WHEN I tell you that you are ugly, but your mother says otherwise, who is telling the truth — me or your mother?
What if I were to say that you have 823 folliculitis spots or fungal acne, that your nose is 3.14 centimeters (cm) wide with each nostril measuring around 1.32 cm in diameter, that your eyes are 12.7 cm apart, and that your ears are 4-cm long and 3-cm wide, and flapping away from your head? In this case, I am merely describing you. You can picture it, yet no matter how precise my description is, some people may still disagree for various moral or preferential reasons.
This leads us to the real question: What is the difference between facts and truth? What may be true for you may not be true for me. In the end, it becomes a matter of faith and trust.
Facts are things we can all agree on. They can be seen, felt, smelled, tasted, heard or measured. On the other hand, truth is something we may disagree with. For me, truth is subjective, while fact is objective.
When my mother told me my grandfather was a kumpare and became an assistant to the late President Carlos P. Garcia, I believed her outright. My two uncles, my aunt and my grandmother corroborated her claim, sharing stories about how my grandfather had met the late president.
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I shared this story with my elementary and high school classmates. To my surprise, they could not believe it. It was an outrageous claim — something absurd, elusive and funny at the same time. I was talking to children who regard magical gems and fairies as more real than microscopic germs and viruses. I sounded to them like I was daydreaming and delusional. For them, it was fake news.
Since then, I have become cautious in sharing this story and have only told a few close friends about it. I feared being heckled or bullied, as the narrative sounded like a classic Bisaya joke or mocking retort, “Wala mo sa akong lolo (You are nothing against my grandfather).” It is sometimes used to respond when someone does or achieves something and brags about it.
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I never witnessed my grandfather working in the Office of the President. So, I decided to ask for his service record. When I received the copy, I felt vindicated. That single document was not just a piece of paper. It reinforced the truth I had held since childhood.
Considering the testimonies and documents regarding my grandfather’s stint in Malacañang, I learned that no matter how factual an event or situation is, it remains a fact and will never become a truth if people do not recognize its value.
News — real or fake — only becomes the truth when people see the benefits of believing it. No matter how credible you try to be, the importance of the words lies not in the storyteller but in how much people can take advantage of the story.
If we lose or do not have credibility, our words will not hold any weight and will merely contribute to the noise in this chaotic world. Regardless of how factual or precise your arguments are, if people feel betrayed or have lost their trust, those points become irrelevant and will never be regarded as true.
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People are unlikely to find facts helpful or profound if they see no tangible effects on their lives. They may just accept them as they are. However, once they find significance in these facts, they become the truth for them, and they are more likely to live fighting or die defending them.
What have we learned in the past months? We realized again that information was weaponized. It is the currency, and people become the commodity. Truth is being monopolized and sold to the highest bidder, either hidden or flaunted at the whim of those who can afford to lose at the expense of those who have less in life.
What is left with us is our gift of reason and the ability to discern. When things become too confusing to comprehend, we turn to our primal tendencies, instincts or gut feeling. Finding facts and the truth becomes a matter of where our heart takes us.
We live in an uncertain world, and with all this overwhelming influx of information around us, retelling our experiences is like throwing a stone in a turbulent sea.
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Deep down, we know that most news and current events will be forgotten, and some may live in the annals of infamy. Ultimately, it is up to people in the future to uphold, revise or disregard them. History may be written or rewritten by the victor, but in time, truth and justice will prevail.
Marcel Christoffer N. Madera finished AB Political Science at the Ateneo de Davao University and earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Mindanao. He has worked in strategic communication, public relations and community management. He serves as Director IV in the Correspondence Office of the Office of the President.
