HOPE MESSAGES

iT'S NICE to read many of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates give out hope messages. They try to raise the people's desires for change, for belief in them as the one to be voted upon. But as for me, I am looking for those candidates who have a spiritual bent, who can show me that we can achieve real change but this requires real connections with the Almighty for divine guidance in choosing the right one. I am not proposing any candidate now, although two belong to religious organizations. I believe that we can intuit the candidate who has that genuine desire to help the people rise above the current economic state.

Hope does not come just like that. It is built up through years. My mother's name is Esperanza and all her life she exuded that hopeful mien, that state of seeing that tomorrow is still another day that will pose challenges in existence. I never saw her deviate from her path of being alive, of enjoying life. She used to wake up early, read the Bible, then go through her business meeting people, discussing with them and then retiring early in the evening. She was an addict for telenovelas in her later years when her physical constitution was no longer as strong as her mind. Yes, her mind was active until the very end and she was fighting to live but the doctors of De Los Santos Hospital left her when the machine showed a horizontal line. Yet when I arrived (as I was told to leave the room then when they would put a hole in her throat), after massaging her body, I felt a glint of hope that her heart was till beating. But the doctors and nurses had gone. "Misis, patay na yan," a man said. I hated that guy. I cursed the staff of the hospital when I came down. "You should not be called a hospital," I said, because you kill people."

But what am I saying here? Life is too beautiful to end just like that. Presidential candidates give us hope but realizing hope in an environment full of crocodiles is almost impossible. So we must weed out those who have an insatiable lust for power and wealth. And maybe, we should not make Malacanang a very palatable place to live in but rather just be a museum forever. Let us just build an office for the President and other positions, a place that will make them feel that they are servants of the people and nothing more.