What we didn’t know was that there was another story that lurked behind the glittery, showbiz successes of a teenage pop idol yanked from the barangay singing contests of Cabuyao, Laguna and thrust into the unforgiving limelight of Hollywood. It was a story that secretly burned in the chests and guts of anyone with a similar heart.
Saying we are already “accepted” is ignorant of our struggles as individuals and as families who should have equal rights as taxpaying citizens. By taking this view we are saying that it’s enough that gay people are on TV and in the streets even if we still can’t visit our spouses in the hospital or pass on our assets to our loved ones when we die.
I was my yaya’s girl. As needy as I was and as much as she spoiled me, ours was not a unique love story.
For starters, what I’d like to know is why I’m still being told the same things I was told a decade and a half ago.
My essay “The Santol Tree” is included Motherhood Statements, an anthology edited by Rica Bolipata Santos and Cyan Abad-Jugo. Released in time for Mother’s Day, Anvil Publications is launching this book on May 9, 2013, 6 pm at Bestsellers bookstore, 4th Level Robinsons Galleria. For store availability, call Anvil at +63 2 477 4752.
Silence equals harm:
Our modern predicament now revolves around the belief that something must be wrong if we are not heard. I need to tell you where I’m going as a courtesy, and you need to know when I’ll be home because if I’m not there when I said I would, then I must have died!
Read more: http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/27329-why-cant-afford-missing-facebook
