YOU ARE privileged. Frankly, for the play-it-safe kind of person I am, writing such a bold statement still had me second-guessing: if I were to continue rehashing what Ateneo often says, or pick a “safe” topic to write about.
Fears and doubts exist that I might be playing with fire and I might just get burned without the light ever reaching you—but what is a fire’s purpose if not to bring light into a darkened room and deliver solace through its comforting warmth? As such, the opportunity to remind the Ateneo students of today—including me—of their privilege is not born out of mere choice but of duty.
You are privileged and you might be forgetting it.
Madalas tayong nakukulangan sa baon nating daan-daan sa isang araw, pero may mga estudyante na hindi kakain sa eskuwela para ipunin ang kanilang baong pamproject kasi hindi na puwede makihati sa gastusing-bahay. Ang dali para sa ating gumawa dahil mayroon tayong kaniya-kaniyang gadget at school Wi-Fi, pero may mga estudyanteng pinagkakasya ang isang oras sa computer shop para lamang makagawa. Ang iba, nakasasakyan papasok o may pambayad sa traysikel para hindi na maglakad, pero may mga estudyanteng kailangang maglakad, tumawid, umakyat, at pumasok nang hindi lamang basa ng pawis pero hindi pa makapokus dahil hinahabol ang hininga.
These stories are the ones I lived through—recurring stories that are alive in others and persist to this contemporary day. However, no one blames you for your privilege. It is the act of forgetting that rubs salt to the wound, adding insult to an already existing chronic injury. As cliché as it may sound, kasalanan nang pumikit pang muli.
You are privileged—act on that privilege. For a university atop a hill, it is ironic to see only one entrance to the campus which uses stairs, or what we scholars fondly call Hagdan (sa Barangka). The Hagdan, a metaphorical object to represent more on footwork or those who tread on it not because of choice but because of the lack thereof—juxtaposed with entrances for those of comfort.
If there is inequality because of the hill, then I am reminded of Reycel Hyacenth Bendaña’s questioning of why there is a hill in the first place. If the educational institution that is Ateneo is the so-called “hill,” then this emphasizes the sad truth that education has been a privilege—that education is one of the reasons why there is a hill in the first place.
However, the Hagdan is not only a tribulation to those climbing up but also an invitation for people to come down. Act on that privilege of yours. You are gifted with resources, support, and quality education that the so-called “hill” provides; do well in it to bring it down to the masses. In this case, education is not solely the hill, but it is also then the stairs that make it possible to go down.
Our privilege as Ateneo students is more of a commodity that is to be shared than an intangible excuse. Kung mayroon kang pribilehiyo ng oras, magboluntaryo. Kung mayroon kang pribilehiyo ng kagamitan, gamitin mo ito sa campaigns ng social welfare groups. Acting on your privilege and sharing yourself with it becomes social justice.
You are privileged—privileged enough to know the social realities. With recent circumstances—not limited to historical revisionism, confidential and intelligence funds, and militarization—plaguing the education sector of the country, indifference is the straw that will break the camel’s back.
Acting on your privileges is to subdue indifference, and subdued indifference means social action. Lingering questions as to why these topics have stayed and why it needs to be repeatedly mentioned are a consequence of the lack of social action—thus, lacking social justice. With that, let us remind ourselves that going down the hill has the implicit purpose of leaving the hill, not to cower back at the first sign of inconvenience.
Advocating for quality education, Willy is this year’s president of Ateneo Gabay, the Ateneo de Manila University’s organization for scholars and public elementary school kids. Studying Health Sciences, Willy tackles a better understanding of the social and political determinants of health.
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed by the opinion writer do not necessarily state or reflect those of the publication.
