14/09/2025
๐๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ป | ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต, ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต
๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐๐๐ข๐ค๐จ
As the floodwaters rise again in the streets of our beloved nationโ not just the kind that soak
our homes, but the one that drown our faiths. Failed flood controls, ghost projects, empty
promisesโ these have become the tides that swallow the dreams of every Filipino worker who
dares to hope for a better tomorrow. And while we sink deeper in the waters of despair,
somewhere in air-conditioned palaces, the daughters and sons of the elites flaunt their
branded bags, designer shoes, and sparkling crowns forged not by their sweat, but by the taxes of the masses.
They were not born rich. We made them rich.
Our mothersโ sleepless nights thinking of what meal to prepare with so little at hand, our
fathersโ strength drained each day with never-ending labor to keep their families alive, our
OFWs tearing their hearts apart in foreign lands away from their loved onesโ all these sacrifices
fed the lives of those who now live lavishly on what we paid, what we lost, what we continue to
endure.
Yet, what has become of us? Why do we sit silently as the injustice slaps us with this
reality? It is not envy or sadness that eats us aliveโ it is rage. Rage for the children whose
stomachs remain empty; for workers who spend almost all their time at work only to struggle to
make ends meet, and for Filipinos who are continuously fooled with broken promises and left drowning in corruption.
I always thought that the threats come from beyond our shores, from foreign hands waiting to take what is ours. But little did I know, the betrayal was always closerโ it lived within. As Jessica Soho powerfully said โHindi na pala baha ang magpapalubog sa ating bayan, kundi
kasakiman.โ It turns out, itโs not the floods that will sink our nation, but the corruption and greed
that run deeper than water. And yet, even in this storm, there is something that refuses to be drowned: Our Filipino spirit. We have been bruised, tricked, and betrayed, but we are still here. This is resilienceโ not blind
acceptance of suffering, but the stubborn fire to continue fighting even when the odds are too cruel. But resilience must not become complacency.
It is not enough to surviveโ we must demand to live with stability. The time will come again when the pen will prove sharper than the sword, when the ballot will be more powerful than the bribes, when the youth will finally rise as Rizal
pleaded: โAng pag-asa ng Bayan.โ Remember this truth, they were not born rich. We made
them rich. And if we can make them rich, then we can also strip them of the thrones we builtโ not with hatred, but with courage; not with silence, but with a united voice for justice.
๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐: Janelle Mae Bautista
๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐: Twinkle Bantolo, Creative Director
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