"Let us hope against all odds that next year will be better."
"Let us hope against all odds that next year will be better."
Browsing through news reports these days may not be a good morning activity especially for those facing challenges in life during this holiday season. It is quite rare to find news to lift one’s spirit.
Before sitting down to write this piece, I went through my usual routine of going through the news and read these among others: tropical cyclone Ursula killed 28 people while 12 remain missing; two towns in Cebu —Daanbantayan and Madellin—are under a state of calamity, and many towns remain without electric power; 16 people from Laguna and Quezon provinces were poisoned and killed because of methanol in toxic lambanog; a 35-year-old carpenter, Rhyan Cuarteros, was shot dead in front of his wife and two daughters inside their small home on Christmas Day allegedly over illegal drugs; and a tricycle driver, Dondon Jacinto was gunned down and killed in what police suspect as drug or gambling-related incident.
Crimes, calamities, and deaths seem to dominate the news outside of the usual political wrangling between pro- and anti-Duterte personalities.
An interesting development on the international political arena is the growing initiative among various countries to protect human rights and sanction violators. There have been reports about the United States’ banning entry to, and freezing of properties in the US of those responsible for jailing Senator Leila de Lima and those actively supporting Duterte’s bloody ‘war on drugs’; Sass Rogando Sassot, Duterte’s social media propagandist’s announcement that she would stop political blogging and give up her Filipino citizenship to become a European, which was met by a petition asking the Netherlands, where Sassot resides, and a country that champions human rights in the European Union, to reject Sassot’s bid for citizenship; and the reported failure of some police and military officers to secure Canadian visas over lengthy scrutiny of their Mindanao military records.
To retaliate, Presidential Spokesperson Panelo just announced ordering the Bureau of Immigration to deny entry into the country of US Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy. Also, Americans shall be required to secure visas to enter the Philippines should the ban on entry of Filipino officials involved in jailing De Lima be implemented. Malacañan is playing tit-for-tat with the US government. The question is, will this administration also ban citizens of other countries implementing their own Magnitsky Law?
With only a few days before the year 2020 is ushered in, it is hard to be optimistic about the country’s immediate future.
Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs” continues. The President himself said in so many instances. While there are now more news about suspected drug pushers being arrested and not killed, reports about killings over drugs remain. Moreover, no big-time drug lords are put to jail and there are hardly any reports of arrested small-time suspects being released.
Remember the images of our congested jails that surfaced at the height of tokhang operations? Is it any better now? Hopefully, drug-related killings will fully stop. By now, the administration should already know that killings will not solve the drug problem.
This year, earthquakes have frequented the country occurring in the major island groupings of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. There is no telling what will come next year and everyone must be prepared for the worst. The warnings against the “big one” have been up for some time especially in Metro Manila and these must be heeded. Both government and the public should be on alert for any eventuality.
The effects of climate change are real. Yearly, Filipinos suffer and not a few die because of strong typhoons that hit us. Livelihoods, homes, and properties are lost and for many, never regained. Our roads get flooded easily and this results in inconvenience and suffering among our workers and students.
Has anyone counted the number of class suspensions that happened this year due to strong storms? What about the quality of education of our youth? Isn’t this affected by the too-frequent “walang pasok” days? Is there no solution in sight?
Water is a necessity in life. While we are hit by storms and rains pour hard, we also are hit with water-shortage crisis. Remember how Metro Manilans suffer last summer? That was a very hard period when people had to go without water at times, source water elsewhere, or rely on hit-and-miss rationing of this precious commodity. Our lives revolved around the faulty schedules of water service provided by water concessionaires. People swore that this should never happen again.
However, with the ongoing problems between the concessionaires and the administration and without reports of solutions against another water crisis being implemented, there is reason to dread the coming summer. Hopefully, a miracle happens and the impending shortage is averted.
What about traffic? Spending an average of four hours in traffic daily is not a joke whether one is a commuter or drives one’s vehicle. Yet, judging by what we see and experience, coupled with government inefficiency and fondness for ‘band-aid’ solutions, traffic may not ease up. With all the road construction going on, it might even get worse in 2020. People might choose to stay put more and for those who can, find ways to work from home instead.
Quality of life in Metro Manila continues to deteriorate. No wonder, not a few now choose to relocate to less problematic areas. They are the lucky ones who have options. For those who do not, we just have to bear it until things improve. Those outside the Metro face other challenges. And these are not any less difficult.
Soon we will say goodbye to 2019 and say hello to 2020. Despite the bleak prospects, let us hope against all odds that next year will be better. And roll our sleeves up to make it a bit better.
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