I’ve been sitting here organizing my thoughts on which stories to share and blog about. I’ve realized that I’ve not been very sensitive to the real issues commencing around the globe; and neglecting the cloud that’s hovering over Asia, more specifically, JAPAN. It was on March 11, 2011 – my last day at work. I was running around the office (like a chicken with no head) organizing the food my coworkers and myself prepared for everyone in the building – never thought despidida parties could be so stressful! After feeding the hungry savages, I got a chance to check my email. And there on my yahoo page, a frightening headline about the earthquake in Japan and the horrendous tsunami that came after. My ears momentarily deafened the rave inside the office and I could hear my deep breath mouthing the words: “OH NO” in silence. It was difficult; I could hear the people crying for the loss of loved ones, the tsunami tarnishing everything in its path and the sound of despair that comes with it. I was brought back to when “Ondoy” plagued the Philippines without warning; But this – this was far beyond anything like a super typhoon. Nothing could have prepared them for the earthquake, let alone a tsunami!
I am aware that Japan and the Philippines have had their share of divergence in the past. Most Filipinos even tend to dislike the Japanese simply because of how they treated our ancestors. I must say, the darkest and grimmest parts of our history would be the time when the Japanese invaded the land. A lot of deaths took place and not to mention a swarm of suffering and injustice all across the country. And just recently, a video surfaced on the web showing hundreds of Japanese local fishermen slaughtering poor and helpless dolphins by the shore. It was an awful sight to see people butchering each dolphin alongside the whole stretch of sand with which turning the sea into a deep murky red.
However atrocious all these things may seem to be, I cannot and will not put myself to judge their country no matter how harshly they’ve treated ours in the past. There is a lot of opinion going around the web about how the nation (Japan) so rightfully deserves what is happening to them because of the many human (and animal) deaths they’ve caused – I just think that is downright hypocrisy! Our country and even we individually, in one way or another, have caused suffering towards someone or something. Who are we to say that they should suffer because of their sins when we are just as sinful as they are? Are we that blameless to point a finger towards a nation that suffered enough death and hardship?
Come on people, don’t be so thick. Blaming other people won’t do any justice to us, or even to the slaughtered animals. Let the man without sin cast the first stone.
let us all continue to remember Japan in our prayers.
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