Ultra tragedy remembered

Over the weekend, Metro Manila’s coffee shops took a momentary break from politics to reflect on a major tragedy which struck the country almost a year ago today. On Feb. 4, the nation will mark the first anniversary of the death of some 71 Filipinos whose lives were snuffed out in that unforgettable stampede at ULTRA.

Many of us are still puzzled by the turn of events during that fateful day. Many questions remain unanswered. And amid the legal conflict in which the parties to the tragedy are mired in right now, the nation is still searching deep within its soul for the answers.

Our coffee shop pals recall how the Wowowee program hosts appeared to have systematically cultivated the public frenzy leading up to that fateful Feb. 4, 2006 tragedy. They say the engineered euphoria was a perfect case study on how the clever use of television exercises its power over the collective psyche of the "D" and "E" social classes. Whoever designed the resulting obsession to be physically present in the ULTRA celebration should be the envy of political strategists planning campaigns, our friends say. Here is an instance where results may have far exceeded expectations, they pointed out.

But were organizers really ready for the engineered frenzy? This, today, is still a big debate stuck in the mud of evasion and denials.

Our coffee shop gang, however, believes it would be an act of injustice if the nation merely overlooks the first year anniversary of the 71 Wowowee deaths. Filipinos believe — consciously or unconsciously — that deaths that seem untimely are supposed to serve a purpose. Otherwise, the death of the 71 would have been for nothing.

The consensus in the coffee table is that the 71 Wowowee deaths should serve as a mirror being held up to our face so that we, as a society, can have a good look at ourselves. On one hand, it shows our festive side — our collective passion for fun and celebration. On the other hand, it betrays our fancy for instant gratification, get-rich-quick schemes and tendency to scramble for crumbs. This seemed evident, our colleagues say, in the mad dash for entry into ULTRA, driven by the promise of fabulous prizes and the commitment from the program hosts that walang uuwi na luhaan. Our colleagues recall that parents tagged along their children in the long winding line to ULTRA, never mind that they had to be absent from classes just to make a bid for the promised windfall.

Social critics were quick to point out that the tragedy was mainly the result of widespread poverty in the country. Our colleagues agree. But they also pointed out that the other side to that proposition is the fact that we do have a fascination with windfalls — jackpots, as we used to call them. We like having fun as manna falls from the sky. The TV program provided that promise and throngs queued to see it come true.

We could only marvel at the way the program host was lionized during last Saturday’s show, our friends relate. They could not believe it has just been one year since 71 people died from the stampede resulting from the euphoria which the program generated.

Well, some people do have the ability to quickly bounce back, they explained. In addition, the Filipino is very forgiving, the other side of the coffee table said. But the consensus is that the overriding factor is simply this: we may have been made to forget the sting and stigma of the 71 deaths, thanks to the same brains which whipped up the frenzy one year ago.

In fairness to the ABS-CBN, it has put up a Foundation to help some of the victims of the Wowowee tragedy. Knowing the Lopezes, we are sure that this is a genuine gesture of sympathy. We hope this Foundation will not be exploited by others to cover up for the injustice we may have all committed against the 71 Filipinos who died at the ULTRA stampede. Monetary assistance could never right the wrong we have committed against them.

Let us remember these 71 Filipinos in our prayers. Let’s pray too that we may never forget the lessons of this tragedy.

Untangling the Gordon knot

These recent days, members and officials of the Philcomsat Holdings Corp. have had sleepless nights. The reason, Senator Gordon was fuming mad not because PHC made the company into a profitable corporation unlike its parent firms, the sequestered Philcomsat and the Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC), but for other reasons only the good senator knows.

From a P10-million initial capitalization in 1996, PHC is now a P1.5-billion company with investments in money markets, real estate, and a call center. But that was not the case in point when Sen. Gordon held hearings on the alleged dissipation of funds of Philcomsat, POTC and PHC.

It is of common knowledge that the squabble within the POTC and Philcomsat is between two factions – one is led by the Victor Africa and Erlinda Ilusorio-Bildner and the other by the SEC-recognized Enrique Locsin and Philip Brodett group.

Observers noted that the Senate committee on good government which is chaired by Gordon never even allowed officials of the PHC to talk and even when they were allowed, took nasty beatings with remarks and threats we never heard in previous Senate hearings.

On the other hand, at the last hearing of the Senate, Senator Gordon gave Erlinda Ilusorio-Bildner, the daughter of Marcos crony Nanoy Ilusorio a free hand in presenting (to the accounts of mediamen, it took her at least three hours to finish her presentation) a report based on what are allegedly "stolen"documents from the PHC office.

The last three hearings conducted by Gordon showed how PHC officials were made into meek lambs which should not be the case in any Senate investigations. The Senate is the last bulwark of our democratic institutions and should not be made into a tool for witch hunt and vengeance otherwise it would lose the very nature of what it stands for.

In this case, I am now inviting the public to come and visit Gordon’s hearings and witness how events are unfolding in his committee. (To be continued)

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