Choose kind

Cong Corrales .

“When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” -RJ Palacio, Wonder [2012]

ON Saturday, I already monitored the news of the supposed capture of six alleged members of the New People’s Army by the 62nd Infantry Battalion in Mabinay, Negros Oriental. I just skimmed through the article on what was a breaking news that day because it happened in the Visayas and thus couldn’t be used on my Mindanao pages.

At about midnight of that day, I was told by a journalist-friend that among those arrested was Myles Albasin, daughter of a colleague and friend.

I scanned my Facebook newsfeed fishing for more information on the supposed arrest.

The first statement I saw was by University of the Philippines Cebu Chancellor Liza Corro who confirmed that Myles, indeed, studied at UP Cebu and that she graduated last June with a degree on Mass Communications.

“Right now she is entitled to due process and is considered innocent until proven otherwise,” the chancellor’s statement reads.

The next statement I saw was the progressive youth organization, Anakbayan. There I read that Myles used to be the chairperson of Anakbayan UP Cebu chapter.

“She was a student leader who was awakened and has been exposed (to) the worsening educational crisis involving the Filipino youth. She was also active in advancing the plight and struggle of the farmers, fisherfolk, and indigenous people, especially the (indigenes), through her immersions and integrations with them,” the Anakbayan statement reads in part.

What got my goat was the deluge of hate posts in the thread of Anakbayan’s post.

One commenter posted that Myles might be the very first NPA to be shot in her private parts. Another, still, said her limbs should be dismembered and be put on display in Luneta Park.

I had to stop reading the comments. They spoke as if they knew Myles and her comrades like they are evil and should be dealt with the harshest punishment.

I maintain that Myles and her comrades should still be afforded due process and equal protection of the law. The last time I checked, we were still a democracy. From what I understood in Anakbayan’s statement, Myles and her comrades might not even be members of the NPA. Could it be that they immersed with the farmers in Mabinay when they were captured after a supposed encounter between the NPA and government troops?

I thought to myself, the thing that I feared most ever since these hate mongering and brash talk coming from the highest office in the Republic kept coming has finally rubbed off on people. They even revel in it. It’s like “wrongful righteousness,” if you allow me an oxymoron.

In this supposed information age, it is ironic that we read mostly uninformed, bigoted, and downright stupid comments on social media.

I just could not understand the sheer hate in their posts, like they were directly victimized by the NPAs. Such a tragedy.