My Name Is Depression

Chapter 5

"Could someone mind telling me which one would be unacceptable? Who was it? The one that tried to abort the baby or the pharmacist who lied about the medication? And do you or not agree in abortion?"

Inikot niya ang tingin niya sa'min lahat habang naghihintay kung sino ang magtataas ng kamay.

"Currently, this is a fine point of debate. Since I am interested in your thoughts, I will award points to those students who participate."

Feeling ko nagkaroon bigla ng rainbow sa buong classroom nang sabihin ni Ma'am ang salitang points.

"Wala na. Sinabi na ni Ma'am ang magic word. Papalag pa ba kami, Maya?" Napatingin ako kay Deo na nakataas ang kilay sa'kin habang nagtataray ang tingin. Si Rara at Emen naman ay parehas natawa dahil mukhang ewan ang kaibigan namin.

"Bago ang lahat, gusto kong maghati kayo sa dalawang grupo. The people on the left agree, while those on the right disagree. Pumunta na kayo sa side kung saan ang gusto ninyong ipaglaban."

Sabay-sabay silang tumayo lahat kaya naguluhan ako. Is there such a thing ba as middleman like I'm neutral?

Tumayo na lang ako at pumunta sa left side.

"Ma'am!" Napitingin ako sa right side nang may magtaas. My jaw dropped when I saw that all three of them were on the right side! They even made fun of me for being the only one on the left side.

Deo stuck out his tongue and Emen raised his finger in his forehead while forming an L sign. I saw he mouthed the word looser. Rara only winked at me before smirking.

I pouted before crossing my arms. Hmp!

This is betrayal!

I have my own opinion to prove. Hmp! Magsama-sama pa kayong tatlo, I will stand up on my own. Tse!

"Miss Lyra, the stage is yours and you may start."

Umatras si Ma'am papunta sa table niya para panuorin kami magbatuhan ng opinion.

Can I just throw my pen kay Deo at Emen? They keep on making faces at me! So annoying.

"First and foremost, what the pharmacist did was right because they took an oath to save lives rather than kill them. So bakit sila magbibigay ng gamot na alam nilang pampalaglag?—" Hindi pa natatapos si Rara sa sinasabi niya nang may tumayo sa side namin at labanan siya.

"However, it is also their responsibility to provide the needed medication to the clients—"

"No. Hindi lang sila taga-bigay ng gamot sa mga pasyente o sa mga taong bumibili sa kanila, nireregulate nila ang mga gamot. They decide if suitable ba ang medicines sa patient since the health of the patient matters to them unless may valid na reason ang mga bibili such as prescribed by the professional doctor ang kukunin nila na gamot. At kung ibabase sa kwento, there is no prescription and it is the person's only choice, so it's clearly incorrect kung titignan mo sa lahat ng anggulo." I nodded at Rara's opinion.

Mapang-asar na tinuturo nila Deo at Emen si Rara habang taas ang noo na nakangiti. Parehas silang nakatingin sa'kin para asarin ako. Gumagalaw-galaw pa ang ulo nila na parang bata na inaasar ang kalaro.

"That's really unprofessional. There's a reason they want to do that, and if it's illegal, why not tell them the truth? They should have clarified why they can't allow them to buy instead of offering them the wrong medication. What the pharmacist did was so unprofessional; they might want to prevent certain problems for the patients' sake, but it is still wrong to offer them false details." I nodded at my kakampi too while listening to his opinion.

Muntik akong mapapalakpak nang tumayo si Deo para magsalita, "Patients' well-being is a pharmacist's top priority. And they can't only prescribe such medication to abort the child because, as my co-group pointed out, it could endanger not only the child's life but also the mother's. Taking medication that has not been recommended by a professional doctor carries a high risk. Add to that the fact that abortion is technically illegal in our country."