netflix. But the lure of the outdoors was more tempting because we were surrounded by green spaces and there we were able to interact with other kids. Japanese game, bato lata, shatong, Chinese garter, tago-tago (hide and seek) – those outdoor kids’ games, we played them all. And those games and outdoor adventures and misadventures I could say with confidence helped us a lot to become mentally strong adults.

Today, social interaction in the city is concentrated inside the shopping malls. So that when we lost the malls during the lockdowns, our well-being and quality of life also suffered. That is what I mean when I say I agree with banning children below 15 years from entering shopping malls but with reservations.

In a city where grey condominium and office tower blocks, massive bridges, and shopping malls are seen as exciting signs of progress, where would the kids go where they can be kids?