Christmas spirit

Christmas 2013 will be remembered for the canceled parties, toned down lights and toned down merriment.

Just one look at the latest images from the areas hit by the storm surge and you won’t feel like celebrating.

Just pondering the hefty power rate surge – even if TRO’d for two months – and you won’t feel like switching on the Christmas lights. Meralco, after all, warned that we’re just postponing the pain.

In the corridors of power, holiday gift-giving has been drastically dampened by the end of the pork barrel as they knew it and the curb in discretion over utilization of billions of pesos in people’s money.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon flew in and promised that the world is behind the Philippines in its hour of need. Even the world, however, has only so much to give in this season of giving. Despite all those images of tragedy and human suffering in the areas ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda, the UN flash appeal for $791 million for relief and rehabilitation has raised only 30 percent of the amount so far.

The other day, the latest images from the disaster zones were heartbreaking: children lighting candles at the graves of lost loved ones, in a cemetery set up within the compound of a ruined church.

Colorful bunkhouses have been set up as emergency shelters, but there’s still too much devastation in Samar and Leyte. The ships that ran aground at the height of the storm surge are still there, along with the massive pile of rubble and uprooted trees still waiting to be cleared.

Different types of tents, sourced from various foreign donors, stand out in the debris, and it’s clear there aren’t enough tents for all the displaced people.

And yet the survivors are fashioning Christmas trees out of whatever materials are available, and decorating them with anything that can be recycled from trash. Children are cheerful even while waiting in line in the rain for donated toys, and adults are openly grateful for small mercies.

There’s eagerness to restart lives, but we can see, six weeks after Yolanda struck, that people need an enormous amount of help, and there’s no certainty that sufficient help is coming.

Yolanda made us forget Zamboanga City, razed by armed conflict, and Cebu and Bohol, flattened by a powerful earthquake. The next major disaster can make the world forget Yolanda.

And yet you still find cheer, and a fighting spirit among people determined to rise again. During my visits to Samar and Leyte, most of the victims I chatted with told me that despite their suffering, they did not intend to leave their hometowns.

When I asked if they planned to try their luck in Manila, the common reply was, “What would I do there?”

In fact I met several people living in Metro Manila who flew to the disaster zones to spend the holidays with relatives, as a morale booster and to help in any way they can.

That’s the Christmas spirit, shining through the gloom.

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Taxpayers welcome the gloom in the halls of Congress, where there is no more release (as far as we know) of millions of pesos as Christmas “gifts” to lawmakers and their staff, courtesy of Juan de la Cruz through “savings” from maintenance and other operating expenses.

Even with the end of this tradition of generosity at public expense, and the loss of the pork barrel as we know it, certain lawmakers are embarking on expensive Yule holidays overseas. State auditors may want to scrutinize who’s footing the bill.

In a season of disasters and corruption scandals, taxpayers also welcome the suspension of the power rate surge by the Supreme Court. Some investors are spooked, and the order can wreak havoc on our already ineffectual regulatory system, but the SC move buys time to ponder what can be done.

Industry players say the government can consider two options. One is to cut the tax component of the dizzying P4.15 increase per kilowatt-hour. A second option is to tap part of the Malampaya Fund to subsidize consumption when the Malampaya natural gas facility in Palawan shuts down for regular maintenance (every three years) and power producers are forced to use more expensive liquid fuels.

Even with the Supreme Court restraining order, however, not many people – except the .01 percent – are in the mood to splurge on electricity this season.

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Filipinos did have reason to celebrate in this year of disasters: Manny Pacquiao made a strong comeback, and Filipinas brought home the Miss International and Miss World crowns, the latter for the first time.

For Catholics, especially those estranged from the faith, the biggest cause for celebration was when Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis.

The 266th pope has led by example in living simply, like the saint whose name he took, shunning the pomp and ostentation long associated with his office.

This pontiff memorably told the clergy to shift their focus back to showing mercy and compassion instead of being obsessed with condemning contraception, abortion and homosexuality.

Francis is the best thing that has happened to a Church rocked by sexual and financial scandals, whose shepherds are called princes and live in palaces. He has demystified the papacy and made it accessible to the people.

He is luring back to the faith those who have been turned off by the activities and lifestyles of their shepherds.

Francis brings a message of hope amid decay – something that is badly needed in disaster zones, where survivors, despite their misery, are determined to celebrate Christmas and celebrate life.

May your Christmas be filled with blessings!