OPINION: Visitors who filmed Rene Baterbonia’s wake show lack of basic decency

“A family has just lost their son, yet some people have forgotten what boundaries look like,” Jao warned.

She noted that some visitors were “going inside, wandering around as if they are visiting a tourist spot.” Worse, others were “even touching Rene’s belongings.”

Jao added the hashtags #Respect, #boundaries, and #grief. She also tagged the pages “Rene Clert Baterbonia” and “Rene Baterbonia 2.0.”

The post quickly sparked discussion about the growing tendency to document private grief.

A wake isn’t a content backdrop. It’s not meant for social media posts or stories. People have seemingly forgot basic decency, if not common sense.

But loathe as I am to say it, Jao herself is not entirely removed from the same ecosystem. Her callout is also packaged as content. That’s virtue signaling.

Criticizing “clout-chasing” while posting about the same moment? That’s hypocrisy.

Sure, the intentions may be good. But whether it’s the one calling out or those being called out, both operate within the same system—one that rewards visibility and engagement.

And that’s the issue.

In the age of social media, everything needs to be seen to matter. Even private moments often feel incomplete unless they are posted and met with reactions.

Users are conditioned to respond through tangible output: reaction, comment, post. Silence, in turn, leads to fear of missing out, to the unease of “not contributing” to the discourse.

But in reality, in a situation like Baterbonia’s wake, the most appropriate response may be exactly that: silence.

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