first and foremost, a belated merry christmas to everyone. i’m sure most of you are still recovering from the binge that was the countless christmas parties and the midnight christmas meal. but there’s still new year’s celebration, so don’t go huffing and puffing your way back to the gym anytime soon. relax, you have the right to indulge. so go crazy.

 

with barely 24 hours left until 2010 ends, i decided to do a quick year-end write-up (like what i’ve done in previous years) to look back how the year that was from my personal point of view. it has been said numerous times that before you look ahead, you must know where you came from. so whether be it achievements or challenges, smiles or sadness, triumph or defeat, laughter or tears, monotony or surprises, 2010 had them all.

 

i would say that 2010 was the year i started to take my physical fitness seriously. actually, i had it planned last christmas that i’d really start losing weight come january. i weighed myself one last time on january 3 and i was at 198lbs. i weighed that much weeks before and it dawned on me that i’ll be reaching 200lbs soon if i don’t do something about it. “discipline and focus” was my mantra whenever i started my daily two-hour jog-walk sessions. i didn’t use my ipod, thinking that it’ll just keep me distracted. i know, i love music, but i felt that music in the background will just tire me out, so i had to utilize my full concentration on the task at hand. my goal: to reach 160lbs before the year ends. so for five days a week, i would sweat it out. the first few weeks were painful to say the least. muscles and joints hurt like they never hurt before, a way of resisting my new found drive. but, in time, my body adjusted to the routine and i’d be feeling better every time i finished those two hours. add to that, a significant reduction to my food intake. i lowered my meal consumptions by at least 50 percent, and took out rice at dinner time. either i’ll just have a sandwich, a fruit, or no dinner at all. i have lost 20lbs come the month of may, and another 10 more by september. unfortunately, when i decided to stop jog-walking for the year a week before christmas, i was only at 165lbs. admittedly, i eased back from my routine during the last couple of months, a crucial mistake on my part. though i did lose a significant amount of weight, a goal is a goal. i realized that if you’re happy with not reaching your goal, then don’t set a goal at all. maybe some of you would say, “at least you came close to your goal. that’s something in itself.” no. being second best is not acceptable. whatever the case may be. that is why i’m starting 2011 with an all-or-nothing mindset. more on that on my first entry for 2011. but, with the goal i didn’t reach for this year, i only blame myself. yes, i acknowledge that i’ve lost weight, but i won’t overly dwell on that. it’s still a fail.

 

2010 also was the first time the country had it’s elections for president wherein president arroyo was stepping down. i openly campaigned for senator richard gordon, believing that he was (and still is, in my book) the best man, the right man to be president. sadly, the thinking and educated man’s vote was overwhelmed with a sure-bet, showbiz-influenced, easy-name-recall, and sympathy-for-a-recently-deceased-parent vote. there’s nothing much to say about the one sitting in malacañang right now. i have no faith and belief in him whatsoever, he’s a lame-duck president with stupidity personified; and if an opportunity to leave the country to work abroad presents itself, unlike before where i would stay, this time, i’d take it in a heartbeat.

 

this was also the year our country figured prominently on the world stage. when i say prominently, it doesn’t matter if it was in a good way or a bad way. you know us filipinos, whatever it takes to be front and center of the world’s attention, we’ll do it. you know in the vernacular, we’re really “lacking in attention.” it’s a given that the two wins by manny pacquiao in the boxing ring (three if you count his absurdly win in the congressional elections) takes the cake. i mean, the man is just that damn good and throws that powerful of a punch. he’s not an 8-division champ for just nothing; he rules the boxing ring, period. but that doesn’t mean that i like him (sorry, i really had to put that one in). but what’s more uplifting is the win by our football team against defending champion vietnam in the AFF suzuki cup which earned a place in the semi-finals. football was never seen the same again by filipinos and finally, the sport has the attention of mainstream fans. how will the mostly half-breed football players (who, i think don’t have the initiative to speak the local language) handle the newfound spotlight on them remains to be seen. then there’s the what’s-up-with-the-over-exposure-and-attention finish by “venus” raj in the miss universe pageant (sorry, i really have to put the quotation marks in between her name simply because when we say venus, it means beauty; but with how she looks, i don’t think she’s worthy of that name; ugh). she finishes fifth and the country goes gaga over it? reality check: you’re there to win, that’s spelled W-I-N, no excuses. well, maybe her not getting the crown is worth it. after all, i think i couldn’t stand seeing the sight of her being miss universe. eww. from one tragedy to another, the manila bus hostage crisis was another event that our country was thrust into the world’s spotlight. our inept, cowardly, ill-trained police just showed mankind how not to engage a hostage taker. hopefully that event AND display of stupidity didn’t convince terrorists that it’s open season on the country. and lastly, there’s our local female version of justin bieber named charice appearing on the US hit tv series Glee (okay, maybe she’s not half-bad as jb). many thought that she’ll be there the entire season. good thing it was only one episode. i don’t like the series, never liked it, and will never like it. period. there are, of course, under-the-radar recognitions of filipino films in foreign movie festivals which, ironically are not shown here because they’re either too “talky” or controversial. sad. very sad.

