“They do not seem to match.”
One thing about the Filipino, no matter what adversity he faces, he always hopes for the best. This was confirmed by the recent Social Weather Stations poll survey, conducted in mid-December, on what the Filipino feels about this year 2022.
My gulay, nine out of 10 Filipinos, are hoping that this year will be a better year for everybody despite everything that has happened.
This means that Filipinos are hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic will not be as bad as it was last year, which resulted in more than 26 million unemployed and underemployed. Nine out of 10 Filipinos are also hopeful that with the expected economic recovery this year, the rising incidence of poverty and hunger will not be as bad.
Nine out of 10 Filipinos are hopeful that the new president will be able to provide jobs for the unemployed. Businesses are also hopeful the economic recovery will begin not later than the first half of this year. Above everything else, Filipinos are hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic will be over this year.
I don’t want to dampen all the hopes of Filipinos that 2022 will be a better year than last year. But Omicron looms large. Even now, there are dire warnings from the World Health Organization.
But I think it will be all up to God’s will. With faith and hope, we will pull through despite everything we endured last year.
• • •
Still, realities on the ground bother me.
For instance, the sudden uptick of COVID-19 cases during the Christmas holidays raises the question, is this the precursor of things to come? We are now back to Alert Level 3.
So do our hopes match reality? All we can do is just to hope for the best.
• • •
With all the hype and fanfare that the “Yellows,” now “Pinkos,” for opposition candidate Vice President Leni Robredo to usher in a possible showdown with Bongbong Marcos for the presidential race, I am getting disappointed.
Why? There is no showdown at all! Bongbong’s lead is so wide that Leni does not stand a chance.
I had hoped that she would give a good fight with Bongbong but it does not look that way.
• • •
With a flick of a finger, we can now watch HBO, Netflix and other streaming services from all over the world. This is why I keep on wondering what the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board is for.
We no longer need it! It has become a dumping ground of political proteges like what had just happened with the president naming a Davao City-based lawyer as its new chairman.
Take an example – “Game of Thrones.” Full frontal nudity and even actual sex scenes where shown. How could the MTRCB censor it for most of the time those sex scenes are part of the story?
The MTRCB was created during the incumbency of the late strongman President Ferdinand E. Marcos, whose mission was to censor movies and television programs. The MTRCB is composed of no less than 30 members with salaries.
But, with modern technology, communication has become borderless, and all restrictions have disappeared.
In other words, the MTRCB should be abolished.
• • •
Should we be proud that only 87 were injured during the New Year revelry?
I believe it’s all foolishness. Have we not learned lessons in the past? Obviously not.
