An Open Letter

 I stood my ground and worked silently along with the rest of my colleagues but I am compelled to write this because there are those critical of teachers kesyo wala daw gitrabaho ang teachers karon. Actually, gatrabaho. Most of us are not posting lang the work we do in social media. In the first place, what for?

As a matter of fact, the whole school year daghan trabaho ang teachers. We are not posting them all lang because of personal reasons, Data Privacy Law, ug uban pang applicable laws.

Sa pagkatinuod, ang teacher kay nurse, doctor, engineer, chef, engineer, foreman, elecrician, janitor, stylist, choreographer, dancer, singer, clown, mama, papa, ate, kuya etc sa eskwelahan. Name it. We have a lot of work to do in school but many of us also bring these works at home and I have personally known many teachers burning their midnight oil. Sleepless nights? Daghan. Sacrifices? Sobra. But still we did not let go because we love our job. We love our students. We love the Filipinos. We love the Philippines. We are inspired by our leaders. We love.

We love because we are humans. Humans. Just like you, we are also human beings. Not robots. We are bound to feel, and sometimes, to fail. We cannot do everything. We are not machines. Machines even need to rest and be refreshed.

Teachers feel anxiety too. Our faith in God though tells us we have the confidence to move on and do our duties and responsibilities without hesitation. After all, God is bigger than any other.
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Something Personal

The next part is something personal.

The past weeks had been so crucial to many of us and I for one, even if I endured some fever and vertigo these days had tasks to accomplish: submit weekly reports, generate and analyze enrollment data, validate enrollment applicants, contact transferees, organize my own advisory class, contact them one by one to finalize their choice of learning modality, constantly update everyone, host Zoom Meetings and many other things required of us. On top of these, together with Ma'am Pua, we are also operating the hotline numbers of the school for enrollment concerns and we talk to parents, students, and answer their calls and inquiries.

Many other teachers have even bigger and more complicated tasks than mine, than ours. But still, not one of us complained.

December 2 last year, I was confined to a government hospital after I suffered high fever for several days. Later on, I was diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) by my attending physician.

They had to inject higher dose of antibiotics through the dextrose attached to my hands regularly. It was costly and normally would be painful but I didn't feel any pain at all.

Other church mates and concerned friends and colleagues visited me back then, and I truly appreciate their encouragement even if I wasn't well at those times. I thought their presence and prayers helped my immediate recovery.

I can still recall that it took me around 12 hours at the emergency room while waiting for a vacant ward. My fever would not subside. I thought I was floating, out of balance. Basically without strength. I had to be accompanied by my Mama and my brother if I needed to walk. Otherwise, I'd fall. Everything was completely new to me. First time in my life.

Even if I was dizzy and all, I was not given any medicine at that time. Some doctors and nurses were too busy treating patients with "more serious conditions."

It was not until the 11th hour or so from the time of our arrival at the emergency room was I given paracetamol by one of the nurses after my mother insisted because they thought my condition got worse. Thanks to our pastor and some church mates who were with us at that time until I was transferred to a room.

In my 12-hour stay at the emergency room, I noticed there were several patients coming in that emergency room. I saw how medical workers tried to revive some patients. Many were revived, but some were lost. At that time, I witnessed around 4 deaths from patients of different cases--drowning, road mishaps, old age, and more. Was it a traumatic experience for me? Yes.

But do I still want to be a teacher? Definitely yes! Para sa mga bata, para sa bayan. Para sa pamilya. Para sa Dios.

To our leaders, thank you for pushing us to our limits!

To my colleagues, laban lang!

Now more than ever, we have to be united. There should not be room for hatred, but love. There shouldn't be any cause of misunderstanding, but love.

Let us pray that GOD'S TIME NOW and GOD'S WILL BE DONE. NOW.