23/07/2025
𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗬 | ReSilence: A Quiet Endurance
Filipinos are known for their unbelievable resiliency, not because of their ability to bounce back—but because they choose to be silent over and over again. As the rainy season pours in, people are left to endure harsh waters with closed mouths and a bitter smile. With untamed floods and clogged drainages, they have no other choice.
In its own definition, being resilient means having the ability to recover quickly—a concept that we have no capacity to do. However, Filipinos often mistake the term as being synonymous with the word “endure”; a more sugar-coated term to mask the fact that we always choose to tolerate what we cannot receive. And a term to disregard what we truly deserve.
During these times, where typhoons and storms take turns and line up, culture gets ahead of us. Resiliency is often portrayed in forms of posts seeking sympathy, like vendors selling despite the rain, and farmers saving every last crop in the midst of harsh winds. And even though posts like these scream loud to emphasize those who are less fortunate, it silences the fact that these damages can be easily prevented and lessened.
Oftentimes, what is being highlighted and shined with light in these storms is the hard work, the determination, and the perseverance seen within people. And because of that, our mouths address the wrong topic to talk about. We praise and empathize with these people for their endurance while it distracts us from the system responsible, until only one option is given to us. We have to handle it.
Or in our words, 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯
And that’s what we mistake as resiliency. When, in fact, we cannot bounce back. We cannot easily recover from the damages these scenarios bring. We are far from being resilient.
To truly recover, we need to change the way we view and take these storms. We need to demand solutions and urge the system to find a way to control these calamities without damaging our people’s livelihood. Most importantly—we have to change our perspective and move our focus to what truly lies behind these situations.
And only when we turn our endurance into questioning why we are here in the first place can we begin to recover—that’s resilience.
Words by Giella Althea DS. Ternida
Photo from Philippine Star/Jesse Bustos
