"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues."
When I first learned about this viral photo of the policeman, PO1 Joselito Sevilla crying as caught by the lens of photojournalist Rem Zamora, the first thing that came in my head was the probability that he was hurt in the recent SONA rally. But upon reading the story behind the photo, I cannot help but give out words of admiration to this policeman. This situation broke the usual Pinoy notion, "Ang tunay na lalaki ay hindi umiiyak."
More than just praise for being courageous in publicly showing his emotion, he deserves commendation for being an epitome of what "maximum tolerance" should be. Subjecting himself to what policemen go through for the sake of responding to the call of duty is no easy task. If he happened to be another individual in blue uniform, that person might have just blown his top off and lose it. But PO1 Sevilla chose to show his frustration in a rather humane manner minus the need to physically hurt anyone. While it is uncommon for a man in uniform to be emotional, he just proved the fact that regardless of occupation, one fact remains: that we are all humans and we do have our vulnerable side.
It is true that boys don't cry. But a real man is someone who is not afraid to show his real emotion – much more revealing it at a time of chaos and in front of a lot of ill-tempered people.
