My Christmas wish for our country!

I woke up quite early at dawn and opened my laptop to check the news on the Internet and as usual, opened The Philippine STAR website and read last Monday’s editorial that said, “The crowds at dawn Masses have dwindled, according to the news reports and many Christmas parties have been canceled in Iligan City, where bomb attacks on two shopping areas last Thursday killed three people and wounded 47 others. A security cordon has been thrown around St. Michael’s Cathedral and other Christian places of worship in the city.” I pondered this for a while and realized that this was the effect of the bombing of Iligan City.

The year 2008 has but seven days left and this has been one tumultuous albeit unforgettable year, a virtual roller-coaster ride on events like the record-breaking highs and lows in the world prices of crude oil or the unbelievable prices we went through of the most basic commodity of all that we take for granted… rice. On top of all this, the world played witness to the greatest financial debacle since the great 30s’ Depression. Great names like Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Fae Mae and Freddie Mac have become history.

There’s no doubt that the world is fast changing. We saw record highs in floods around the world, linked to the shrinking of the ice shelf. While that’s bad news, at least in these times, thanks to satellite technology, more and more people understand what global warming is all about and what we can do on our own to reduce our carbon emissions.

This brings us back to what’s happening in Iligan City. Perhaps the Christmas break is the best time to ponder and ask ourselves, why are we still having a Muslim question and why haven’t we found solutions to this problem? Should we just limit our thoughts to solving the Muslim question or should we dig deeper and ask ourselves… why after 62 years of Independence given by the Americans, the Philippines has slid down from its enviable spot of second to Japan to second to the last?

When I was in Japan, I got a copy of that old 1972 musical “The Man from La Mancha” starring Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren. I remember seeing this movie only once at the Majestic Theater. I watched it last week and reminded me of the genius of Don Miguel de Cervantes and the epic story of that errant knight Don Quixote and his loyal squire Sancho Panza and how they were attacking windmills that he thought were giants.

The highlight of this movie was when Don Qui­xote sang the famous song, “The Impossible Dream.” That brought me back to the dark days of Martial Law when the imprisoned Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. used this song as his battle cry to rid our country from the tyranny of the Marcos Dictatorship. Just to refresh our readers, here are the lyrics of that song that we once sang with tears in our eyes:

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest, to follow that star

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far

To be willing to give when there’s no more to give

To be willing to die so that honor and justice may live

And I know if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

That one man scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star.

It is still a beautiful and stirring song and a reminder of our quest to seek Justice for our country. Ninoy Aquino was assassinated 25 years ago, the conjugal Marcos Dictatorship was deposed 22 years ago, yet despite the EDSA Revolt I and II, nothing much has changed in the Philippines. This is why we still have problems with Muslims in Min­danao, the communist insurgency, traffic problems and poverty. The problem clearly is, we are a nation that doesn’t solve its problems. Take the case of our Justice system that has become too corrupt; it has now caused economic sabotage. Therefore, my Christmas wish for this Yuletide season is for Filipinos to fix whatever is wrong with this country. We are the solution to this problem.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.