August 21: Are You Still Worth Dying For?

Ui. Walang pasok.

Anong ginawa mo? Nagcomputer magdamag? Natulog? Kumain hanggang mabusog?

Ikaw, na walang ginawa kundi makipagtitigan sa monitor, makipag-apir kay idol sa panaginip, o nagpalaman ng 'di mabilang na dami ng pagkain sa iyong tiyan... Are you still worth dying for?

Today we take short break chasing life as it is, fast-paced and eternally burdensome. We take a brief relief from this burning cycle of living. But let us all remember, we were given this day to serve a purpose - to reflect, in our own little way, the life and death of a person who gave his life for our liberty. No, not a modern-day Jesus, but like him, a martyr, who died for the sake of love and of his people. Ninoy Aquino's legacy is something we should be poignantly grateful.

I won't be recalling Ninoy and his heroic life. I won't be mentioning something that has already been mentioned for the past decades. I won't be echoing, like many who did before, the intelligence he had and the passion he excellently, and in every manner he so brilliantly exhibited. What is important now is how we, today's generation, live up to the ideals he braved living for, to the love of nation he endured suffering for, and the freedom of our nation he died fighting for.

A little reflection is needed in answering such a challenging call. What kind of Filipinos did Ninoy die for during his time? From what we know, they are freedom-lovers -the kind of people who would sacrifice everything, until the last drop of blood, for democracy. They are also religious, who embody Cory's words, "Even the highest place in the world is still under the Lord's feet.". They are spirited, hard-working, community-oriented people. They are neither apathetic nor ignorant. Rather, they strive to be of use, to hurl themselves into the arena national affairs, and oftentimes without politicking, to be of service. They are the Filipino people of before.

Rising from them is our generation, a free people who takes everything for granted. We are a people of selfish intentions, diasporic, apathetic. We are more concerned with things that'll take individuals to the peak of power, rather than as one people with a common cause. We cry freedom in the form of working abroad. We vent our complaints against the Church. We are a nation almost completely alien from what we are in the past. Only a few people realize that we are not as before. Yet the question remains, are we still worth dying for?

Of course we are. We may have been freed from the regime of dictatorship, but the real oppressors - poverty, corruption, apathy, and hatred - still lingers among our people. But then, we do not need another Ninoy to shed blood for our sake. We do not need another People Power to drive this cause. What we need is to look into ourselves, and ask the question: "Am I still worth dying for?" Take action. Take pride. We our Filipinos.

Kaibigan. Masarap matulog. Pero sana, pag gising mo, isa ka na ring Ninoy. Hindi Ninoy as in Ninoy, pero isang Pilipinong handang ibigay ang makakaya sa pagmamahal sa kapwa mo Pilipino.

Rest not in peace;
Not yet Rizal, not yet. The land had need
Of young blood and what younger than your own.
Forever spilled in the great name of freedom,
Forever oblate on the altar of the free?

- R. Zulueta da Costa, Like a Molave

Maraming salamat sa Ateneo Sanggunian para sa larawan. Ikalat ang post. You are worth dying for.