
17/05/2025
After reading the “Jollibee Paper Bag Story,” grabe, I couldn’t stop crying.
Ang sakit. Ang hirap manganak. Yung feeling na binigay mo na lahat, tapos wala ka man lang karamay. Walang nag-alaga. Walang nagparamdam ng comfort. And worst of all… yung taong inaasahan mong kakampi mo—wala.
She went through 16 hours of labor, all by herself. The nurses were kind, but the doctors? They treated her like she was a burden for crying out in pain. Ilang beses siyang na-IE habang nakahiga sa delivery bed na hindi pa man lang nalinis—may bakas pa ng dugo ng iba.
Walang division. Walang curtain. Wala man lang dignidad. Just another woman, a few steps away, screaming habang nanganganak din. And all of this… witnessed by a crowd of students. Ten of them. One holding a phone—at sigurado siyang naka-video siya, without her consent. Walang paalam. Walang respeto.
Then the delivery. The doctor did splinting to remove her stool, didn’t clean her up, just put the same diaper back. And after that? Sinabihan siyang maligo. Walang hot water. No care if she was weak, bleeding, or on the verge of collapse. Cold water lang. Bahala ka sa katawan mo.
She told everything to her husband.
And all he said was, “Ok lang yan. Tapos naman na.”
Wala man lang eye contact. Walang “thank you.” Walang “ang tapang mo.” Just plain words.
Then the next day, bumalik siya. May hawak na Jollibee paper bag.
Her eyes lit up. Kasi kahit papano, in the middle of everything, Jollibee still meant comfort. “Hala, love,” she said, “sarap niyan!”
Pero sagot ng asawa niya?
“Sorry, Lab. Sakin lang ‘to. Gutom na talaga ako. Puyat din naman ako kagabi. May libre naman na hospital food dyan, yun na lang sayo.”
In that moment, she realized…
This pain—this loneliness—hindi lang pala dahil sa nangyari sa ospital. Hindi lang sa mga doktor, sa malamig na tubig, sa maruming k**a, sa mga estudyanteng walang respeto.
It was because she thought he would be the only comfort left.
The only person who would hold her.
See her.
Tell her, “You’re not alone.”
But he wasn’t.
And somehow, that hurt more than all the pain her body went through.
Kasi sa lahat ng tiniis niya, ang pinanghawakan niya lang ay yung idea na “okay lang, kasi sa dulo, andyan siya.”
Pero sa dulo ng lahat—
wala rin pala siyang pakialam.