 

on a more personal note, 2010 was the year i set foot on boracay island for the first time ever.  thanks to an aunt and a visiting cousin from germany who invited me to tag along, it turned out to be the most memorable vacation i’ve had in years.  the place is simply breathtaking.  spending five days there felt like it wasn’t enough.  snorkeling and fish feeding was the wholesome highlight for me.  seeing the diverse species of fish all around me and eating the bread off my hand made me appreciate mother nature more than ever.  though i didn’t get the chance to meet and flirt with women during the everyday nightlife we went to when we were there, the eye candy was just aplenty.  and of course, the food!  buffet offerings left and right, plus the fresh seafood for the picking and having it cooked before your eyes, it’s every foodie’s dream come true.

 

the year also became one of the most trying times for me and our family.  what we thought was just a simple sickness turned out to be a three-week, two hospital confinement for my mother.  it turned out to be a severe case of pneumonia.  the images of my mom vomiting blood while having difficulty breathing, as well as how she was when she was transferred in the ICU of the hospital will forever be burned in my mind.  the feeling of helplessness and not knowing whether she’ll make it or not hounded me for most of the time.  yet with our immediate and close relatives and family’s support and prayers, sh
e was able to make a full recovery and is feeling better than ever.  that ordeal also helped the relationship between me and my mom become closer, and having that result is always a good thing.

 

this year will also be remembered for a popular radio station closing down.  NU107 has been the hotbed of local rock and alternative acts and helped boost the band scene in the country.  but alas, lack of sponsors due to the genre and format not being catered to the masses (which it stupidity personified) became it’s demise.  hordes of fans that gathered around the radio station in it’s final hours of broadcast became a testament of it’s popularity among the real, upright listeners who won’t take cheesy, gutter-trash humor, and degrading, humiliating manner of being a disc jockey; and of course, who are listening to real music.  here’s hoping that somehow, that kind of radio station would emerge again in the near future.

 

friendships come and go.  this year was no different.  i’ve lost some and made some; there are others that have been rekindled.  with how my professional career has been going lately, i’ve come to realize who my real friends are.  and i’m thankful for them more than ever.  there were those who just disappeared without even saying goodbye, others who slowly faded out of existence.  some kept promises, others treated promises like a piece of paper–made now, thrown later.  surprisingly–and in a good way–there are those who suddenly appear and it’s as if nothing had happened.  it’s good to rekindle lost friendships, but not always.  having experienced (again) losing friends made me think of whether or not to let it be rekindled again if the opportunity arises.  but more importantly, treasure those who stand by you and really be a friend through thick and thin.

 

in hindsight, i consider 2010 to be a not-so-good year. okay, if i would rate it from one to 10, with 10 being the best, i would give it a five. or even a 4.9. it’s not that the bad or negative things that happened to me this year outweigh the good ones, it’s more on how i did things.  or how things ended up for me.  or maybe things i missed out that could’ve made a difference. not that i wasn’t proud of my achievements, believe me, i am; but deep down inside, i know that i could’ve done things better and not settled for just mere results.  but as they say, the past is the past.  with the new year just hours away, all the baggage that came with the old one will be discarded as soon as the clock strikes 12 midnight.  and as always–with me being me–i’ll be welcoming 2011 with renewed optimism, a positive outlook, and a new attitude.  hope everyone else at least almost feels the same way as i do.  hey, i suppose we all agree on one thing:  to start the new year right.

