New Year's wish list

Just right after Christmas, my family and I left Cebu to parry the temptations of a lipid-drenched merry-Christmasing and the lure of alcohol my drinking buddies had offered. Not that we don’t want to be around with friends and relatives, we just thought we needed a good break to wrap the busy year. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the break we were seeking especially when you want that break to be spent in Manila. The shopping districts were unexpectedly filled to the brim while most of the entertainment centers were terribly crowded that you needed to wait for long hours in order to get that less-than-ten-minutes boat ride at Manila’s Ocean Park.

The last day was particularly very educational and sort of “nationalistic” for me having stepped for the first time on Luneta Park and Intramuros district since my last visit some 20 years ago. They have changed so much that they made me proud of our very magnificent past. For most of the time, Cebuanos come to Manila for business reasons and I think it’s about time to make it a point to get by to these places to pause and revisit the wealth of history these places have to offer.           

After a quick tour at the historic districts, we took the LRT towards the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran. One moving sight that caught my attention was the belen built right across the church’s yard. I tried to control my tears as I gazed a more forlorn depiction of Christ’s birth in the midst of a disaster that inundated Luzon recently. The decrepit floating shanty housed the Holy Family as that of a “squatter” where Joseph held not a shepherd’s staff but an oar trying to ferry the Christ-child and Mary to shelter. 

The background of the belen were cheerless pictures of people who lost their families and homes during the flood. It was trying to convey a message – a call to reflection that we are to be content with the simple joys of what we have in spite of the crisis that we have been through. And most specially, we are to celebrate the Yuletide Season not mindful of our own losses but those who have suffered greatly the loss of their loved ones, and to those who will have to celebrate their New Year without their homes. 

There are many things that we have prayed for this New Year and I came up with a simple wish list of my own.  

Job opportunities. For the short term, this is the best way to help those who have suffered the spate of natural tragedies that struck this country. You can help by asking non-profit organizations that you would like to employ for the time being some people to clean your factories or to help you with your warehousing or inventory. The Redemptorist Church in Baclaran for example has a social integration project where they offer skills training to unemployed persons. Most churches (both Catholic and non-Catholic) have these skills listings, too. You may visit your nearest church to do so.

My wish also is that there will be long term jobs for those who have been displaced due to the global financial crisis and that there would be more jobs available here so we don’t have to leave our families to seek jobs elsewhere. 

Clean elections. The greatest will this country can give to its citizens is to enable the collective will of its electorate. For those who have lost their confidence in the electoral process, I hope they will give this year’s election a chance. I believe it’s far better to exercise our right to vote than not to vote at all. “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.” says the famous drama critique, George Jean Nathan.

Reduction of greenhouse emissions. The Philippines has already experienced the consequences of global warming and so as the rest of the world. Although the changes may seem insignificant, the weather has altered around the globe. Some places have experienced more precipitation than before while others see higher temperatures and more extreme weather conditions.

“Today there is little doubt that the principal reason for the rising temperatures is industrialization. Over the last century and a half, humankind has burned ever-greater quantities of oil, gasoline, and coal; burned forests and in other ways produced greenhouse gases and let them into the atmosphere.” according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

My wish is that our policy makers will make it a national priority to fight climate change at the level beyond our borders. I do not think we deserve to suffer from the actions of those who contribute a lot to this unfortunate phenomenon. There is no doubt that the consequences will be numerous and severe, lest we take action now.

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