I am making a stand, right here,
right now in my own little space in the blogosphere. I am appalled with what is
happening in my country. The rush and secret burial of a dictator in the
resting place of heroes have caused many a sleepless night last night like I
did. We have long suffered idiotic, shameful braggadocio with words, deeds from this
government and this is the most hurtful and treacherous so far.
As a woman, I have only my words
and as a mother, a voice of concern for the future. Hatred has seeped many
parts of the globe and my island nation is not spared. Internet trolls lurk the web, some paid while others delusional having drank too much of their
master’s Kool aid ready to strike with their own vile and contemptuous words on
poor enlightened commenters. These keyboard warriors use their gift of
words to blackmail, humiliate others, twisting facts and feeding lies. What a
shame.
And this is why I am writing this
piece because I don’t want to stand here and just do nothing. I cannot be on
the streets protesting this sinister burial because I’m caring for my son. I
wish I could be there screaming my lungs out with fists outstretched. But I
can’t so let me shout my defiance here. My outrage. My sadness. One hundred
forty words in Twitter is not enough.
I love this country. I have been
offered a chance to migrate after I got married but I refused. This is where I
belong, the land of my birth where my son will grow up and my husband and I
will grow old in. So it is sad that there is so much uncertainty right now.
Many people voted for a Trojan horse, a messenger with a Pandora’s box.
Our
country is suffering right now, the peso has depreciated and our sense of what’s right and
wrong have been twisted. We are watching our countrymen being killed on the streets
with plastered mouths and cardboards on their corpses. How did we let this
happen? Was fear a factor? Intimidation from asshole trolls perhaps? But if we
cower then they will continue on this twisted, evil path. Our country will
suffer. Rising above this fear and letting our voices be heard is a start.
Because I was there in the
Quirino grandstand with my father after the EDSA People Power revolution after
Marcos fled the country and I saw the outrage of the people. Pictures of the
Marcoses with fangs and horns were distributed and raised fists were a common
sight. Now, all that seems forgotten. His burial in a plot reserved for heroes
with a 21 gun salute is utter humiliation on our part as a people and it is a
sad day for our country. It is a slap and a spit to Martial Law’s human rights
victims. It is a shame and a disgrace.
So I will not stand here and do
nothing. I will say my piece. I also want the youth to realize that we should not let our land be
devoured by a darkness so evil that our country would have a hard time to recover
from. We should respond to it with our enlightened minds and fight until we are
out of this darkness again. Let us fight to get back our sense of decency,
civility and patriotism because we owe our Motherland that. No darkness should
be allowed to cover our lands. Never again.
