Think about it
Hope springs eternal
By Jun Velasco
Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path,” — Psalm ll9.l05
PANGASINENSES in the United States and, per balikbayan Nonoy and Pat Salvador’s report, Canada and probably in many more countries abroad are delighted by the city’s Dawel River Cruise.
Proof, says Bayambang Comelec officer Carmen G. Claveria, is that former Sanggunian Panlungsod staff Michael Cendana of Barangay Malued, and balikbayan Aizle Cendana, daughter of Judge Mario Cendana, are dreaming — not of White Christmas, but of a cruise wedding by the Pantal River aboard Mayor Benjie Lim’s pet project, the river cruise, on January 7 next year.
No, they may have the same family name, but are not related, says Carmen. They are more than related now, di ba?
The young couple is hiring topnotch photographers and local journalists to witness and record the event. They said they intend to show the footage to US-based kababayans when they return to the US after the wedding.
Happy landing!
* * * *
As we lamented the recent downfall of many revered institutions around the world, Time magazine last week featured on its cover The Protester (with our favorite actress Angelina Jolie as model) which detailed the colossal breakdown of governments mostly in the Middle East.
While focusing on the people’s “unhappiness with politics and the economy…,” Time editor Rick Stengel asked, “is there a global tipping point for frustration?”
A Los Angeles Times reporter quoted Stengel: “Everywhere, it seems, people said they’d had enough. They dissented; they demanded; they did not despair, even when the answers came back in a cloud of tear gas or a hail of bullets.”
We picked this article to show that instead of being gripped by hopelessness, we see the other side of it. We feel that in spite of the disturbing feud between President Pnoy and Chief Justice Renato Corona, we feel all is not lost, especially at this of the year when we celebrate the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
We have a positive view of the break up of institutions and governments as newly opened windows to democracy, freedom; a fresh air, progress or whatever words you’d describe a people’s liberation from darkness and suffocation.
Friday morning, we were comparing notes with top officials and professors of the country’s most populous (65,000 students) state university and international business managers on the deepening political crisis in the country.
Someone suggested that what’s happening could be a prelude to a civil war.
We squirmed at the thought. We thought that the conflict (between Pnoy and Corona) does not involve any branch of government. Fact is, most people interviewed could tell accurately the source of discord.
We hasten to add that the seed of the feud had been there all along, and that both the President and the Chief Justice had long expected their bruised relationship to reach the breaking point.
Will it damage investors’ confidence in the local economy? Our view is that it won’t but will instead serve it well because its exposure will now eliminate the source of conflict, and therefore will augur for better times.
Let’s hope the media will play their cards well this time, not to feast on the negative but play up the bigger, hopeful picture. This is the best time for our media to show their patriotism and high sense of responsibility.
We see hope, not despair, as a consequence of the conflict, a painful but liberating unveiling of the truth. It will set us free. God will do the rest.
* * * *
Let’s welcome the “perfect” assignment of Col. Gerry Roxas to the historic town of Bayambang, weeks after the post was vacated by former Lloyd Milan who was gunned down by his own brother in a tragic encounter a month back.
A dream cop, Gerry is sober, intelligent, articulate, amiable and patriotic police officer
Councilor Gerry de Vera, good government chairman, reports that the town, seat of government of the Philippine Republic on November l3, l899, was planning to make a big thing of that historic event but shelved the idea for one reason or another.
With Mayor Ric Camacho and the Sanggunian Bayan headed by Vice Boying Junio at the helm, the town has risen dramatically with the help and assistance of a favorite son, business tycoon Cesar T. Quiambao.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
