Inspiring thoughts and beautiful memories

Well, after a couple of months, there was again a Luzon-wide blackout. And as usual, the same reasons, the same justifications, and the same incredible explanations were given by the authorities concerned. And you know what? They also gave the same old, hackneyed promises to never, never let this happen again.

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As usual, too, millions of people in Metro Manila and Luzon suffered terribly. The light rail trains stopped running on their tracks, classes were suspended, business shops were closed, and productivity in the manufacturing and industrial business came to an abrupt halt. The blackout, as what usually happens, reaped the next day’s banner headlines. But then, as time will pass by, you can be sure that nothing substantive and definitive will come out despite the congressional investigations that will be called to cater to the penchant of politicians to grandstand.

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What is terribly worrisome is the image created abroad about our country’s horrible energy and power problem. How can investors plan to build their plants and factories here, put up their offices in high-rise buildings, when they very well know the ancient, Neanderthal power facilities in the Philippines? And worse, many potential investors abroad know the sluggishness by which Filipino politicians and bureaucrats do things. Under such an atmosphere, the Philippines will certainly be left way, way behind by the many competitors in the Asian region.

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When will the government ever begin the urgent task of making its most valuable but presently idle assets efficient and productive? The power plants, the national railway, the undeveloped expressways, the idle public lands – all these vital projects and countless more must be given the attention that they deserve so that, in due time, these can contribute to the nation's development.

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One big problem of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is how to energize and inspire the bureaucracy, how to make every sector work double time, how to make the infrastructure workers do their job 24 hours a day. As things look now, only the construction work at the LRT at Marcos Highway has a lot of people. Almost all other government enrapture projects are done piece by piece, month by month, and sometimes never at all.

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I have finally decided to write another book, a compilation of all the Thoughts for Today that I have been featuring at the end of my column. Apparently, countless people have been inspired by the Thoughts, with some readers going out of their way to clip and paste them, even to cross-stitch them in decorative fashion. And I have received so many queries on how they could get copies of Thoughts that readers missed out.

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What inspired me to make the decision to write that book, only a few pages long with probably some art work, was a letter from Beth R. Day – yes, the great writer Beth Romulo Day – whose articles have appeared in the Readers Digest and other publications throughout the world. Ms. Day said that ever since she came across Thoughts for Today, she had looked forward to the next day to read more Thoughts for that day. And she had shared the Thoughts to friends all over the world. "It’s a real hit, I mean it’s popular, everybody likes getting them," Ms. Day said. The first person to get a copy of that book, if and when it is written and published, will be Ms. Beth R. Day.

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Right now, I am looking for an artist to conceptualize the cover design and plan out how to lay out each page of the book or booklet. How many pages should be devoted to the book? How should each page look? These areas where I am going to need ideas from professionals. And my hope for the book? That it will, as Ms. Beth R. Day said, become a "real hit."

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Leonard S. Anterola, writing from the United States, says that there is virtue for the Philippines to seek American help. Ever since he was born in the US, where his father was an American sailor, he has visited the Philippines many times. And during the second World War, he was here all through the duration of the war.

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In 1950, Anterola returned to the US. He was appalled by the poverty, crime and corruption that he saw in his parents’ land of birth. And he sincerely believes that the nationalism espoused by certain sectors of society, has been a big stumbling block to progress in the Philippines.

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"Please don’t get me wrong, I love the Philippines. In fact, I have recently completed construction of a water filtration plant for my relatives there. I am hoping this will help to lift them out of the poverty that they have long endured," he said. Now 68 years old, Anterola hopes to leave them this small legacy as a token of his love and affection for them and the Philippines.

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THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:

When God drops needles and pins
along your path in life,
don't stay away.
Instead pick them up and collect them.
They were designed to teach you to be strong.

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I’m your friend, but God is your best friend.
You can cry to me, but God can dry your tears.
I love you, but God loves you deeper.
You can hold my hand,
but God can carry you better.

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My e-mail addresses: <[email protected]>. and [email protected]