If you are to be asked “Are we free?” or “Malaya ba tayo?” It is an easy question to answer. You may gladly and easily give your yes. However, if I ask you again “Are we truly free?” or “Malaya ba talaga tayo?” That's when you start thinking deeply and questioning your own thoughts.
It is easy to say yes and just move on to the question but what do we mean when we say yes? Is it a yes because we are physically free? When we say yes to that manner, why can’t you take off your mask if you have the freedom to do so? If you are not free to do that, does the restraint from taking off the mask in public be a threat to your freedom? And when you think of it, more than your mask, there are many things in this world that we can do but we don’t do because of the law, otherwise, we can be imprisoned and let others take more of our freedom from us. In that case, is freedom a game of trade?
Truly, there is no absolute freedom in this world, I believe, that is another thing to be discussed. But freedom can be a tradeoff. When we say freedom, in the Oxford Dictionary, it is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. So, when we are talking about being free, we are also talking about our power or right to act without being shackled to anything. In the example, taking off your mask in public, you are taking away your power to act accordingly for a greater freedom like being free to CoVid-19 or any illnesses.
If we apply this in today’s generation where almost everyone has their social media accounts where we can post whatever and whenever we like, does this impose freedom? Does something that is taking an ample amount of our time a greater tradeoff than the other productive activities that we could have accomplished?
Malaya ba talaga tayo? When we ask that to ourselves, we also imagine it in a nationalistic perception, “Are we, Filipinos, truly free?” Freedom will always be the power you exercise. If you don’t vote for a candidate that buys votes, you exercise your power to act in the right way, therefore, you choose freedom against corrupt officials.
If you struggle researching for your candidates, you are choosing freedom from the ones who will later, may threaten your freedom to have equal justice and rights and a better future. If you choose candidates that are not friends with plunderers, you choose your freedom over the government that may free the criminals with a high status. Being free is acting using the power you have. It is also about the responsibility that you need to bear because you choose freedom.
Now, the other question is, “The ones who do whatever they want, are they free?” The answer is no. They’re not free, they do not have freedom. They need to hide in the shadows of their lies until it becomes them. They are imprisoned by their vices and things that they are obsessed with because they choose to be owned by it. Our impulses, desires, addictions, fear, and the likes are the true threat to our freedom.
If you ask me, are we truly free? It depends on what we choose to do or not to do. And you should also start answering the question for yourself, especially the youth of today. Are you truly free?
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