Heading back home

By today, most of the ports are slowly filling up as workers and students in Cebu rush to get home. It isn't even the start of the official holiday season. But just per usual, in an attempt to avoid the rush, there are those who are now on their back to their provinces. It is a busy season, so to speak. Parties are just wrapping up left and right. Everyone is giving out gifts while saying their goodbyes. It is a "See you next year!" for some.

It is true that a person is most comfortable in his or her own skin when at home. It is in their families where they find meaning and purpose. They say that when you go back to your roots, you will come to realize a ton of things that you will carry on for the journey ahead. No wonder a lot of people crave for a trip back home. Whether it would take them days to reach this country and fly miles just to come back. Like they say, there is no place like home.

But is the home always the best place? On a reunion meal with some of my husband's high school peers, we welcomed one who arrived from a foreign country. He said he did miss a lot of things in his hometown, but would definitely not want to live here for the rest of his life. Cebu is just too small, too cramped, too much. In fact, he underscored the problem of everyday traffic. Not to mention, the lack of a clear public transport system which sets us far apart from the rest of the countries.

Leaving may not be the best option, you see. If we are well educated, well skilled and well trained - we can all put that into use for the betterment of the place that we grew up in. That is, if the leaders are also open to change. We must accept the fact that they also have their own agenda. Not everything that they say and do is for everyone's benefit. In one way or another, there are some interests served to institutions that we may not know of.

Coming home this Christmas (and maybe after two years or more for some) would hopefully make them realize that to escape is not the best answer. If we want to make a difference, then leaving a legacy would be the best way to do it. If the local government of the central city wants to become like Singapore, then by all means we must support it. Call out practices and processes that don't make the cut. They are accountable for everything that they do.

May this season of Christmas and rushing home allow us to realize the choices that we have made. It may be a great time to spend with old acquaintances over the most familiar gastronomic experience, but it is also a good moment to share best practices.