Three hundred thirty-three years of being silenced—and somehow, we still learned nothing. We bled for a voice, and now we use that same voice to make others bleed. No chain is binding us to colonizers anymore. Just Filipinos turning on fellow Filipinos, “Dugo laban sa Dugo” is what I would call it. In a country that claims to be free, we’ve found more ways to silence each other than to find ways to uplift our nation. We find ways to label people according to our beliefs, label them when we find their opinions opposite to ours.
We should refuse to accept a country where speaking the truth can cost you everything— No colonizer forced this on us—we chose this, we chose to be like this, normalized it, and now we defeat it like it’s something to be proud of. We fought for democracy, and we will be served with democracy.
We studied, and we fought, and we killed. For the notion of a nation, we now get to build. For once in your life, take a stand with pride and defend this nation. I don't understand how people can just stand to the side when people who are fighting for our nation get scrutinized and erased.
Campus Journalists, Activists, and Critical Thinkers should not have to worry about their lives in a nation that promised to be free, a nation that we once fought for, and yet the same people who are fighting for us get labels and death threats. A common example of this is the ongoing trend of calling anyone with opposing political views “NPA,” an abbreviation that originally referred to members of the New People's Army.
Let me remind people that activism is the reason people have the rights they enjoy today. This was already present, even when we were colonized; this is why revolutions happen, to change and reform a broken system.
Calling Journalists, Activists, and Critical Thinkers “NPA” is not patriotism; it is cowardice, immaturity, and insensitivity in its loudest form. We don’t protect a nation by silencing the very people who keep fighting for it. We can’t defend the truth by attacking those who expose themselves to earn us the justice we ask for. People think they are strong when they do this, but no, these kinds of people are the ones who are afraid of being wrong. And instead of growing up, they chose to drag others down with them.
A person who fights for the rights of a nation should not be labeled as an NPA. Their actions are not threats against the nation— these people are not threats, they are necessary voices in a country that still has a chance to be better. I agree that the Philippines is a democratic country, and we have the right to use our voice, to act, and to raise our concerns— But this does not mean that anytime, anywhere, or anyway that they are automatically right. We should recognize where we draw the line.
A government that cannot handle criticism is weak, and people who cannot tolerate the truth are even weaker.
People tend to forget their values once facts don’t match their beliefs anymore; they don’t respond to it lightly and often retaliate. “Bayaran.” “Komunista.” “Kalaban ng Bayan.”. They replace arguments with insults because they don’t have anything real to stand on if their platforms are demolished. And the worst part is that they think they are always right.
Speaking for what is right should never be a crime. Fighting for what is right should not cost lives! Tayo ay nakalaya dahil tayo ay nagsalita! We used our voice, not violence—and it should never be twisted into the excuse to silence others.
We can’t call something fair if it's selective. Is it really justice when you are the one getting to decide who gets silenced just because you disagree with them? It is so uncanny to think that people are starting to play like judges, jury, and executioner in a space where we were only meant to listen and respond. We have turned discourse into destruction, turned disagreement into attack, turned accountability into a threat.
The more we try to be a good person, the more our shadow grows. And that shadow is slowly swallowing us whole. It shows in how quickly we dehumanize, how easily we justify cruelty, how comfortably we silence others for the sake of feeling right. It shows how we protect power even when it is wrong, because admitting that would require us to change. Wouldn’t it?
When institutions label citizens as enemies, the citizens lose their rights. But when the people echo it, amplify it, and weaponize it, then we are bound to collapse. Rules are made by the strong to control the weak. So what does that make you when you help enforce those rules? You are not above the system—you are like us, below the law, and equal because no person is above the law.
Don’t underestimate the damage we have caused. Every label we throw, every voice we silence, every truth we try to bury— builds a country where marginalization replaces freedom. In this world, there are many things more frightening than death. Living in a nation where speaking and fighting for the truth is dangerous is one of them. And we are dangerously close to that reality than we think. One simple proclamation and we’re through.
People often think that we can just delete our sins like a social media post. Truth be told, we can’t. The damage persists. The situation remains. The silence we create spreads. And one day, when we finally need their voices, we might find that no one is left willing to listen and to speak.
If we keep silencing, erasing, and eradicating people, then are we really that different from animals? When threatened, they show their teeth. Let us use our freedom for the benefit of the nation; let us use our platforms to amplify the voices of the rights we are all fighting for.
If you silence journalists, you are killing the truth.
If you label critics as enemies, you are destroying the nation.
If you bully people into silence, you are burning freedom to the ground.
Let us not let people normalize this. Let us not stay silent while this country is starting to turn into a place where fear decides who gets to speak.
Mata para sa mata
Buhay para sa buhay
Kung sinuman ang nagkasala
Ay siyang dapat managot sa masa
Huwag na tayo magbulag-bulagan— Kung hindi ka pa galit, bakit?
