Think about it
Proximity
By Jun Velasco
OUR province — asinan country, if you will — has been thrust into the limelight because of nuclear fears brought about by the killer earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Yes, because of our two well-known kababayans, former Rep. Mark Cojuangco and Board Member Alfie Bince who, according to Al Mendoza, did a bizarre act hurting the eyes of the common folk.
They are sticking to their stand for good or ill in the installation of two nuclear plants in Bataan amid howls and world hysteria against it.
After an 8.9 earthquake and a tsunami flattened and submerged its eastern side killing more than 27,000 people, Japan is on the threshold of being wiped out because its nuclear plants burst and could spread destruction further. But the Japanese people are undaunted, checking the spread of radioactive fallout.
If that kind of incident happened here in our poverty-stricken country, God forbid!, millions would have died. We are known for our being unprepared during disasters and calamities. Not the Japanese with a well-ordered behavior, presence of mind and stoicism.
We thought the duo, Mark and Alfie, were making some dark humor. But Mark in a talk with newsmen at “Media in Action” boldly repeated his stand and advocacy… it’s too early to abandon his nuclear proposal. He has studied it very well, citing great research here and abroad.
Alfie, a brilliant lawyer, echoes Mark’s stand. Alfie trusts him much.
Unpopular views are not necessarily wrong. In world history, many unpopular causes turned out right. What’s going for the duo for their controversial stand is that there’s no incontrovertible proof yet to show that their proposed plants are unsafe. Reports say Mark’s nuclear is of better quality than Japan’s in luckless Fukushima.
The best way to approach this ticklish issue to our mind is to undertake further a deeper, more careful and scientific study. Atomic power, it is widely accepted, is a source of cheap power around the world.
Proponent, Mark, by the way, is a chip of the ol’ tycoon, his father, Danding Cojuangco, who is known for his circumspect and cool demeanor. He deserves the benefit of the doubt.
We would like to pose though at this point warnings from the Mayan Calendar and the Holy Bible about the fact that unusual occurrences around the world follow a historical course and predictions made thousands of years ago.
The massive earthquake in Japan, Chile, Haiti, lately Indonesia, floods in Saudi Arabia, snow storms in the US, two cyclone-brought floods (Ondoy and Pepeng) that devastated the country last year… they blot out human reasoning, defy our capacity to fully analyze.
But the Japan tragedy has united humanity. People of whatever color or skin are coming together, moved by a common feeling. There are many gestures and efforts made by individuals and groups in the country in the name of aid and relief for the Japanese. Japan is thousands of miles away, but the tragedy has humanity to its heart, giving comfort, hope, lifting battered spirits.
The Japanese may be far physically, but they are close when hearts work.
In journalism, news is sometimes evaluated on the element of proximity to our lives — geographical and emotional. If the event took place in Africa or Japan, it’s not news. But if the event is heart shaking, it’s news. Our feelings of love and compassion are fused. We become one.
We saw this during our six-week stay with American families in Washington DC and Maryland under Rotary people-to-people program. We saw America on a personal basis. It made us know intimately that brown-skinned Pinoys and the whites are moved by the same circumstances and experiences. Sorrow, joy, love and lament break down geographical barriers; they unite people.
The birth of the computer and the Internet has made the world a small village. We are now near and close and proximate because world occurrences are now intense and devastating. Give way to love and peace.
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NOTES: Congrats to our Godson, Jodenzie Basa Iñigo, son of Balita sports editor Dennis Iñigo, and Liezl Basa-Iñigo of Manila Bulletin, on his graduation at the Mother Goose Special Science School System Inc. recently. Dennis was our fellow director of the National Press Club in 2001 and 2002. The young graduate is planning to take up an IT course in college.
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