 

have a safe and boisterous welcome to the new year!  😀

 

 

i remember listening to NU107 during the early part of the 90s.  i wasn’t immediately hooked since radio stations back then were pop-genre dominated.  but there was something that made that station stand out:  it defied the norm.  most ordinary people back then would probably describe NU as a station for the elitists; where talk and music were on a different plain, something that most filipinos wouldn’t understand.  heck, i think it was the only radio station that despite it being the catapult of rising filipino rock and alternative bands, the language they use was pure english.  rarely do you hear jocks speak the native language in a running conversation.  granted, there are indeed other radio stations that use english as the mode of communication by the jocks, but with NU, it became part and parcel of their identity, and again, to defy the norm.

 

i did not become a hardcore fan-slash-listener of NU, but the station became a constant fixture in my enlightenment to the world of rock and alternative music in the mid-90s and moving forward.  it opened my ears (and eyes) to bands such as skid row, metallica, van halen, queen, nirvana, poison, guns n’ roses (which became my favorite band of all time), and others.  it also awakened my love of music from the new wave era with such classics from modern english, seona dancing, tears for fears, omd, simple minds, and much more.  and it helped pave the way for me to be a proud pinoy rocker during the explosion of philippine rock and alternative bands such as teeth, the youth, yano, parokya ni edgar, sandwich, kamikazee, rivermaya, sugar free, and many others, and of course, who could ever forget, the eraserheads.  for the record, pinoy music–pinoy rock music at that–would not have been the same if not for NU107.  i can’t imagine what our musical landscape would look like if NU did not come into existence when it did.

 

another thing that made NU different from the rest is their in-between radio ID fillers and program plugs.  i bet that if a non-philippine radio listener would take a crack and listen to all the different radio stations’ ID plugs one after the other, he or she would say that NU’s would stand out.  as i’ve said earlier, it defies the norm.  there was even one plug which i found hilarious that poked fun at the pinoy visayan accent when a person calling in to request a song on remote control weekend was sucking up to the jock on board in a thick southern accent (i don’t know if that part was really a recorded call, or just made up).  ironically, during the last few days of NU’s broadcast, those plugs and IDs were being requested left and right instead of their normal song playlist.  why?  because they were brash, out-of-the-box, rebellious, but at the same time, funny, witty, even sexy, and it came across as sending a message to everyone else that “we are what we say we are.”  i think their plug for against the flow clearly says it all:  “only dead fish swim with the current.”

 

when i first heard the news that NU was closing down and reformatting (i actually read it on twitter), i couldn’t believe it and my initial reaction was, “why?”  and when i read the article stating the reason(s) for it, i felt sick and disgusted.  yes, i know it’s a business decision by the now former owners, and i don’t have anything against making tough business decisions.  what i’m sick and disgusted about is the underlying thought that media institutions–which of course, includes radio–should cater to the taste of the masses.  i mean, don’t we have enough radio stations here that do that already?  the ones that make riding jeepneys break our eardrums with annoying laughter from a so-called college student sounding woman, or ruin our psyche by constantly blurting the line, “you know that already!”  or making cab rides unbearable when you’re constantly being asked, “do you need to memorize that?!”  seriously do we really need one more of those?  are the masses the only part of society that listen to the radio?  granted, there are still very decent radio stations to choose from like RX and magic (and maybe jam as well), but there’s another thing that NU does that they don’t:  limit commercial ads.  i mean, where else can you listen to a no-commercial-interruption song lineup such as a 20-minute rockathon?  granted, NU caters only to one genre, which is rock music; but they still do have a loyal following.  they’re human beings and consumers too, you know.  i guess those parasitious sponsors think that with NU, it’s already a profit loss.  stupid, motherfucking masses-thinking corporate execs and sponsors…

 

i was proud to be part of history when i tuned in to the final broadcast hours of NU last night.  it was very sad to hear the final, tearful goodbyes of all the jocks, past and present.  it was like being in a wake or funeral for someone we love.  i never, ever thought during the past years that NU would close shop.  despite the other radio stations that have come and reformatted, i always knew that NU would always be there, rocking our asses off.  sadly, it too has succumed to a warped prevailing culture.  but as one jock said last night, “NU rock is all about the music, the culture it potrayed, and the loyal listeners.”  it is up to us, the free-thinking, cool-sounding, upright rock advocates of society to continue NU’s legacy in one form or another.  NU started the radio crusade for individualism, trying to stand above the rest, dancing to the beat of a different drum, and treading against the current.  and it bravely lasted 23 years providing a rich and sensible alternative to the filipino radio listener.  your reputation will also be the legacy you leave behind.  filipino rock music, and filipino music in general will be forever indebted to you.

