Looking forward

Shortly before the world was due to exit the year 2013, a 4.3 magnitue aftershock hit Cebu and neighboring Bohol. The mid-afternoon tremor of Dec. 30 reminded us again of our vulnerability to the elements and Nature’s primal power.

While the world hails Pope Francis and the legacy left by former leaders like Nelson Mandela, in this part of the globe the biggest newsmakers are the Oct. 15 earthquake and supertyphoon Yolanda.

It was Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) which exposed inadequate preparations of both the national and local government units (LGUs), especially Tacloban City whose mayor figured in a pathetic powerplay with Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas.

Cebu’s northern towns which bore the brunt of Yolanda’s wrath will hopfully be included in the multi-billion peso rehabilitation plan set by the national government that would take more than three years to complete.

While mainland Cebu was largely spared the full wallop of Yolanda, it didn’t escape the Oct. 15 earthquake which toppled the belfry of the Sto. Nino Basilica and badly damaged centuries-old churches, especially in the south, and rendered government buildings like the Palace of Justice and the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) unfit for occupancy.

The twin disasters bring out the full meaning of the new year, a chance for rebuilding and regrowth. The visual cliche of an old man and a new born baby look too cartoonish now.

Those who lost loved ones and homes in the twin calamities feel more than just like old people; they feel whipped, dejected, stretched beyond their physical, mental and emotional limits.

Hence we look forward to 2014 as a fresh start.

In Chinese astrology it’s the Year of the Green Horse in the New Year that officially starts on Feb. 4.

As we look back at what transpired in the past year, we hope never to repeat the mistakes we made and pray that our leaders learn from theirs and move forward to political reconciliation and rebuilding lives of citizens and communities.

Not only President Aquino, but local leaders like Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, will have their administration defined by how he succeeds or fails in rebuilding northern Cebu towns devastated by Yolanda.

President Aquino’s campaign for honest and transparent governance, shaken by the Napoles expose, has a lot of ground to recover due to a pork barrel culture in Congress and Malacañang.

There is much to look forward to and even greater challenges facing us but we soldier on with the conviction that everything will work out well, with the guidance of the Almighty, as we, like masters of the the Chinese horse, ride on toward 2014.