Gasolina and the Silent Sacrifice of Fathers

How much can a father carry before the world finally notices his pain?

I came across a TikTok video this morning, Joseph Sabello’s short film Gasolina, and I couldn’t help but burst into tears. As I watched, I remembered the sacrifices of my own father when we were little, how he worked so hard to provide for our family.

In the film, the father is a food delivery rider. He spends his days on the road, carrying food packages, and burning fuel just to earn enough for his family. But with today’s high gasoline prices, even paying for fuel becomes a heavy burden. He keeps saying “I’m okay,” even when he is not. That’s how fathers are, isn’t it? They never admit when they are already struggling.

The painful part of the film is when the father dies alone in his room. His sons later discover that he had been silently fighting a lung disease, hiding his suffering so his family would not worry. This moment shows the depth of a father’s love, choosing to endure pain in silence, just to keep providing for his children.

This story feels especially true now in the Philippines. Every rise in gas prices means another burden for families. For delivery riders, jeepney drivers, tricycle drivers, and all fathers who depend on fuel to work, every drop of gasoline costs not just money, but energy, time, and dreams.

In Gasolina, fuel becomes more than what powers a motorcycle. It becomes a symbol of the strength fathers burn to keep their families alive. Every peso spent on gas is a peso taken from something else. Every long day on the road is a sacrifice of comfort. Yet fathers keep going, because love pushes them to endure.

So every time you see a father delivering your food or parcel, appreciate them. Show some love by giving them a tip, it may be small to us, but it means a lot to them. Behind that helmet and uniform is a man who may be silently carrying the weight of the world, but still chooses to keep moving forward for the sake of his family. Respect to all the fathers who do their very best for their kids, to provide the needs of the family, even when they are running on empty.