The People’s President has aired her thoughts on the major issues in the country.
Through her “Daily Rants” channel on her Instagram page, actress-singer-social activist Nadine Lustre shared her thoughts on the several issues currently affecting the Philippines.
“Lately, things have been sitting heavily on my mind,” she opened her multi-part post. “I sat down and started reflecting after opening my phone today, because I was instantly flooded with another story, another video, another reminder of how deeply messed up so much of the world around us has become.”
The TV, film, and music personality admitted that hearing and seeing all these issues come to light is “undeniably overwhelming” and told that “It’s hard not to feel affected when you constantly witness such an absence of respect.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how respect goes far beyond politeness. I think it’s a consciousness. A way of moving through the world with awareness. The understanding that we are not above anyone or anything else here,” she furthered.
Nadine first highlighted the controversial disrespecting of locals on Siargao island by foreign tourists, whom she described as acting as if locals are below them.
“You see it in the disrespect locals here on the island continue to receive. The way some people come here and treat locals as if they are below them, as if hospitality means servitude, as if kindness gives them permission to disrespect boundaries, spaces, and people.“
She also noted that there are stories of aggression, entitlement, violence, and complete disregard for the community that existed in Siargao long before tourism ever did.
“It’s painful watching people treat this island like a temporary playground while the people who actually call it home are left carrying the consequences.”
Lustre then moved on to the government, which at this point, she said, has become such a “blatant sh*tshow” that it almost feels insulting.
“It’s so obvious that so many of them are just toying with us, treating people like we’re too blind to notice the corruption, incompetence, performative concern, and endless cycle of disappointment,” the 32-year-old lamented. “And somehow ordinary people are always the ones left carrying the burden of their greed.“
The disrespect is also present in nature, she also pointed out, as there is also the recent news about trees being cut down along a stretch of Quirino Avenue in Manila for the construction of a new expressway.
“Trees that have stood long before us are suddenly being cut down in the name of ‘development’ and ‘progress,’ when in reality, so much of it feels deeply backwards,” Nadine added.
She also called it unsettling to watch people “destroy the very things that keep us alive so casually, as if nature is just another object to consume, reshape, or remove whenever it becomes inconvenient.“
Nadine then continued by stating that the disrespect is also seen in the way animals are constantly disregarded, as if their lives do not exist beyond human convenience.
“People intentionally harming innocent beings that have done absolutely nothing to deserve cruelty. Treating lives as disposable because they cannot speak our language,” she said.
“And the hardest part is that we consume so much of this every single day. These are only some of the things I’ve been taking to heart lately. There’s so much more.“
In the end, she told that she still believes that it is still worth reminding people to “move through the world” with more mindfulness, awareness, love, compassion, and most importantly, respect for people, communities, nature, animals, and lives outside of our own.
“At the end of the day, the world doesn’t become gentler on its own. We have to choose it,” she concluded her post.