Such stampedes, whether from hope, pranks, greed, inadequate security measures, or poor crowd control, will neither be the first nor will they be the last.

Any viewer watching Dubai cable television will be amazed at the hundreds of thousands of Muslim devotees on the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia going around in circles before their holy black-shrouded shrine.

What is puzzling is that tragic accidents from stampedes and fire do not happen more often in the City of Mina, especially during the annual "Stoning of Satan" ritual, where an accidental drop of a knapsack (which is strictly prohibited) on the marble floor could easily trigger panic and a massive stampede which has happened several times in the past.

As of today, there are still 800 missing passengers from a fully loaded Egyptian commuter ferry boat which was gutted by fire and sank in the shark-infested Red Sea.

Last week, a stadium roof collapsed in Poland, killing many and injuring many more.

Accidents happen all the time.

What was tragic in Ultra, and there are many kinds of "tragedies," was the preponderance of impoverished Filipinos chasing the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow which these popular albeit inane noontime television shows offer to these poor masses.

Or, as Matthew Henry succinctly put it, "They (the poor) that die by famine die by inches."

By juxtaposition, while accidents can kill dozens and hundreds, "tragedies" can inflict incalculable damage, cost, and unhappiness to millions of peoples and nations from all over the world due to erroneous national policies, treachery, corruption, tyranny, feudalism, poor governance, and religious bigotry.

There are tragedies and there are tragedies, depending on one’s perception.

Thus, Rome was never the same again after the tragic assassination of Julius Caesar.

The assassination of Franz Joseph in Sarajevo triggered the First World War.

The megalomania of Adolf Hitler and his Axis allies not only resulted in the most costly warfare in terms of economic resources and human lives in the Second World War but also in the tragic mass murder of millions of Jews in the Holocaust.

What we are driving at is that accidents happen regularly from different causes, resulting in deaths and injuries, while wrong policies, corruption, inept governance, military intervention, ecclesiastical meddling, and economic oligarchy can condemn nations and millions of people into perpetual poverty, political bondage, economic servitude, and loss of liberty.

These are the greatest "tragedies" of which the Ultra stampede was just one of the manifestations.

What to do?

First, this country needs an entrepreneurial and visionary Cabinet and executive leaders who have "bayan muna" outlook and fearless, rather than a Cabinet of "survival" first and Custer’s last stand and Alamo attitude which will not only be tragic to say the least, but will also be accident-prone which the last five years have amply demonstrated.

Second, Catholic Church meddling in politics and medieval resistance to population policies must be broken.

The Catholic Church must be put in its place and make it focus more on its membership which is steadily declining.

But, who will dare?

You be the judge. (For comments and views, please email: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)