MMXIII – what a year this has been!

I can’t wait for 2014 to set in. Year 2013 has been such a disastrous, tumultuous and chaotic year for all – both in the local and international scene.

The number “13” reminds me of Friday the 13th, a day that comes with folkloric beliefs. The use of this number has been avoided by many whether for personal or business reasons. Some say it brings the test of suffering and the death but the birth of a new ‘spirit’.

Our Gregorian calendar has twelve months. Why not 13? When Jesus and his twelve apostles had their Last Supper (that’s 13 people all together), one of them Judas betrayed Jesus. The Apollo 13 spacecraft was unsuccessful in its mission to land on the moon in 1970. Buildings deliberately skip the thirteenth floor. Somehow there’s just something about this number. What a mystery!

In Numerology, the number 13 is a karmic number but it has great ‘spiritual’ power.  If this power is used in the wrong way for purposes of greed, selfishness or corruption then destruction, disease and illness may come into play.

Year 2103 has brought many memorable events. To begin with in January, thirty-nine international workers and one security guard died in a hostage crisis at a natural gas facility near Algeria. In February, North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test prompting worldwide havoc and fear; a meteor exploded over a Russian city injuring 1,491 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. This was one of the most powerful meteors to strike the Earth’s atmosphere. In the same month, Pope Benedict XVI resigned. This somehow brought more condemnation to the Catholic world. He was replaced by Jorge Mario Bergoglio known as Pope Francis, the 226th pope of the Catholic Church. This pope has definitely brought new hope to the Catholics.

In June, there were flash floods and landslides in the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh that killed more than 5,700 people and trapped more than 20,000; Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi was deposed in a military coup leading to widespread violence. In July, the world awaited the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis from House of Windsor.

In October, the Philippines experienced a strong earthquake that destroyed precious lives and our beautiful heritage churches; and in November “Yolanda”, the strongest typhoon ever hit our country and Vietnam.

It is a known fact that 2013 has brought us misery and tragedy, one after the other, from a spate of disasters to the revelation of countless corrupt practices in government resulting in the life we live now. Partisan conflict in the Senate and Congress has made matters even worse for laws to be passed and implemented.

As we prepare to turn another page in our history as a nation, here is a summary of the major events that took place in the Philippines this year.

In January, eight people were killed in a mass murder in Kawit, Cavite; thirteen people were killed in a mass murder in Atimonan, Quezon; and USS Guardian (MCM-5), an American mine countermeasures ship, ran ground at Tubbataha Reef. In February, hitting the headlines were the death of Lolong, the Indo-Pacific crocodile in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur; and the landing of Philippine gunmen claiming to be part of the “royal army” of the Sulu Sultanate in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

In April, a Chinese fishing vessel with 20 fishermen on board ran ground at the Tubbataha Reef. They were charged with illegal poaching and attempted bribery.

In May, we had the midterm elections; a Philippine Coastguard vessel opened fire on a Taiwanese fishing vessel, allegedly inside Philippine maritime territory, killing one Taiwanese fisherman; and the much-publicized explosion at the Two Serendra condominium complex in Taguig happened.

In June, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile resigned as Senate President; tropical storm Rumbia brought heavy rains in northern Philippines, triggering landslides and flashfloods.

In July, the President presented his SONA as scheduled; 8 people died and 48 were injured in a bomb blast at the Limketkai Center in Cagayan De Oro City.

In August, 8 people were killed and 40 others were wounded when a car bomb exploded in Cotabato City; Typhoon Labuyo came; MNLF leader Nur Misuari unilaterally declared the independence of the Bangsamoro Republic; MV St. Thomas Aquinas collided with MV Sulpicio Express Siete resulting in the death of 55 passengers and 65 people still missing; Typhoon Maring hit northern Luzon but affected the whole region through the “Southwest Monsoon” or “Habagat”; and ending this month was the infamous ‘pork barrel scam’ and the million people march held at the Luneta Park for the abolition of the PDAF.

In September, the Zamboanga siege happened; and Miss Philippines Megan Young was crowned Miss World 2013.

In October, Bohol was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake leaving 144 dead and 291 people injured; and the barangay elections was held.

In November Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the P10 billion pork barrel scam faced the Senate for the first time; Typhoon Yolanda hit the country killing more than 10,000 people; and the Supreme Court abolished the PDAF otherwise known as the ‘pork barrel’.

In December, Senator Miriam Santiago and Senator Enrile continued their exchange of accusations at the Senate; disqualification of some government officials by the COMELEC for their failure to submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures in the midterm elections; a Don Mariano bus fell off the Metro Manila Skyway killing 18 people and injuring 20 others; a shooting tragedy at the NAIA 3 terminal killed four people including Mayor Ukol Talumpa of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur and his wife Lea Talumpa with five others injured; and the Supreme Court played Santa by blocking Meralco from implementing the tariff increase.

If you read in between the lines, you will see that more than half of the bad news are man-made due to inefficiency and lack of government controls and systems. The other half are natural phenomenon that are possibly due to climate change or simply put – the act of God.

Year MMXII (2013) in our Gregorian calendar started on a Tuesday and will end on a Tuesday. It has brought out the good and bad in all of us. It has truly tested our spiritual strength as a family and as a people. This is a time for cleansing and re-awakening. I hope we bring with us all that we have learned and all that we have become.

Happy New Year!

Amidst the hunger and thirst the chaos and confusion we’ve seen the best in the Filipino people, their strength and their courage … We’ve seen people with every reason to despair who have a right to be angry instead find ways to laugh, to love, to stand up, to move forward… Tired and traumatized but they are not broken.

Mabuhay Philippines! Maraming salamat for showing us all how to live!” – Anderson Cooper