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You find yourself running on a dead empty street, as death chases you on.

You hear nothing but the splashes of water on the concrete and your tense breath, as you flee your pursuer.

You feel nothing but the pain in your chest and the rapid pulses of the heart, as you exert everything to survive.

Then, the sound of death's bullets cracks through the wind.

You feel it inching closer toward your skull, until...

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You feel nothing as your life is taken away.

And there is nothing.

Nothing more to your death than a headline,

and yet another addition to the numbers.

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"Country of Nothings" is a poem written by Alfonso Manalastas as part of the Kill List Chronicles, a compilation of literature in protest of the Duterte regime. Manalastas presents a harrowing reality that is consumed by violence and death. Death is so frequent up to the point that it means nothing. A chillingly silent, yet hollow reality.

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The poem is told by a narrator, in a second-person point-of-view of the reader, “you.” One who witnesses death from a place of security far away, through the television. The narrator depicts the conflict of the reader versus their society, as they witness the frequency of death as reported in news and statistics. The reader’s thoughts and feelings are described as death becomes more prevalent; repetitiveness, thankfulness (albeit short-lived), and eventually emptiness.

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Manalastas employed a gloomy atmosphere and a hopeless tone throughout the poem. The descriptions that are used to compare death evoke a sense of emptiness, such as a flicker of a television screen to pitch black (line 2, stanza 1), and a hum of chilling silence (line 20, stanza 5).

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This language reinforces the dreadfulness of death, as Manalastas emphasizes the sheer frequency of death through figures of speech; portraying the dead as numbers and gigabytes (line 5, stanza 2), mere data and statistics, and comparing news headlines to obituaries (line 6, stanza 2).

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Additionally, death is described as nothing but a drama that sticks out like a sore thumb. Lines 7-8 in stanza 2 describe the emphasis on death in news headlines, and how it stands out as if to purposefully attract one's attention. Dramatic language is also employed to depict the dramatization of death, as seen in line 12 of stanza 3 and lines 13-14 of stanza 6.

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This all contributes to the overall theme of nothingness, as emphasized in lines 21-24 of stanza 6. There is nothing on the television, where the loss of life should be reported. Nothing in the streets, which should be inhabited with life. In the end, there will be nothing to surrender but nothing, because life means nothing.

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“Country of Nothings” is relevant to our world today as violence and death become more and more prevalent in our society. The Duterte regime’s “War on Drugs” is a prime example. The violent campaign gave rise to the extra-judicial killings of over 12,000 Filipinos, at the hands of “vigilantes” and the Philippine National Police. The innocent and the marginalized were killed at the hands of those in authority, and it has become so prominent that it still happens today without repercussion, despite the end of Duterte's administration. Additionally, political killings, mass murder, and many more human deeds lead to the death of our fellow people in our country, whether it be at the hands of the authorities or criminals.

We often hear in the news about innocent people, journalists, political activists, and opposition disappearing or being murdered, among many more. The fact that there are infinitely more cases of death in our world besides the aforementioned, especially at the hands of others, tells us that it is so commonplace that it starts to mean nothing. Most of us treat it as common news, or as if there is nothing we can do about it.  Human life is so neglected in our country and our society that it diminishes its meaning up to the point that it is as if it is nothing out of the ordinary.

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The poem resonates with me on a personal level, since I feel that I am one of those people that the narrator describes. One who witnesses death through the safety of their home, through the lens of a TV screen or phone. Admittedly, I am also one of those people who have become apathetic due to the sheer frequency of death in our society. Often when I encounter the news of death through the news or social media, I would only skim through the articles for a minute or two, and read through them like an ordinary article. Although I do feel mournful and afraid looking through it, the feeling towards death is short-lived, as I move on from the news afterward. I resume my everyday routine and suddenly forget the news of death that I received earlier. With my experiences of observing death, I have learned that our society sets us up to find nothing in life and death, even when we do not realize it.

However, as I mature and expose myself to our reality, I have realized that my privilege cannot be a source of apathy. Only when death goes unnoticed can its cycle continue, therefore it is one of my duties as a citizen of this country, to join in the force of the people, and take part in the fight against injustice. I may not know exactly how and when I will be able to carry out this duty, but it is something that I am willing to take in any way. Whether it be now, or in the future; for my community, or the entire country.