THIS is my post on my Facebook page morning of February 1, 2020 after reeling from the hate-filled posts and Sinophobia manifested by friends and acquaintances all because of the nCov virus, which originated from Wuhan in mainland China:

“In this world, you only have two choices. YES, JUST TWO.

1. FEAR (not hate)...

2. LOVE.

“Fear is at the bottom of hate, fear feeds the hate. Fear of never gaining back power. Misinformed fear of a disease fanned by partisan politics. Fear of catching a cold. Fear for our families. Fear of people who are not like us. Fear is stoked by cowards who are trying every way to get a foothold against a very well-applauded and trusted president. It’s difficult to spread hate outright, but it’s easy to spread fear. And then you realize, you have already started hating because you fanned the fear. So... choose: Fear or love?”

It is sad when we forget our humanity and ride with the tide of fear and hatred spun by the greedy few.

And what do we fear that had us snapping up every available surgical mask and bottle of alcohol from store shelves? A virus that originated from a country we are being programmed to hate.

I am old enough to have seen how we have been continually programmed to identify who the enemy is.

I grew up watching movies where the contrabidas are Japanese soldiers since it was less than two decades after the Second World War and Japan was the main enemy there.

There were the Germans, too. They were the antagonists in action movies and they always lurked in submarines.

Then during the cold war era, the antagonists were the Russians. Followed by stories spreading Islamophobia. Now, China.

And boy, aren’t we spreading hate with glee. We who were children taught to taunt children of Chinese lineage as “Itsik wakang baboy tikangkang”. Sinophobe? We had it aplenty, we were programmed. I dare say and write the word “Intsik” to throw that Sinophobic program out in the open for us to recognize it as it is: a program of hate we were fed long before we even realized we were being programmed by society.

For so long, the advocates of political-correctness cautioned us against even saying this word in public because it is incorrect, it is hate speech.

So what did we do? We hated in secret and in secret, it grew.

Comes now nCov. From mainland China, the giant country that we have all been taught to hate as children by our playmates and misguided elders, as adults by politicians who want their power back and their allegiance to the US reestablished, by social media friends who do not know any better.

It started with worrying for the health and safety of our families. Even before the day ended, this fear transformed into hatred and took a political shape. By the end of the day, the lynchmob was shouting #OustDuterte!

That, my friends, is how it is to foment hate by fanning fear. Start with the children and concern for the family.

The challenge is to discern the truth. Stay on the narrow but straight path of the righteous and not the twisted trails of the self-righteous. Choose love and let go of fear.

While you are at it, wash your hands with soap and water, front and back, while singing “Happy birthday to you” straight on till “May the Lord God bless you” two times, and eat green leafy vegetables.

saestremera@gmail.com