10/06/2026
My feed has been flooded with posts about the death of Rene Clert Baterbonia. It is devastating, and even as someone simply reading from afar, I feel sadness.
What struck me even more was how political vloggers and pages from opposing sides also spoke and posted about it. For once, people who usually attack each other online seemed to share the same grief, the same outrage, and the same frustration. Many of them called out the hypocrisy of the elites and those in power. Reading their posts, you could almost mistake them for friends or allies.
And that made me think.
In the Philippines, our political conversations are often divided by colors, families, personalities, and camps. We fight over names more than principles. We defend leaders more than values. We allow vloggers, pages, and political machinery to shape what we believe, who we hate, and who we choose to listen to.
But the death of Rene showed something painful and powerful: Filipinos can still find a common voice when the issue becomes human enough, painful enough, and impossible to ignore.
So I wonder: what would it take for Filipinos to finally speak with one voice—not only in grief, not only in anger, but in hope?
What would it take for us to rise above political colors and demand a better Philippines together?
Maybe unity does not mean agreeing on every political issue. Maybe it begins when we agree that truth, justice, decency, accountability, and the future of our children should matter more than loyalty to any politician, family, party, or camp.
My deepest condolences to the family, friends, teammates, and loved ones of Rene Clert Baterbonia. My condolences as well to Agusan del Sur for losing one of its best young athletes.
If we can be united in mourning, maybe we can also learn to be united in demanding a country that values life, dignity, and fairness before tragedy forces us to remember them.