*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM
I remained at home, taking a short rest from editing and proofreading my old, voluminous manuscripts—novels and academic articles that had been kept in storage for almost two decades.
For twenty years, those pages waited for me.
Tahimik lamang sila sa isang sulok—unti-unting naninilaw, naluluma, ngunit hindi sumusuko.
They carried stories that were never told, ideas that were never shared, and lessons that never reached the people for whom they were written. Some pages still contained the dreams of the younger man I used to be. Others carried his disappointments, his courage, and his stubborn belief that words could somehow make the world a little better.
Now, after all those years, I am returning to them.
I am correcting every sentence, polishing every paragraph, and trying to rescue every forgotten thought. I hope to publish them soon as books on Amazon—not because every page is perfect, but because no sincere dream should remain buried forever.
Nakakapagod din palang kausapin ang sarili mong nagsulat twenty years ago.
Sometimes, I encounter a paragraph and quietly ask, “Ang lalim ng hugot ko dito?”
Sometimes, I smile at my old confidence.
Sometimes, I shake my head at my mistakes.
And sometimes, I pause because a sentence written twenty years ago suddenly feels like a letter sent by my younger self to the person I have become.
Parang sinasabi niya sa akin:
“Huwag mo naman akong kalimutan. Tapusin mo ang sinimulan natin.”
After several hours, my eyes became tired. My mind needed to breathe. I placed the manuscripts beside me and turned on the television.
The Discovery Channel was showing a documentary about emperor penguins.
On the screen was an unforgiving frozen world.
No trees.
No comfortable nests.
No warm homes.
Only endless ice, violent winds, and a cold so severe that life itself seemed almost impossible.
Yet there, in that merciless place, I witnessed one of the most touching partnerships in the animal kingdom.
After laying a single egg, the mother penguin carefully transfers it to the father. The egg cannot remain exposed to the frozen ground for long. Isang maling galaw lamang, isang sandaling pagkukulang, at maaaring mawala ang maliit na buhay na nasa loob nito.
The father receives the egg.
Dahan-dahan niya itong inilalagay sa ibabaw ng kaniyang mga paa. Then he covers it beneath a warm fold of skin, protecting it from the deadly ice.
The mother looks at him before beginning her long and dangerous journey toward the ocean to find food.
She must leave.
He must stay.
Magkaiba ang kanilang tungkulin, ngunit iisa ang dahilan ng kanilang sakripisyo.
Their child.
The father remains on the ice through weeks of darkness, hunger, and punishing wind. He cannot abandon the egg simply because he is tired. He cannot walk away because the responsibility has become uncomfortable.
Hindi siya maaaring magsabi:
“Pagod na ako.”
“Bahala na siya.”
“Hindi ko naman problema iyan.”
He stays.
He guards.
He endures.
When the wind becomes unbearable, the penguins huddle together. Those on the outside shield the ones within. Slowly, they exchange places so that no penguin is left to suffer the freezing edge forever.
Even in the animal world, survival is not always achieved by standing alone.
Sometimes, survival means taking turns carrying one another’s pain.
Samantala, ang inang penguin ay naglalakbay patungo sa malayong karagatan. She crosses the dangerous ice because somewhere beneath the cold water is the food that may keep her family alive.
She does not know whether the father is still standing.
The father does not know whether the mother will return.
But both continue.
Because love is sometimes not an embrace.
Sometimes, love is staying behind.
Sometimes, love is walking away—not to abandon someone, but to return carrying what that person needs.
When the mother finally comes home, she searches among thousands of penguins. Halos magkakamukha silang lahat, ngunit nakikilala niya ang kaniyang kapareha at ang kanilang anak sa pamamagitan ng natatangi nilang tawag.
Imagine that moment.
After weeks of separation....
after hunger, darkness, fear, and freezing winds....
they find one another again.
One has protected the future.
The other has returned carrying food.
Their duties were different, but their purpose remained the same:
The survival of their young.
As I watched them, I suddenly thought of our country.
Perhaps a President Bongbong and Vice President Sara can learn something from the emperor penguins.
They do not need to perform exactly the same functions. They do not have to compete over who is more powerful, more popular, or more deserving of public attention.
Their constitutional roles may be different, but their national purpose must be one:
To protect the Filipino people and secure the future of the nation.
