I woke up at around 7:30 a.m. on November 25 and did what many of us reflexively do—scroll through Facebook before even leaving bed. I was not prepared for what I saw. A man was on a casual Facebook Live, sitting in front of his home, when a gunshot suddenly cracked through the screen. In an instant, the barangay captain was killed before hundreds of unsuspecting viewers. Wala ko ginlalauman nga matan-aw ko ang amo nga klase nga eksena.
My heart dropped. I cried. Behind the camera, voices broke into screams—children who had just lost their father, a wife who had just lost her husband, a community suddenly leaderless. I imagined myself in their place and prayed that such horror would never touch anyone I love.
Since that day, the violence has not stopped. Our timelines read like an unending tragedy series. A businessman in Roxas City shot by riding-in-tandem suspects. A construction worker stabbed during a drinking session. A teacher killed during a simple neighborhood gathering. A barber shot over a petty argument. Daw adlaw-adlaw na ang balita sang trahedya.
We now live in a time when anger so easily mutates into violence. A small misunderstanding becomes fatal. Jealousy becomes murder. Drunken quarrels end in blood. Worse, we have grown numb. Sanay na kita nga mabatian ang mga “ginluthang,” “ginbuno,” “patay na”—and barely flinch. As if life has somehow become negotiable.
But this is no longer just a police matter. Nor is it solely the government’s burden. This is a community crisis. Fear has quietly slipped into our homes. Parents worry each time their children step outside. Wives pray their husbands return safely. Families sleep with the uneasy thought that something could go wrong before morning.
Of course, kinahanglan gid aksyunan sang may mga awtoridad: mas bakod nga law enforcement, faster justice, and tighter security. Pero kita man dapat nga mga pumuluyo. We must stop tolerating violent behavior, stop romanticizing revenge culture, stop ignoring warning signs when they appear in the people around us.
Bangud sa tapos sang tanan, kabuhi ang pinakaimportante, kag indi ini dapat ginakawat sa isa lamang ka gulpihanay nga paglupok.
