Silence

by Kyla Relucio

Before going to bed this evening, I did my usual routine of checking emails and notifications on Facebook. This evening however, I could not help but feel very disheartened and disappointed as I scrolled through my news feeds for the only thing people are posting about are their complaints on the current situation our fellow Filipinos face and their angry comments full of discontent with the assistance of our government, most especially our President.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that there is nothing wrong. I just think that during moments like this, people online who can obviously have the time to sit in front of a laptop in their peaceful homes while other Filipinos are out there trying to survive and put together what’s left of them, should clearly just be silent.

Now is not the time to ask whose fault it is or why this is happening to us. Probably this is the time to answer how we could make things better. The answer to this question however can only be seen and given meaning through our actions.

I understand that some of us may feel angry, because we want things to get better and we feel like people who have that power to make things better aren’t doing their best. I also understand that it is very difficult to “let it go”, and to just ignore other angry comments or articles involved in criticizing the current situation we all face as Filipinos.

What must we do then?

The challenge for us is to be silent and to be peaceful. Our complaints wont do anything to make things better. It will only exacerbate the situation by putting emphasis on how unfortunate things have been. Silence does not mean we do not care or that things do not matter. Silence simply means that we do feel something yet no words can capture our emotions and sentiments.

Today, we are challenged to be human. Human, not in the sense, that it is innate for us to be angry and to react to this tragedy, but human in a sense that we can overcome and acknowledge our capability to do so.