We are now in the throes of preparing for the New Year celebration. The question that comes to the mind is: Are we facing 2015 with glee or with trepidation?
Thankfully, just like the past years, many of us welcome the coming year with hope rather than fear.
If we look at the survey conducted November 17 to December 1 by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), 93 percent or roughly nine out of ten Filipinos can be counted as more optimistic. This is a very slight decrease from the 94 percent of those surveyed for 2014 by SWS who were more hopeful for the incoming year.
Pulse Asia did a similar poll last November with 88 percent Filipinos feeling more hopeful in 2015.
Both assessments reveal one thing: we are certainly a hopeful breed, and, if I may add, a tough nut to crack.
Considering the catastrophes that have seemingly become our unwelcome partners for life, with storms after storms challenging us, it is a source of endless wonder and delight that our hopeful spirit is defiantly unbending. Caving in to trials is simply not an option.
Is it our faith, our trust in a Being that will take care of us, or is it our persistent belief that we and the future generations are deserving of a better world, which provides the steady anchorage for many to hope for a better tomorrow?
We have faced countless trials and from them, we know we can take on changes and challenges that serve to toughen us and make us learners forever.
Did we not fare better in coping with the onslaught of supertyphoon Ruby? While policies and programs need to be more participatory and planned on longer terms, stakeholders are now more prepared, the “bahala na” mentality set aside, hopefully in perpetuity, resulting in precious lives being saved and additional lessons learned about resiliency.
We also see a more empowered citizenry, vigorously defending their rights to a quality of life and healthy environment that the government should in fact be the first to promote. The sad tree-cutting incidents in Naga brought in stakeholders outside of Cebu to share their knowledge and solidarity in protecting each life-enhancing tree. The illegal and destructive projects in Boljoon ignited the passion of affected and concerned residents who condemned their exclusion in decision-making and the consequences of such decisions.
The first ever Sharks Summit held in Cebu brought together key participants from civil society, government and private sector who want nothing less than a healthy ecosystem, and protection for the threatened shark species through the implementation of the National Plan of Action for Sharks. The Provincial Government of Cebu enhanced their protection through a trail-blazing amendatory ordinance banning the sale, transport and trading of all species of sharks.
The National Fisheries Symposium in Quezon City was another well-participated activity where key players from government agencies including enforcers, academe, civil society and people’s organizations converged to look for ways to manage sustainably our fisheries, and find solutions to the continuing challenges of overfishing, depletion of fish population, gaps in fisheries data and assessments, habitat destruction and weak enforcement of our laws.
To address the issues of illegal, unregistered and unreported fishing, and to help restore the bounty of our oceans, amendments to the Fisheries Code were passed by Congress during the last quarter of this year. Hopefully, the amendatory bill will soon become a law.
This augurs well for the no-nonsense implementation of our fisheries and other laws and curtail the open access management of our resources which, together with other pressures, have contributed to the alarming decline of our fisheries stocks.
The year 2015 is a time for all to act as solid partners in sustainably managing our already degraded ecosystems, our life sources, which we arrogantly take for granted but without which, we know deep down that we cannot even hope to survive.
With climate change and its devastating impacts for the present and future generations, it is our responsibility to work double time in restoring the health of our planet. The hurdles are vast but with hope and action, we will not fail.
We should continue to be filled with hope and take comfort in the perseverance of the Nobel Peace prize awardee, the Dalai Lama, who like the people from Tibet are likewise saddled with extreme difficulties. He said, “There is a saying in Tibetan: ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. ‘No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.’”
A happy, hopeful and meaningful journey for everyone in 2015 and beyond.
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