Because leadership is not measured by who receives the loudest applause.
It is measured by whether the people survive the storm.
Ang Pilipinas ay dumaraan din sa iba’t ibang uri ng taglamig.
May bagyo ng kahirapan.
May malamig na kamay ang corruption na unti-unting nagpapamanhid sa ating mga institusyon.
There is hunger, unemployment, rising prices, criminality, inadequate healthcare, educational inequality, threats to our sovereignty, and the silent anxiety of parents who do not know whether they can still provide food tomorrow.
Somewhere tonight, a mother will pretend that she is not hungry so her children can have the last serving of rice.
May amang uuwi nang pagod, basa sa ulan, at walang dalang sapat na pera—ngunit pipiliting ngumiti upang hindi makita ng kaniyang mga anak ang kaniyang pagkatalo.
Somewhere, an elderly Filipino will divide a tablet because the full dosage has become too expensive.
May batang papasok bukas sa paaralan na walang baon. He will watch his classmates eat during recess, then drink water and tell himself that he is not hungry.
May magsasakang titingin sa nasirang pananim at magtatanong kung paano niya mababayaran ang kaniyang utang.
May mangingisdang lalayag kahit masama ang panahon because hunger at home can sometimes be more frightening than the waves.
These are not merely statistics.
They are lives.
They are the Filipino people whom government has sworn to serve.
In moments like these, the nation needs leaders who will not abandon the egg.
That egg is the Filipino future.
Nasa loob nito ang pangarap ng ating mga anak, ang pawis ng ating mga manggagawa, ang ani ng ating mga magsasaka, ang huli ng ating mga mangingisda, at ang panalangin ng bawat magulang na sana ay mas maganda ang buhay ng susunod na henerasyon.
A President must protect that future.
The President must remain steady when the political winds become cruel. Hindi puwedeng bitawan ang bayan dahil lamang mabigat na ang responsibilidad. Hindi puwedeng talikuran ang mamamayan dahil lamang bumababa ang approval rating o dumarami ang kritiko.
Leadership is not proven during comfortable days.
It is proven when the cold becomes almost unbearable—and the leader chooses to remain.
At the same time, the government must search tirelessly for the nourishment the people need.
Jobs are nourishment.
Education feeds the mind.
Healthcare preserves life.
Agriculture places food on the table.
Investment creates opportunity.
Peace allows communities to grow.
Justice restores public trust.
And honest governance feeds hope.
Hindi sapat na sabihin sa nagugutom na lumalago ang ekonomiya.
Economic progress must eventually appear on the family table. It must become affordable rice, decent wages, accessible medicine, reliable transportation, productive farms, safe communities, and schools where poor children are given the same chance to dream as the children of the powerful.
Statistics may announce prosperity.
But an empty plate can deliver a more honest national report.
Hindi nakakain ang press release.
Hindi naipambibili ng gamot ang political slogan.
At hindi napapatahan ng propaganda ang batang umiiyak dahil gutom siya.
The mother penguin does not hold a press conference about the food she intends to find. She crosses the dangerous ice, enters the freezing ocean, finds nourishment, and brings it home.
That is also the true meaning of public service.
Policies must reach the people.
Budgets must become services.
Promises must become results.
And power must become protection.
The relationship between a President and Vice President must never become an endless political contest that leaves the country exposed.
They may have different allies. They may hold contrasting opinions. They may disagree on policies, priorities, and personalities. Honest disagreement is part of democracy.
But the Filipino people must never become casualties of their conflict.
Habang nag-aaway ang mga lider, patuloy na tumataas ang presyo ng pagkain.
Habang abala sila sa sisihan, may batang natutulog nang gutom.
While political camps exchange accusations, ordinary families continue struggling to pay for electricity, medicine, rent, transportation, and tuition.
The people cannot eat political insults.
They cannot build homes from press releases.
They cannot protect their children with slogans.
And they cannot survive on promises imprisoned behind a podium.
The President is the Chief Executive. The Vice President holds a separate constitutional mandate and must remain prepared to assume the presidency whenever the Constitution requires it.
But beyond their formal powers, both carry a moral responsibility to the nation.
The Vice President should not spend every waking moment waiting for the President to fail.
The President should not automatically treat the Vice President as an enemy who must be silenced or weakened.