 

i wasn’t a hardcore fan-slash-listener of NU, but a fan nonetheless.  a fan of your music, your lifestyle, your culture.  thank you for being part of my formative years.  i couldn’t imagine who i might’ve been today if NU didn’t exist.  thank you for also being the launching platform of the numerous pinoy rock bands that we have today.  some of them may have been “masses-sized,” but the bottomline was the promotion of pinoy rock music.  it’s gonna be hard to push that preset radio station to 107.5mhz and hear a different-sounding station.  NU107’s music and what it promotes will always live on with your loyal and casual listeners.  it is only but fitting that the final song you played was the eraserheads’ hit, “ang huling el bimbo.”  it speaks volumes of how NU came to be.  you’ll be sorely missed, but with the hope that someday, somehow, someway, you’ll find your way back to the airwaves again.  from a simpleton, frustrated radio-jock (or radio-jock wannabe) such as myself, i say thank you for letting me come, visit, and stay in the home of nu (new) rock, NU107.  vaya con dios.

 

he was alone as his body tried to relax sitting down, his eyes focused like a thoroughbred with blinders on a race track.  the sound of falling rain didn’t mind him as he tried to grasp what was happening.  he wanted to scream his heart out, but can only manage a deafening silence as reality sets in.  all the while, he thought he knew something, but brushed it off.  the late nights she came home, the whispered phone conversations in the next room, occasions when he caught her staring into nothingness, the rain checks she had given him.  though the passion of love still engulfed them, there were times that he sensed that she had something–or someone–else on her mind.  now, the house is empty, void of her enchanting and illuminating presence; the halls, quiet from her vibrant laughter and soothing voice; his life, spun into uncertainty.

 

they met three years earlier at the lobby of a well-known corporation.  turns out that they were the remaining two candidates vying for regional vice president.  he had a commanding, yet charming presence, was sharply dressed, ruggedly confident, eyes that gave ladies a look that was to die for, and had a masters degree to boot.  she, on the other hand was classy and elegant, athletic, had beauty pageant-like curves, had her long, black hair tied down, and with matching small glasses that made her look like a snobbish librarian; but had that killer smile that no man almost cannot say no to.  these were all enough for both of them to strike an awkward and uneasy conversation with each other while waiting for their respective appointments.  they understood that only one of them will eventually get the job, but that didn’t stop that first conversation from turning into coffee dates, park strolls, book-reading conventions, pizza tuesdays, bowling challenges, and comedy night.  eventually, they moved in together for they couldn’t be more right for each other.  she made him take control of his life, while he let her explore her dreams.

 

it was three years of blissful love and unwavering romance.  he told her everything about himself, while she, all but once aspect of her past.  more than once, she used a line from the movie, titanic, which goes, “a woman’s heart is but an ocean of secrets,” but had assured him that whatever is from the past, stayed there.  he believed her, but couldn’t tell to himself whether he was sure of it.  eventually, the arguments started.  although they would always find a way to patch things up, things would only get worse.  he wanted to find out what who was she constantly talking to, while she assured him that it was nothing.  still, there were times that he just simply let her do what she wants.  in turn, she felt like he didn’t care enough.  talking to a close friend made him realize that her past didn’t matter.  neither their arguments.  what is, was their love for each other and what’s ahead of them, facing it together.  he rushed home that day, bouquet and gift in hand, only to find her gone.  for weeks, he searched for her night and day to the point of exhaustion.  until one day, he was told by someone where she was.  he didn’t care where, he had to see for himself.

 

he was still seated when he finally fell to his knees as tears came down like rain.  his cries drowned out by thunder, the darkness flashed by lightning.  uncertainty and discord ran through his mind, as with the happy moments of their past together.  the love he gave her, the warmth she gave him, those magical years together, all lead to a one-worded thought he screamed into the night:  “why?”  his hands then fell to the ground, one still clutching that gift he planned to give her that day he came rushing home.  it was small in nature, but forever in meaning.  the rain didn’t wash away the tears, it only helped hide them as he stared grievingly into the freshly laid coffin in the ground.

 

i’ve mentioned on numerous occasions that i’ll be more updated here in my blog.  and on those same occasions, i end up failing to be true to that statement.  i can’t seem to find out why, or whether i still have what it takes to write whatever i feel on a more personal level (rather than mostly political and social, as you may have noticed).  so last night, i took the time to go and backread on almost half of all my blog entries, starting from the most recent.  not just the entries, but the comments as well.  it took me until way past midnight, but i remember smiling at each and every entry i’ve made over the years.  yes, given that most of my entries were quite sad in nature, and even harsh to some people; but as i have always been, i never, ever hold anything back.  in going back through those posts, i hoped to rekindle the fire that made me start blogging in the first place.  last night’s trip town memory lane helped a bit, creating that spark again that will hopefully result in the flame burning brightly again.  maybe i need to backread some more, but at least that’s a start.

