Taas Kamao | #5
"Parang
sasabog na yung puso ko" was the only line that I could internally scream
off at the top of my head after hearing the sentiments of our indigenous kababayans during our visit last Monday,
October 24, at their camp near the College of Fine Arts.
Seeing these people, there is no doubt that each one of them have a lot of things to say, a lot of stories to tell. I can even imagine the infinite strings of words that are bottled up inside of them, and I could not help but wonder how they manage to live through each day while carrying these heavy words. These words that I am referring to are the stories of discrimination, abuse, killings, and other injustices that are being inflicted upon them in their respective homes.
Honestly speaking, the issues that our kababayans are raising are not relatively new to me. Having lived in the Cordillera for almost a year, I have studied and examined how intense the thrust of many large corporations is when it comes to making their projects a reality. The gist is that if they want something, they will get it. It was as if their mantra is this: “nothing can come in our way!”
My eyes have been opened to their hardships for quite a long time. But the thing is, just like any other human being, I have the tendency to subtly forget about other people because I am carrying a lot of burden myself. I have responsibilities and predicaments that I need to think about first, before others.
And that is a sad reality.
We live in a world where we needed to survive. In order to survive, we have to think of ourselves first. And sometimes, to do that, we have to step in the way of other people, because this world is a competition.
The food chain, for example, is the eternal reminder that we can never achieve ultimate equality. There will always be times when a group of people can live better than other people.
However, it doesn’t mean that we should stop working towards it.
During our visit, what struck me the most about what one Moro kababayan said was how we sometimes fail to turn our head back at the people behind us, because we are so busy looking forward.
In Filipino, I would like to phrase it like this:
“Naaawa ka sa sarili mo kasi naka-tsinelas ka lang,
tapos yung nasa harap mo naka-sapatos.
Subukan mo naman kayang lumingon sa likod,
makikita mong yung iba naka-paa lang.”
- a Moro kababayan
When she said that, I realized that we fail to achieve some kind of peace because humans do not seem to have a sense of contentment. We always want to be better than others. We tend to look at those around us, and strive to achieve them or be better than them. Indeed, this is manifested through the trendy line “Ikaw na!” and “how to be you po?”
So last Monday, instead of looking forward, I turned my head back to the people behind me and I tried to listen, endure, and celebrate with them.
Last Monday, I made sure that I will forever hold what they are fighting for deep inside me. Because even though I can do anything significant to change their situation, I can change something within my environment so that I won’t be one of the people who will persecute them.
Last Monday, I made sure to record their cries in my heart, to remember that their battle, is also my battle; not because I am a Filipino, but because I am human, and that is what humans should do.
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