
21/09/2025
OPINION| ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก: ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐
๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ค
When eyes are opened, silence is no longer an option. The mouth can never again be silenced once it has spoken truth.
We stand firm for truth, transparency, and accountability. Corruption and injustice must endโnow. Itโs not just tears, sweat, and blood that have been spilled because of their greedโit has cost lives. Together, we march, every step screaming defiance against corruption they want us to accept as the "new normal."
"This is where your taxes go." Is that transparency? No. Filipinos deserve more. Every peso matters. Every taxpayer sacrificesโworking two or more jobs just to make ends meet. We deserve better, and we will fight for it. Knowledge is power, and that power is now in our hands.
Flood control infrastructure project. The promise: to protect lives, protect crops, and prevent damage. But behind that promise was a luxury car, a luxury dress, a luxury lifeโtaken by those who should be serving the people. Itโs not just hundreds, thousands, or millions. Not even billions. Itโs trillions of pesos. And yet many Filipinos still suffer when such projects should have already answered their needs.
"Multo" by Cup of Joe tops the playlists. But *multo* is only about what never was. Our tragedy is worseโit is real, it is lived, and it risks being passed on to the next generation. It is not too late. If our voices make them uncomfortable, then we must never fall silent.
We are used to seeing children working when they should be in school, studying. Families facing illness no longer say, โLetโs go to the hospital for treatment,โ but instead whisper, โHow will we survive if we donโt have money?โ Tatay Nelson, who fights fair in life, drives a pedicab to earn below minimum wage yet still pays his taxes faithfully. Students should learn in safe, comfortable classrooms with proper facilities. Patients deserve hospitals that heal, not bankrupt. And yet countless stories like these are buriedโsilenced by corruption and injustice.
If those 13 digits in the budget were used with honesty, children could dream big and aim higher. Families would not dread hospital bills. Rain would not paralyze us. We would not be afraid to dream or to make the future we deserve. We could aim higher. Live better. Be free.
We should not be afraidโbecause we are in this fight together. If the waters rise, we will swim. We will not let them drown us. We will fight for what we deserve and for what we built with our hands. We are shaping our future. We are building our nation. We will not settle for less than we deserve. We will write a new chapterโone where corruption has no place.
This is our stand. This is our march. This is our cry:
No more lies.
No more theft.
No more corruption.
We are the people.
We are the power.
We are the future.
And we will never be silenced.
Written by Maurice Nicolas
Art by Jasterin Capulong