Holy day

Today would have been the holiday to honor a true revolutionary. But the commemoration was moved back to give workers more time for vacation. Holiday economics. But not for those who labor during weekdays for a minimum wage that does not minimize poverty. Much less for the poorest among the poor whose problem is where to find the next meal. No holiday for the hungry, they struggle with uncertainty every single day.

Even sports may be moved. The crowned virus forced the Tokyo Olympics to defer for a year when the world stood still. But some say it was divine way of reminding humanity about mortality. A deadly way to learn a lesson. But how does the dead know the money intended for them was stolen? It is not plunder. It is massacre. But no weapons of mass destruction, only greed for massive corruption.

Somehow we benefited from postponement. The country finally won elusive gold after close to a century of waiting, for nothing, until the strongest Filipina lifted the country to Olympic glory. Patience is a virtue, but the inaugural gold does not solve what ails Philippine sports. What if Hidilyn Diaz was not born?

Again, the crowned virus believed to originate from the host country forced it to reset the Asian Games to another year. Again, somehow it favored us. We finally reclaimed basketball supremacy after six decades. Patience is still a virtue, but naturalization is now the way to go. Or to gold. What if no heritage and naturalized players dominated the team?

We will never answer what if, but we can solve what is. But some say everything happens for a reason. Tell us then why some are killed by people duty bound to protect? Or why many die of hunger while others starve to look better? No money to save life on earth but billions is splurged to explore life elsewhere. In outer space. Saving life meets urgency, finding life, if any, satisfies mere curiosity. Whose reason is it then? Or do we romanticize misfortune?

Winning in sports starts with raw potential developed by training, hard work, nutrition, science and medicine. And more. Luck may factor, all things being equal. It’s not even luck. It is still about being better than the rest, or the best. At a particular time, during competition they prepared so hard for. Moving a date may factor in the preparation. But athletes don’t play in different time zones.

Some lose and blame postponement. It’s not why the date was moved but how to move on. Moving a date is different from moving on. Those who move transfer from place to place. Those who move on forget about pain of losing and start a new beginning. Or risk another pain, of losing. And of betrayal. That is reality, mimicked in a movie, which is not the same as film. Movies entertain, films make us think. What have we been watching? Or better yet, are we still watching? It is a dying industry, movie houses are empty. We now use gadget instead of buying a movie ticket. Even TV is passé. Entertainment is everywhere, especially every three years, when sanity is on a holiday.