Killing a Jejemon

by Joel Magturo

We contribute to the death of the other. This line struck me last Tuesday in our Philosophy class. How can we contribute to their death even if we do not know them? Then one experience comes into my mind.

Last week I watched the Men’s Volleyball Finals. After Ateneo lost to NU, I was still in shock so I was still standing to look at my fallen friends. In that moment a person called my attention. She was not from Ateneo but she was wearing an Ateneo T-shirt. I knew this because her group of friends were wearing different UAAP school shirt. She shouted, “Kuya, kuya, hindi ka ba makaover, umupo ka naman wala kami makita.”Inside me I thought, “Ano ba yang mga JEJEMON fans na to oh EPAL.” I ignored her for 5 minutes but she was persistent. “Kuya, kuya nagbayad kami dito, ano ba yan di makaover,” she said. I almost snapped but then I realized that it was inappropriate to curse them since I was wearing an Ateneo shirt. Then, my friend and I just walked away but I was so pissed. I said to my friend, “Ano ba naman yang Jeje fans na yan, makikinood na nga lang eepal pa. Bilin ko sila eh. Mahirap lang naman mga yan eh,” I said to my friend and then we laughed.

Every day we encounter people we do not like. We judge them and make stereotypes. We forget to look at them with their faces and reduce them to what they stereotype and hastily avoid interaction with them. We neglect the fact that they have their own experiences, dimensions and stories behind them. I realize with my experience in the game, I was contributing to the death of the “other”. For simple things like standing in front of them, I kill them for not allowing them to see the court. My selfishness makes them lose their money’s worth that could have been bought for food or other things they need or maybe lose their chance to experience the game. Maybe it was a chance for them to relax and be away from all the stress but I deprived them of that. My thoughts of them as poor people and jejemon are not being responsible for the other. I totalize them belittling them. I realized that this is not being responsible for them and further contributing to their death. I thought of them as someone who I can easily break and step on but that is not the case. They are still human and they have their own dimensions.


In order to be responsible for the “other,” we must be open. We must not make hasty stereotypes even though we hate the person. We should know beyond their outside appearances that they have their own experiences in life. We must remember that as humans we have responsibility for others and not contribute to their deaths.