Amidst the rising fuel prices, many joked about Hidilyn Diaz being the only person in the country who must not be affected.
When Hidilyn won the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, she was showered with a lot of incentives in the form of cash and kind from public and private sectors. One of them was a “free fuel for life” from a petroleum company.
While the joke gained traction online, her manager wrote a comment saying it was “drawing lang” — meaning something promised but not fulfilled. This caught the attention of many, myself included.
I got curious — I started to wonder what the manager meant by that. Did the company not give Hidilyn the free fuel as they publicized? But why? What could be the reason? There must be one.
Later, the petroleum company released a statement clarifying that she received fuel donations for two years but the arrangement stopped when she partnered with another fuel brand and ceased communication. They also added that, like any promise, it came with conditions.
While trying to understand the motives—wondering why people say things that aren’t true, realizing that nothing untrue had actually been said—something else hit me.
We all tell stories that are true but sometimes incomplete — especially when the incomplete version benefits us or makes us look better.
In movies, when a witness takes the stand, they are asked: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
When I was younger, I wondered why it was phrased that way. It sounded redundant and repetitive.
Now I understand.
It is because sometimes a lie is not heard. It is the quiet, the unspoken — the silent part of the truth.
And that silence? That could be the lie hidden within the truth.