Patron Saints of Nothing
- juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 2 godine
“Do you know the Americans stole entire villages and then displayed them in your country as if they were animals in a zoo?”There's this fair (that I forgot the name) where they display and demonstrate small villages led by ethnolinguistic tribes from the Philippines. However, this had been misconstrued so much that the foreigners thought that native Filipinos eat dogs for a living.
It's St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. - juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 2 godineThe camera kept cutting between shots of the goat’s smug face and the desperate squeezing of its unyielding teats. I said, “That’s like trying to talk to Dad on the phone,”
- juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 2 godineThere’s that story from the Bible where Abraham was ready to kill Isaac because God told him to and only didn’t because God was like, “JK lol.”
- juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 2 godineWhat if she’s one of the supposedly 80 percent of Filipinos who approve, who are willing to accept Jun’s death as sacrifice for the greater good?
- juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 2 godineThere are moments when sharing silence can be more meaningful than filling a space with empty chatter.
- juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 2 godineHe never gave me his own thoughts on these topics unless I asked, and his letters would later reveal that he remembered most everything I ever told him.
- juanmanuellieje citiraoprije 3 godineThird, the slums were not as bad as everyone makes them seem. There was not as much garbage as I expected, it did not smell as bad as I thought it would, and the people did not seem to be as miserable as I have been led to believe they are.
- trishiaje citiralaprije 3 godine
I imagine both of us, patron saints of nothing.Most of us are patron saints of nothing because most of us just lived. And that's really okay. All throughout this book I realized that it's definitely okay if you are not being recognized as someone who changed the world. It's already okay as long as you stand with your principles, stand for the truth, and somehow touched other people's lives. Besides, having a chance to live in this world would already leave a legacy. A legacy which creates a void, and a void that would filled with stories, pass through the hearts of our beloved ones. A stories that would make us inspired and courageous to live our lives.
P.S. I hope I could carry the courage of Jun, Grace, Mia, and Jay for a lifetime. - trishiaje citiralaprije 3 godineThe question I traveled over eight thousand miles to ask tumbles from my mouth: “Was Jun a drug pusher?”
Mia asks.
I lean forward, holding my breath.
Reyna makes a face and then shakes her head emphatically. “Wala.”
“No,” Mia says.
I knew it. I fucking knew it. - trishiaje citiralaprije 3 godine“I know you mean well, Nephew, but the courts in the Philippines are not like the courts in America. Here, you cannot trust them. They are very corrupt. Even if we had the best lawyers in the country, the police or the government only need to put money in the hands of the judge and he will say what they want him to say.”
