WHISPERING HOPE

Cheers of awe on fireworks displays seen on the boob tube all over the world and the deafening little dynamites of firecrackers in the neighborhood welcomed 2007. Almost a thousand people were injured during the merrymaking but no one died according to news reports. Despite the elaborate fireworks and the injuries sustained by many, the year-end celebrations seem to have become so trite, so ordinary and have turned into a mere respite for the grueling days to come.

Nonetheless, 2006 was a rather bleak year that so many of our countrymen continuously seek their luck abroad. In my own family, four out of seven siblings are now working in the U. S. and Canada with their families. Our Christmas had become virtually a “cyber” Christmas as we greeted each other either through telephone or the webcam. There no longer were warm embraces and kisses during “media noche”.

Yet, there appear more reasons to hope for this year than to wallow in helplessness. There are telltale signs of character changes forced by the issues and events that surround our people. Some groups are beginning to be emboldened in speaking for this country as they witnessed PGMA despicably breaching our sovereignty when she spirited out rape convict U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail in the dead of the night without any court order.

The big storms are also over now. Typhoon Milenyo and Reming that snuffed the lives of many in Bicol Region have even strengthened many in facing natural calamities and we see them now rising from the rubbles.

We see the vast majority of people in destitution, financially struggling inch by inch into a more dignified living. The peso, getting stronger in value, may also be indicative of a rising economy.

The churches from different congregations and sects have been awakened, now taking the streets as their virtual pulpits to speak for truth and justice.

In our city, a new mayor will take his oath of office in July 2007. Our new mayor, whoever he may be, is expected to finish the two bridges in Puntod and in Carmen. Thus, we see an end to the endless traffic jams that we experienced during the Christmas season.

We will also have a new congressman who, I suppose, will be a lot better than the person who betrayed us and tried to desecrate our present Constitution. Tinnex will also end his governorship in Rotary District 3870 after he was adjudged by many to have flunked the well-established Four Way Test of Rotary International.

Incidentally, the Four Way Test was an ingenious tool in changing the characters of Americans during the Great Depression (1930s) other than the “Big Deal” of the late Pres. Theodore Roosevelt that led to its booming economy.

Should the opposition congressmen swell in numbers after the election, we will see the President being abdicated through impeachment. A new leadership may usher a new era of good governance.

But the darkness is not yet over. Political turmoil and the prospects of bloody, dirty and fraudulent elections still hover in the air. The tempest of the two-century old war in Muslim Mindanao and the guerilla warfare waged by the NPAs still bedevil our nation.

They say the darkest point of the night is immediately before the sunrise. In the dusk, there is a muffled voice of a whispering hope in our hearts that tells me our sorrows will be appeased and rejoicing will follow in the coming days.

In our little way, we need to take our own part in ensuring that a bright new day will come. We have to seriously assume the roles we have opted to take in life.

In the end, it is up to each of us. Let us not think too big a leap for this year. As the forwarded message of Atty. Oka Musni on New Year’s Eve goes:

“Sometimes, we put too much passion on the biggest dreams and priorities in life that we fail to love the smallest pleasure in simple things. We search so much for the right choices, for the right person (politician), for the right paths (P.I./Con-Ass/Con-Con) to walk through, for the right time, and for the right reasons. But life is not about searching for the things that can be found. It is about letting the unexpected happen and finding the things you never searched for.”

As we say goodbye to 2006, let the good things we experienced inspire us to a better 2007. I am wishing you a very prosperous, fruitful, successful, healthy, blessed, happy, fulfilling, satisfying, challenging New Year!