There’s a reason why courage is praised, while cowardice is despised.

Just recently, Vice President Sara Duterte entered the Quezon City Hall of Justice, where she hesitated on the steps. After weeks of not appearing to the public, she made a court appearance to post bail for her grave threats charges.

She declared that she did not feel safe, fearing that she could be killed at any moment. She added to her statement, saying that if she were to be killed, and if there is a plan, she will only receive an apology. She distrusts it—how the public cannot see that something may happen to her, or that the armed forces on the premises are creating a gap that prevents the public from witnessing what may happen.

Standing near the courthouse steps, she invoked a ghost from our nation’s history. A question left her mouth, asking, "Naalala mo ba na si Ninoy Aquino, namatay sa hagdanan?"

She was referencing August 21, 1983, when Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. stepped off a plane to return from exile, knowing a military dictatorship wanted him dead. He walked down those airplane stairs into immediate peril, giving his life so that his countrymen might regain their democratic freedom.

Implying that his situation may be similar to her case is a profound distortion of truth. Ninoy Aquino knowingly stepped into death for the liberty of the Filipinos trapped under Marcos’s cruel regime. But Vice President Sara Duterte was walking up to a well-lit court landing to post bail under the democratic system Ninoy died to restore. Ironically, while Ninoy Aquino paid with his life, she pays by posting a ₱360,000 cash bail to lift her arrest warrant. Is it truly life-threatening when you are able to use funds to get rid of a warrant, while others aren't even able to pay for anything anymore?

In his time, it was not only Ninoy Aquino who was facing death, but thousands of people were suffering, facing a death so near in such a fragile life, wondering if they would be killed for speaking up again. They don’t have the money to get themselves out of that situation, but she does.

And the truth of the matter is, a lot of things are happening. However, the vice president herself is barely present when needed the most. So, what are we supposed to see—her inability to face her charges and take accountability? The opposite of what Ninoy did for the country and the people?

Because the public is already seeing what is happening, but what we need to see is her presence, her so-called “strength and resolve”, to show up and own her actions.

These “guns” she refers to do not necessarily mean they are aiming to get her killed. They are for security due to her arrest warrant, and they are also for her protection. Why is she so worried about her own death, instead of the Filipinos who died due to the negligence of the government, and perhaps her own choices?

Ninoy Aquino faced death, while Sara can’t even show herself in impeachment trials. He traded his life for us, and our current vice president has barely sacrificed anything for the betterment of our country. There is no effect without a cause. Was there even a cause to not fulfill the duty of being a vice president?

Death is unknown to all, but consequences are not. If you fear death, but run from the consequences you created—what truly is feared here? To die, or to face what you’ve done?

The Frontman