July 19, 2010

Someday

Text by Nellie Samson

Image by Don Regachuelo

We have a new President! Last June 30, 2010, at 12 o’clock high noon, he was sworn in to office at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. He is now, officially, the l5th President of the Republic of the Philippines. Probably also, at age 50, the youngest person to assume that post. And the first bachelor-President as well.

There he was on the TV screen, big as life, earnest eyes behind thin-rimmed eyeglasses, an open smile, an open face, and thinning hair (did it thin considerably in the past few months of campaign?} Whatever thoughts, whatever fears lie behind that face only its owner can say for sure. Whatever resolves, whatever decisions are formed and are forming in that mind, only its owner can know.

Well, so we did it at last, didn’t we? For years we were angry… afraid… apprehensive… desperate… hopeless… helpless. But we waited, and we prayed, and yes, we even lighted candles, because every night we watched the news on TV and always it was news that sent shivers of fear or disgust in our hearts. We lighted candles, and told ourselves, someday… Someday.

Like a magic word, like a talisman, we held on to it. Someday rivers and creeks will flow clear and clean again, unhampered by mountains of filth and garbage, and rains will fall without causing floods and drowning people. Someday children will be in classrooms learning their lessons instead of out in the streets tapping at car windows, begging for alms. Someday sidewalks will be sidewalks for pedestrians to walk on again without having to weave their way through and between vendors, jeepneys and other wayward characters of the road.

When I walk down the driveway with my husband (he, in a wheelchair) I would tell the spindly, spiny bougainvilleas he once loved to tend, puttering and trimming and making them bloom profusely in all their lavender and pink glory, “Someday, he’ll come to you again, putter and trim and make you bloom again.” And I so believe it will be so!

Someday . A powerful word, a word of promise, a word of hope. Yet there were many moments of despair and doubt and surrender. Where is this promised time, this promised place? Is it still there? Did it go away when I wasn’t looking?

Apparently not. Apparently it’s just around somewhere, waiting to be found, as I soon realized. Because - look! - there he was on the TV screen, big as life; there he was on the front page of every paper in the land, hand raised in a salute, or stretched out to a little girl in friendship and fun. There he was, the good guy.

Wasn’t the inaugural fever running high that historic Wednesday? Didn’t even the weather cooperate in full measure? Didn’t you get goosebumps when Charice sang the Philippine national anthem? A song full of hope, full of promise, sang with the vibrancy of youth, to the beat of youth, yet evoking memories of heroes long past and most recent. A beautiful song indeed, our national anthem. Brings tears to the eyes, makes one truly proud to be Pinoy.

And didn’t you feel like smiling as well when the TV cameras showed the millions of happy smiling people who braved the heat and the rain to watch their new President sworn in to office?

So what happens now? Those of us who wholeheartedly sported the yellow ribbon on our cars, our t-shirts and wrists, on our front gates even, do we now sit back and wait for miracles? And those of us who preferred a different color, do we sit back as well and wait for him to blow it so we can say, “I told you so!”

Maybe not. Maybe all of us – each one of us – who wished so fervently for the needed change, know we’re all in this together, and miracles won’t happen unless we make them happen.

Someday. It’s the talisman we held on to, the destination that beckoned, the bright tomorrow we never stopped hoping for. It’s not just a word in the dictionary that says “at some future time.” It’s a destination with arrows that say “Straight ahead. ”This way”. “No U-Turn slot here”.

So, at the end of the day, after the inauguration rites that left many of us teary-eyed, after the street-partying and singing and dancing , and days later, after the bickering and finger-pointing and head-shaking, we will realize a few simple truths: That indeed we have taken the first giant step – we’ve replaced the tenant in that Palace on the Pasig; that, truly, there are still a lot of good men out there without secret agendas; that it’s not really all up to the new President to put this country back on its feet because we are all in this task together; that the straight and narrow road we have to travel is a long bumpy road filled with potholes. But at the end of it, just around the corner, Someday waits. Our magic word. The promise fulfilled , that this beloved country is new and shining once more.

And you’d better believe it!

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of HerWord or BusinessWorld.

© 2008 BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation.
All rights reserved. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.