An Editorial of the Bohol Sunday PostShe killed herself just as the country was celebrating All Souls Day.
Nov. 2 this year will forever be etched in the consciousness of the Amper family because this was the day when 12-year-old Mariannet took her own life.
The grade 6 pupil at the Ma-a Elementary School in Davao City hanged herself with a nylon rope after her father was unable to give her P100 which she needed for a school project.
As an aside, this is something that education officials should look into. What kind of teacher would demand a project that would cost P100 from her poverty- stricken pupils? Teachers who are fond of soliciting contributions better beware.
Much as he wanted to, her father Isabelo could not oblige her daughter because he is only a part-time laborer who happened to be out of work at the time.
In a crude diary which she made out in her notebook and which was found after her death, Mariannet wrote of her little dreams: a bicycle, school bag and jobs for her parents.
This led Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim to remark that if it is any consolation, Mariannet would not have included this in her wish list if she studied here because the city government is giving this free as part of its educational program.
This was no extravagant wish list. Nothing close to the P500,000 assistance given to governors (which one so shamelessly denied) and P200,000 advance Christmas gift to congressmen (which some denied just as shamelessly).
A social worker in fact put it in a different perspective when she noted that the items Mariannet wished for were actually rights entitled to her - recreation, education and economic survival.
Without glorifying the manner with which she died, Mariannet in fact is greater in death than in life because she forced us to reflect upon a lot of things, chief among them our ingratitude for all that we have.
Come to think of it, what is P100 to most of us?
To multitudes who can afford to splurge thousands on expensive jewelry or throw away at the casino, P100 is simply loose change. And yet, among them can be heard sob stories that would make you think they live in dump sites.
Perhaps it is time for people to realize how well off, and blessed, they are contrary to what they have always believed. What better reality check than this?
P100 may not mean much to people who monitor the peso-dollar exchange rate merely as a tool to guide them when making decisions on financial matters.
To Mariannet however, P100 was more than a fortune. It cost her life.
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