EDITORIAL – Peace more than price

Grace Sarion, the PWD who filed charges against executives of the Gaisano Mall Davao, has put herself in silence again. This time for good.
Her case of discrimination filed against the mall executives is gone for a measly P6,000.
We are not to judge the decision of Grace here. Maybe she does not need the money. Maybe she has embraced the beauty of living in silent harmony.
We can only say so much.
Grace, the deaf mute city government employee, took all her courage to stand up for her right. She filed charges against a giant like the Gaisano Mall of Davao after she was refused to perform her functions as a cinema ticket checker assigned by the city government.
Her saga went on for eight months after she filed the complaint with the city prosecutor’s office. The case is the first ever under Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability thus generating a heap of interest from the PWD sector not only in Davao City but also in the entire country as well.
For eight months, Grace was the voice of the mute and the symbol of courage for PWDs.
She was ready to fight it all the way to the finish until she realized the case has created so much ripples even her private life has changed. Grace is not used to media interviews, of lawyers asking her questions. She has found solemnity and privacy in her enveloped silence. She was born deaf mute and all her life she appreciated this world in silence. To her, silence is gold.
Not until this celebrated case.
So, it is no surprise that Grace all of a sudden pulled the plug last Friday. She executed an affidavit of desistance thereby dropping the charges against those whom she accused of discriminating her. She said she has learned to forgive and forget.
The case was gone in P6,000 which was the amount Grace received from the respondents.
Had Grace fought to the finish, she would have much more than she asked for. But Grace did not ask for a hefty price. Her silence is gold.
Now, she is back in her muted silence, at peace that the case is over. Grace will be remembered for putting up a fight despite the odds against her. But she will be emulated for embracing peace and forgiveness without rancor in her heart.