 

as they say, sometimes you need to go back a step or two in order to proceed two or three steps forward.  i just hope that with the success of my initial goal this year, it would rub off here as well.  i’m not making any promises… yet, but with accessing history at my fingertips, i hope to find my way back to where i want to be.

 

Just this week, our country has experienced one of the most–how do I say this–uhm, “profound” emotional roller coaster rides we’ve had in recent memory.  From a very shocking, disappointing, and unimaginably embarrassing resolution of the Manila Bus Hostage drama, to an uplifting, pain-soothing fifth place finish in the Miss Universe pageant.  Still, days after, we’re still reeling from the backlash–both positive and negative–from those two events.  And while everybody has had their fair share (myself included) in commenting, criticizing, analyzing, swearing, and blaming on these two incidents, the bottomline is this:  we both had opportunities to step up to the plate, hold our heads high and do our country proud in front of the entire world.  But alas, we failed.

 

The series of events on August 23, 2010 is a prime example of a deteriorating situation.  A 10-hour fuse that was lit and the only end of that was a bomb.  Hong Kong tourists, on a last day of happily frolicking in our nation’s capital before going back to the reality of their homeland, instead met the mind of an unstable, trigger-happy, cordite-sniffing, disgruntled ex-policeman who probably watched the premiere showing of “The Taking of Pelham 123” on HBO the night before and woke up Monday morning telling himself, “if Ryder (the character in the movie) can get New York City to give him money, maybe I can get back my job by doing the same.  Only this time, I’ll raise the stakes and hostage tourists instead of locals.”  Upon receiving initial word of the incident, the top brass of the Manila Police District thought that this dismissed cop was just looking for publicity, and thus failed to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation.  They probably thought, “he was one of us, so it’ll be easy to talk to him.”  Probably so, and with his constant release of some of the hostages, they then fell into a false sense of security that the situation will end peacefully and in a short amount of time.  I’m no expert, but should all hostage incidents have the same high level of seriousness elicited from the police?  In all accounts, from the lack of perimeter security from both media and on-lookers, the constant, casual parading of the hostage-taker on the front door of the bus and brandishing his firearms, to the involvement of the hostage-taker’s brother, the police force failed to enforce what I think should be rule number one in this case:  secure the situation.  From controlling the media and the gathering crowd, to having a systematic, singular talking point to the hostage taker.  That wasn’t clearly established.  And did they ever think that with the hostage-taker’s demand to get back his job, isn’t that enough information that this would end with him laid out on a stretcher?  I mean, who in the right mind would ask to get back a lost job by taking hostages?  Is there any simple logic in that?  And of course, we all saw what happened when the so-called “assault” on the bus happened that night.  I need not emphasize any further.  The writing’s clearly on the wall and I’ll leave what was shown on live TV all over the world to speak for itself.

 

Now, we’re suffering the wrath of Hong Kong citizens and dismayed people all over the world for a seriously botched police undertaking.  One other thing:  positioned snipers reported numerous times early on in the afternoon that they had clear shots to take out the hostage-taker.  It’s either the ground commander was too chicken to give the order to kill a fellow policeman, or he doesn’t want to face the ire of the Commission on Human Rights for violations.  I know this much:  I’d rather see one hostage-taker dead from a lone sniper shot that would’ve ended everything at once, have zero hostage casualties and earned the respect and admiration of Hong Kong and perhaps the world, than have a hostage incident drag way into the night and have one hostage-taker together with seven hostages dead through an embarrassing, asses-kicked “rescue” operation that had a worldwide audience watching their every mistake.

