In the old Waray tales, elders often spoke of the tikang han tamsi (flight of the bird). The bird does not argue with the storm; it simply rises above it, seeking calmer skies. Today, as our nation is engulfed in the kasaba han pulitika (political noise), perhaps we too must learn from the wisdom of the bird.
The political noise is now so loud that we need to veer away from the radiance of our screen and feel the world in its real colors, in its real sounds.
Waray elders often say: “An aringasa diri nagdadara hin pagkaon.” (Noise does not bring food.) This proverb reminds us that shouting politicians do not fill our tables; it is our own labor that sustain us.
Another saying: “An tawo nga maaram mamati, mas labaw pa kaysa han tawo nga maaram magyakan.” (The person who knows how to listen is greater than the one who only knows how to speak.) In a time of endless debates, listening—to nature, to family, to community—is the true act of wisdom.
Even algorithms in the social media bears so much political polarity that Filipinos had become soldiers of political propaganda and had been commenting on the narratives that favors one or other political camp.
We can never separate ourselves away from politics on a total way, but we can be intelligent discerning folks that filters content and allow sobriety, stillness and positive realities take over, take control of your life.
It was Seneca who said , we suffer more in our imaginations than in reality. As a rephrased version of that, we are lured by false and polarized political propaganda, that we forget our reality.
Let them fight, let them forward their political agenda, but for us, we must be prudent and be peacemakers. let us rise above the political noise!
