Another lesson is the commercial exploitation of hope, the eternal spring. Hope resides in the human breast, after all, and there are times when there is nothing else.

Still another lesson is the death of gallantry. More women, some with children, were killed than men. It’s the strong who trampled the weak and helpless to death in a drama of the survival of the fittest.

There’s the side story about insensitivity, which critics have noted not only about our own media. When Senator Richard Gordon, on the scene as chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, was asked about the cause of the stampede, he said, "I came here to help – not to investigate." (How could these "journalists" believe that the cause of accidents could be instantly determined? Get it first even if you get it wrong.) It was a stupid question, reminiscent of the broadcaster in a past tragedy in Baguio asking a man pinned down by steel, "How do you feel?"

And then there are those who waved at the cameras, widely smiling, as they panned the scene. The people crowded the rescuers and the police. Most of them – they who had camped out for days – obviously expected the show to go on.

They got their wish, the Ultra was reopened, crowds filled the hall, as the executives of ABS-CBN, with the Vice President standing by, after expressing their sorrow, announced that the network would pay for the funeral and medical expenses of victims, and pledged to hold the great show at another time.

The crowd cheered. As if nothing happened. They had to be enjoined to observe a minute of prayer for the victims.

But the important thing in their minds is the promise of bonanza. The hold of dreams is stronger than nightmares.