 

But that’s just one part.  The all-powerful local media is as much to blame as the police in how badly the situation ended.  In eagerness to get exclusive vantage points and bring the latest developments to stunned and shocked viewers, they overlooked what was then ever-present:  the element of danger.  Not to the reporters and cameramen (who were later ego-fed by being called “brave” by one news anchor at the end of the news program), but of the hostages themselves.  These media outfits should know that in any hostage scenario, maximum publicity is the goal of the hostage-taker.  Giving in via live updates and reports only fans the flame that would lead–or in this case, have led–to how things ended.  They never thought that the hostage-taker has access to radio and TV on the bus (which almost all buses have) and could see the developments outside the bus.  If you have watched Die Hard 1 and 2, the character of Richard Thornburg (a local news reporter) has the same attitude as what our local media giants have.  Never mind the danger that can be caused to the hostages by live reporting, as long as it is being made “for the benefit of everyone.”  It’s high time that our local media, in extremely sensitive and dangerous scenarios such as hostage incidents, should exercise responsibility, forward-thinking and that not everything is a ratings game.

 

With a very sad Monday ending, the country turned its eyes to our representative to the Miss Universe pageant to help us save face by giving it her all in the competition that aired the next day.  Personally, I wondered if she’ll ever get selected to the top 15 because I never really found her beautiful.  Or rather, Miss Universe material.  Not one bit.  Okay, so the pre-pageant thingies made her an early favorite, but i was still skeptical.  This much I knew:  if she can get to the top 15, top 10, or top five, I was very, very sure that she wouldn’t win it all.  It was a hunch I had long ago when her Miss Philippines crown was given back to her after that birth certificate scandal she went through.  I actually chose Miss Australia to make a run for the crown.  When she did make it to the top five together with our candidate, I was confident about my pick.  Just like with what happened the day before, we all saw–together with the entire world–what went down in the final question.  I was actually expecting a difficult question from Mr. Baldwin to test our candidate’s intellect.  But no.  Her question was, for me, by far the easiest among all the other questions that were asked.  And what did our candidate answer?  She answered with her nervousness and let pressure take over.  Even though you treat mistakes as learning points in life, she should’ve at least singled out one out of her many (i’m sure she has many, because hey, everybody makes mistakes) that she has had.  When she gave her answer (and in the way she said it), i clasped my hands and was definitely convinced that she will not be crowned Miss Universe.  Being the first to be called as fourth runner-up further cemented the effect her answer had, and what I knew from the very start.

 

In h
er defense, people say that it is hard when you’re on stage in front of the entire world answering a question that’ll make or break your chances of winning.  But then I ask, isn’t that what training for the pageant is there for?  I mean, it was even shown on one local news report how she was being trained by being asked questions by different people on a round table, and even on a small stage.  I’m also thinking that there’s another thing that led to her being overcome by pressure:  her attitude.  Either she was too confident of herself because of her being labeled a pre-pageant favorite, or that she was just “happy to be in” the top 15, top 10, and top five.  And what did she say afterwards regarding the missed chance to win it all?  Nothing.  It’s like, if she was back there again and asked the same question, she’ll give the exact same answer.  Are you nuts?!  That kind of thinking is what probably made you fourth-runner up!  And you still had the fortitude to smile about it?  I would’ve respected you more if you admitted and apologized for your mistake and maybe even sulked in one corner for blowing the chance you had.  I mean, I may be a “lowered-expectations” kinda guy, but if i’m given the chance to win big for flag and country and lost due to a simple thing, I would’ve beaten myself and apologized immensely.  And her thinking is what affects most of us.  We’re “ok” with what she has accomplished and that’s enough.  We don’t strive hard enough to be number one, or to be the best.  Not that there’s nothing wrong with what she’s brought to the country–especially after what happened the day before–but we should, moving forward, change the attitude in sending delegates to any competition.  We cannot just represent, we have to have that mindset that we’ll compete to win, and win big.  Being happy to be there should only occupy about five percent of the overall mindset of any competitor, beauty queen delegate, or any other contestant our country sends.  The rest should be focused on winning.

 

These two worldwide witnessed events have taught us and our country a lesson.  More so, in hindsight, it showed opportunities that we missed in order to have things we should’ve had, or finished things the way it should’ve been.  But all is not lost.  The Manila Bus Hostage incident is nowhere near what happened in the Mumbai shootings.  Both are isolated incidents for each country.  Of course tourism will be affected for the immediate future.  But as with all negative things, we can always find a positive way to rise up from it.  We as a country and as a people can and will recover from this.  This is now an opportunity for the government to save face and do everything it has to do to look into the events objectively and punish those that are needed to be punished.  As for the Miss Universe crown, well, there’s always next year.  But again, we have to start changing the way we compete in events, and more importantly, change the mindset not just of the representatives, but of us as a society.  Otherwise, we’ll be counting missed opportunities left and right and play the blame game again and again.  We have this chance.  Let’s not waste it again.