New Year 2010 Reflections ( First of a series)

Life is very much bigger than one year’s events or successes or failures.
The trick, as we always say, is to have a proper perspective and be guided by road maps such as values we have learned and will continue to learn in life.
 For the new year, let’s make our resolutions measurable, whether quantitatively or qualitatively.
 So, I’m sharing my new year’s thoughts in alphabetical order :

Arriving is just one part of travel. Enjoy the preparations and the trip itself. It is true that travel widens our horizon. A city in the world map is meaningless if one is not able to relate to a friend or its people. An exchange can be had between peoples through representatives and leaders of organizations or nations or tribes. Globalization has helped the women’s movement worldwide in this way.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so check out also how others see you. This is the looking glass self. In elections, how voters see you is crucial in winning elections. That is why candidates must package their core messages in a way that appeal to their constituents. Most importantly, voters can tell if a candidate is sincere or just a charlatan.

Conflict is a part of life. Conflict resolution is a skill that can be learned. That we understand the issues and work towards peace and harmony are what matters. An omelette is made by breaking the eggs. Sometimes, one cannot accomplish something without risking some bad side effects. In development parlance, we develop risk mitigating measures. And, we must bear in mind that one cannot unscramble a scrambled egg.

A Day is just a the time between sunrise and sunset or period of twenty-four hours, counted from midnight to midnight and corresponds to the rotation of the earth around its axis. What matters is making each day ‘one’s day” or a success. This is not to say that enjoying reality is less important than creating reality. The attainment and measurement of new year’s goals and resolutions depends on our indicators for success or how we define success.

Everything has an appointed time. I believe in the ecclesiastic teaching that there is a time for everything under the sun : a time to build and a time to tear down. But, every day is a chance to learn.

Faith is like hope and love. But, we must respect those that have not come near the so called “leap of faith.” These are the humanists and they are increasing in numbers.
This freedom of choosing religious and belief systems is one of our basic human rights.

Guns, goons and gold are anathema to the sacredness of the ballot. Going around in poor communities, I have witnessed that the poor are expecting largesse from politicians like orphans expecting inheritance. What chutzpah!
But, these kind of shameless audacity and mind sets can be overcome with political education.

Humor, if have it, is a measure of intelligence.
The Filipinos are scientifically known to be a happy and a resilient people. They say it is part of our Spanish heritage. Or perhaps, living in the tropics and having the sun everyday makes us happy.
My surname “SOLAMO” in Spanish means I love you, sun.
So, I will always try to be sunny and vivacious amidst conflict that is a constant part of life.

“I think therefore I am.” I write therefore I am. Writing is an act. Rhetoric is a first step. Writing is describing, examining and analyzing reality. The written word when published is one of the ways of knowledge management. Suddenly, through citizen journalism, our world is made real and described by more people from all walks of life, like never before. ( To be continued.)

Island Garden City of Samal 2010

I spent the past few days going around the Island Garden City of Samal visiting friends and relatives and just marveling at the beauty of the island. I discovered a beautiful place on the slopes of the island called Tracer Heights owned by the family of Ms Shirley de la Cerna- Lazaga, my grade school teacher. Their garden view deck is overlooking the urban sprawl of Davao City. The contrast view of Davao City’s asphalt jungle and the pristine beauty from where I stood was not lost on me. I guess I am not unlike the rest of the Filipinos who spent Christmas in the parks instead of malls. My Samal City of 2010 and beyond is not only blue waters but also green mountains and real gardens befitting its name.

The whole island is surrounded by water but there are parts which do not have access to potable water. And the reason is not because of lack of technology nor lack of funds. One of the reasons is the recalcitrant barangays and obstinately uncooperative private local citizens running their old commercial water system and do not wish to avail of the city’s water district modern facilities. This is an example of small village politics which could be harnessed to serve the needs of local residents.

The buses that ply the roads from north to south of the island are good first steps as far as transportation is concerned. But, I hear the residents miss the launch and pump boat ride from many points in the island to the city center in Magsaysay Park. The story I hear is that the former launch operators were not able to meet the sea worthy vessel requirements of Marina, the agency that regulates marine transportation. With all the sea mishap happening all around us, this marine transport regulation is important. But, so are the various options in island transport which are equally important. This is a call for the public and private sector to revive the old sea route from the island’s political center ( Penaplata) to Davao City’s central business district (Magsaysay Park)

This is a cheaper route and faster because modern fast boats are already a well developed technology and is in use in many parts of the Philippines. Plus the idea of one getting off or being transported to the city center in a few minutes is very appealing. Since, the sea route does not require millions worth of infrastructure as in roads and bridges, this track should be facilitated by the local government unit.

My only daughter, Kaye, convinced me to see AVATAR ( a must see film of 2009 written and directed by James Cameron ) on the big screen and I actually saw the forests of Samal Island in the super lush vegetation of Pandora, the earthlike moon “location” of the movie. I compare the touristic “mining” of the natural beauty of the island as akin to the invasive mining of minerals by the earth people in the Avatar movie. The Samal island city must hurry its land banking so that a land use plan ordinance will be in place before the private property owners will put into place their own version of uses of land which could be heavily tilted to the pursuit of commercial uses of land that could very well undermine the preservation of the beauty of the island and the community’s access to public places like parks and fish ports and the like.

We all live in an island and so lets welcome 2010 with open arms and with prayers galore that our wishes for all islanders in 2010 will come true!