Their offices should never become rival launching pads for the next election.
Ang bayan ay hindi tropeong pag-aagawan.
The nation is not a political prize to be won.
It is a life that must be protected.
Like the emperor penguins, the President and Vice President may have different responsibilities. But those responsibilities must lead toward one national destination: a Philippines whose people are safe, nourished, educated, employed, respected, and hopeful.
This does not mean blind unity.
Ang pagkakaisa ay hindi pananahimik sa harap ng katiwalian.
Unity must never mean concealing wrongdoing, tolerating abuse, or protecting the guilty. Genuine unity allows principled disagreement while placing the welfare of the nation above political pride and personal ambition.
A penguin guarding an egg does not pretend that the freezing wind is warm.
It recognizes the danger—and protects life from it.
Our leaders must also identify national problems honestly.
If the people are hungry, acknowledge their hunger.
If corruption exists, confront it.
If a policy has failed, correct it.
If public money has been stolen, recover it and hold those responsible accountable.
If the nation is in danger, do not hide the threat behind beautiful words.
Governance is not the art of making problems sound pleasant.
It is the sacred responsibility of making people’s lives better.
The scene on the Discovery Channel remained in my mind long after the program ended.
There stood the father penguin, carrying the future on his tired feet.
Somewhere beyond the frozen distance, the mother penguin was searching for food.
Hindi nila alam na may nanonood sa kanila.
There were no cameras waiting for a statement.
No publicity team preparing a press release.
No social-media army praising their sacrifice.
No applause.
No award.
No promise of a higher position.
They simply did what responsibility demanded.
One endured the cold.
One crossed the dangerous distance.
Both served a life more vulnerable than their own.
Perhaps that is what many people in power have forgotten:
Leadership is not ownership. It is guardianship.
The country does not belong to the President.
The government does not belong to the Vice President.
The national budget does not belong to politicians, parties, or political families.
Ang lahat ng ito ay pansamantalang ipinagkatiwala sa kanila ng sambayanang Pilipino.
Power is like an egg placed upon their feet—fragile, precious, and carrying the future of generations yet unborn.
Every peso stolen from the government takes food away from a family.
Bawat classroom na hindi natapos ay pangarap na ipinagpaliban.
Every hospital denied sufficient resources places another life at risk.
Bawat magsasakang pinabayaan ay hapag-kainan ding unti-unting nawawalan ng laman.
Every political conflict allowed to consume governance exposes the Filipino people to another freezing wind.
Eventually, the rain outside my home began to weaken.
I returned to the manuscripts that had waited for me for almost twenty years. I touched the aging pages and realized that they, too, were like eggs I had carried for a long time—stories and ideas waiting to be protected, completed, and finally released into the world.
Perhaps every serious responsibility entrusted to us is like that.
A manuscript.
A child.
A public office.
A nation.
Hindi natin tunay na pag-aari ang mga ito.
We are merely asked to care for them until they are ready to face the future.
And so, to every person entrusted with leadership—especially the President and Vice President—remember the emperor penguins.
When the political winter arrives, do not abandon the nation.
Kapag nagugutom ang mamamayan, hanapin ang paraan upang sila ay mapakain.
When danger approaches, protect them.
Kapag napapagod na kayo, alalahanin ninyo kung bakit ninyo tinanggap ang tungkulin.
And when political pride tempts you to fight one another, please look down at what rests upon your feet.
It is not merely an office.
Hindi lamang ito titulo.
It is not merely the next election.
Hindi ito pangalan ng inyong pamilya.
It is not your political future.
It is our children’s future.
It is the dream of the mother who gives her last spoonful of rice to her child.
It is the hope of the father who comes home empty-handed but still forces himself to smile.
It is the prayer of the farmer staring at a ruined field.
It is the silent hunger of the child who drinks water during recess because there is nothing inside his lunchbox.
Ito ang kinabukasan ng sambayanang Pilipino.
A future too precious to be surrendered to corruption.
Too fragile to be sacrificed to political rivalry.
Too important to be abandoned in the cold.
Please...
for the mother who has nothing left to give,
for the father who is trying not to cry,
for the child still waiting for food,
and for a nation that continues to believe even after being disappointed so many times...
do not let the Philippines fall onto the ice.
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