A letter to China from a Filipina:

We differ, we share, we own and regret. We serve & order, others and ourselves. We share and we keep. We both know apology and anger. We both know pride & the beauty of bowing in respect. We know death and life. We have seen blood and race. We are sharp and compassionate. We both know pain. We honor our ancestors and love our children. We have offended and we can ask for more. We are wise and we are not. We are vulgar and profound. We are petty and divine. We are ordinary and not so. We know hate and surrender. We know failure and we know victory. We are victims. We both grieve. Neither one less stunned than the other. We are sorry. We know shame. We remember, we do. We are none of us alike nor the same. We balm and pray that there is forgiveness somewhere.

We exist - and we are we.

My peace and my grief, my silence and my words - for I have nothing else to offer China today.

With all due respect,

Ms. Gang Tianco Badoy, Filipina