Obviously disillusioned about the way things are going now, a teacher said that he would never encourage Filipinos to stay in the country. Instead, he wanted them to go broad and never come back.
Carlo River IV, an English teacher from the Ateneo de Manila University posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday about how he has changed his tune about staying in the Philippines, after spending several years teaching. And it all started after getting an encouragement from the Senator and now Senate Justice Committee Chairman Richard “Dick” Gordon.
“He (Gordon) gave a talk at the Ateneo, when I was in high school. I was considering going to college abroad, building a life abroad. I stood up during the Q&A, and asked him, should I leave, or should I stay?” Rivera asked in his Facebook post.
He added that Gordon answered him with this: “If you stay, I will give you a medal.”
“The audience laughed. I never forgot his words. I stayed. I voted for him last election. For seven years I have been a teacher, and I’ve spent them all telling my students, stay, stay. Make a difference here,” he added.
Rivera then showed his disappointment about how the senator he voted for “said yes to violence.”
“Today, Senator Gordon chairs the Senate Justice Committee. Today, the president, congress, the senate, and 91% of the Filipino people have said yes to violence, to silence, to fear,” he wrote.
The English teacher said that even the ordinary man has the same response to the same things, adding that it is the man’s opinion that really matters.
“Today, they are bandying the term ‘constitutional dictatorship.’ What will they say yes to tomorrow?” he asked.
Presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo suggested giving President Rodrigo Duterte the executive and legislative powers for a “constitutional dictatorship.”
Now, Rivera has changed his mind.
“Today, I recant what I have preached for seven years. To all my students, to my friends building their careers, to everyone I care about. Go. Don’t build a career here, don’t fall in love here, don’t have children here,” Rivera said.
The teacher then alluded to the ongoing killings in the Philippines as the reason behind the shift and the fear that the country might be placed under martial rule once more.
“All over this country the lights are going out. Historical precedent says it’ll take them twenty years to come back on, and you deserve better than twenty years of darknesss,” he added.
He ended his post saying: “Leave. And don’t come back.”
Rivera made this post while attaching the news article about Gordon suggesting the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus to allow warrantless arrests amid the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs and crimes.
Do you agree with Rivera?
Source: (facebook.com)
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