15/10/2025
Ikaw? Anong message ang tinype mo, pero 'di mo sinend?
๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐จ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐
The world roared. For a solid minute, parang nagwawala ang lupa โ isang malakas na lindol ang gumiba sa lahat ng akala ni JL ay stable. Pag hinto ng nag uumupugang mga lupa, a dusty silence fell, broken only by the distant sound of sirens at ng mga nakakatakot na sigawan.
Mabilis kumalat ang balita. Isang kapitbahay ang tumatakbong sumalubong โKuya JL, nakita ko sa news, parang bahay niyo โyung kinain ng lupa! โYung first floor, parangโฆ wala na.โ
Parang huminto ang tibok ng puso ni JL. She found her mom trembling sa sulok ng kung ano na lang ang natira sa second floor nila. Pag silip niya sa bintana โ puro lupa at debris. Lubog ang ground floor. Para silang stranded sa tuktok ng sarili nilang bahay.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrng. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrng. Rrrrrrrrrng.
Nag-vibrate ang phone niya, buhay pa, may 20% battery. Sunod-sunod ang Viber messages. At doon, lumabas ang isang pangalan na matagal na niyang di nakita. Steven.
Her breath hitched.
Steven: Saw on the news that your house was affected by the lindol, howโs tita and tito? How are you?
The simple, polite message was a match thrown into a gasoline-filled room of his memories. Sampung taon. Sampung taong ng silence. Ten years of a pain so profound it had reshaped her entire life.
Mabilis gumalaw ang mga daliri niya sa basag na screen, sinusulat lahat ng matagal na niyang gustong sabihin. Walang filter, puro totoo.
JL (Draft): 10 years after mo ako iwanan, walang ni-ho ni-ha, hinabol ka pa ni Papa sa airport para lang pigilan ka tpapos ngayon "How's tita and tito?" He died in a car accident that day, btw. At di mo alam kasi wala kang pakialam. Then "how are you?" Well, I miss you and everything about you.
Naalala pa rin niya โyung tawag galing ospital. His mother's voice, shattered. Si Papa, patay na. Yung taong bumuo ng lahat ng meron sila, nawala dahil gusto niyang pigilan โyung taong sumira ng puso ng anak niya. Steven had left for his "greener pasture," his dream job abroad.
is leaving was the first domino to fall. With her father gone, the business, a complex import-export company, crumbled. Nalugmok si Mama. Naubos ang ipon. Namatay din ang pangarap ni JL na maging doktor. Nagtrabaho siya sa call center para lang mabayaran ang utang, kahit gabing-gabi o madaling-araw, puro reklamo ng kliyente ang kasama.
Mula sa mga kwento ng kakilala, naririnig niya. Senior partner na si Steven sa EY, sa Amerika. Successful lahat ng kapatid niya at nakapag tapos.
Oo, totoo nga. Mas green nga ang pasture niya.
And here he was, standing in the ruins of her family's house, literally and figuratively.
Tinitigan niya โyung message. It was the truth. It was her truth. Pero habang nakikita niya si Mama, pagod at puno ng alikabok, napaisip siya. Some truths are too heavy to send. Some wounds, when reopened, only bleed on the person who never caused the cut.
Dahan-dahan niyang dinelete ang draft. Isa-isang nawala ang mga salitang puno ng sakit. She took a deep, shaky breath, and with a strength she didn't know she still possessed, she typed a new reply, isang kasinungalingan na mas madaling dalhin kesa sa katotohan.
JL (Sent): Weโre good. I am good. We are safe.
Pinindot niya ang send.
Lumipad ang mensahe. Maliit na bula ng kasinungalingan papunta sa mundo ng tagumpay ni Steven. Down below, the ground had literally given way. Pero โyung pagitan nilang dalawa, โyung bangin na ginawa niya sampung taon na ang nakalipas, โyun pa rin ang pinakamalalim sa lahat.
And no amount of "I'm good, I am safe" could ever fill it.
sulat ni: Cloud Espinosa
paglalapat ni: Ivan Silva
