In just a short span of days a whirlwind of sharply contrasting events riveted our rapt attention – glorious events such as Manny Pacquiao winning his unprecedented seventh world championship title in different class divisions, together with Efren Peñaflorida triumphantly bagging the CNN’s hero of the year award, and suddenly in the midst of all this euphoria the Maguindanao massacre erupted.

Whew! For a while there I thought after the devastation wrought by natural calamities we would have a long run for inspiring stories that bring us great pride as a people and as a nation.

But, as it turned out, basking in the reflected glory of our hard-to-come-by heroes was abruptly cut short by inhuman carnage perpetrated by the rabid attack dogs unleashed by political warlords in Maguindanao.

That Maguindanao bloodbath is a blight on our nation, an affliction on our collective conscience and a dark chapter in our history of political violence that will live in infamy for ages to come. As a result, it is a cinch that the Philippines will eclipse Iraq and Afghanistan with the dubious title of being the most hostile country for journalists in the whole world.

“Street educator” Efren Peñaflorida, who bested the final ten finalists out of 9,000 nominees from all over the world for the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year award, returned home from the Unites States late Wednesday night. His homecoming should have been more joyous except for the pall of gloom caused by the said tragedy, a tragedy even a Shakespeare could not have imagined possible.

The following day, Thursday last week, a national mourning was observed with flags flown at half-mast and with prayers for the massacre victims, 57 at the latest count, including 22 media people – two contrasting events merging in an ironic juxtaposition that created a deep sense of ambivalence in our national consciousness.

In light of all these swirling and churning events, with the international media intently watching developments, let us be, yes, outraged, but not disheartened. Let the people’s voice resonate in demanding justice for the victims and the perpetrators punished to the full limit of the law without fear or favor.

Simultaneously, however, let us not allow our spirit be dampened. For all we know the shameless massacre was an act of desperation by the reigning political warlords who used to hold sway over every election in Maguindanao.

They must have realized that unlike the 2004 and 2007 elections – the 2010 poll automation ushered in a new ballgame and, with the electoral landscape drastically changed, they must have felt like fish plucked out of water desperately struggling for survival. Driven by sheer greed for power and twisted reasoning, they plotted to physically annihilate their rivals to keep their firm grip on their fiefdom.

Still, let us not deprive ourselves the rare chance to rejoice and celebrate the great feats of our countrymen. Manny Pacquiao, with his sensational ring victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, is now a living legend whose name will forever remained hallowed in the annals of world boxing history.

The 28-year-old Efren Peñaflorida is an altogether different breed, he achieves something extraordinarily great out of doing a seemingly mundane advocacy – that is, literally pushing for his “Kariton Klassroom” (pushcart classroom) which has provided basic reading and writing for thousands of underprivileged children in Cavite and offered many street children an alternative to gang membership and drug addiction.

In his acceptance speech, Peñaflorida said: “Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers… you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

He also vowed to refrain from joining politics. He is contented lighting a candle instead of being engulfed by the darkness that is politics.
Email: businessagenda_report@yahoo.com.ph.