Inspiring Person Of The Week: YouTuber Apet Cruz And His Trending Poem About COVID-19 And The Filipino Frontliners

During Luzon’s enhanced community quarantine, it’s easy to see who has privilege and who doesn’t. There are plenty of people now who are getting bored in the confines of their homes, wishing they could immediately return to their old lives and step outside again.

Maybe you’ve exhausted your watchlist and your reading list, or you’re tired of spending time with your families whom you’ve been seeing every day for the past three weeks. But there are people out there—ordinary Filipinos like you and me—who don’t get the luxury of even getting tired of spending time with their families; in fact, there’s nothing they’d want more.

We’re talking about the frontliners—brave men and women who are working essential jobs to keep our society afloat especially during this novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. They take the form of doctors, nurses, hospital cleaning staff, soldiers, grocery and drugstore staffers, food service workers. They’ve been out there risking their lives and their families’ safety in order to keep us safe and supply us with the essentials. 

YouTuber Apet Cruz has voiced out our frontliners’ inner monologues in a 3-minute video that has since gone viral. As of today, it’s racked up 12 million views and he has already guested, via Zoom, on Magandang Buhay to talk about his poem. There, he recited another poem, hoping for the end of this crisis. 

'Pag wala ng Covid, wala nang mamamatay / Wala nang matatakot, wala nang aaray / Lahat ng mga tao, sa Diyos magpupugay / Sa’tin ay sasalubong ang MAGANDANG BUHAY!

He has thanked people for the support, grateful for the opportunity. “Hindi ko man po kayo mapasalamatan isa-isa,” he said, “nasa puso ko ang lahat ng mga taong masaya ngayon para sa akin. Thank you Lord sa ganitong pagkakataon. Nawa ay gamitin mo pa ako para makapagbigay ng inspirasyon sa marami. To God be the glory!”

Listen to his touching poems below:

Lead photo from Apet Cruz