Enough of pointing fingers

by Grace Madrinan

Enough of pointing fingers. We already read lots of opinions and sad articles putting the nation in hot spot again following the tragic end of the hostage taking in Manila last August 23. After everything that has happened, what do we get out of this tragedy aside from shame and misery? Though darkness is still upon us, misfortunes like this should be a learning for us all. 

• Life is short. Who would have thought that a day intended for sight-seeing would turn out to be their last day? I know it sounds gory to treat our days as if it is our last, but sometimes it helps us grounded to the things that matters most in life. So we should make each day count, love more, serve more…so that when that day comes: No regrets. “Handa tayo”
• This is a wake-up call to our government. This is just one man who took hostage of helpless tourists, yet we failed to handle the situation properly. Not that I wanted something worse to happen but what if we have terrorist attack, a siege or another coup d’etat? Learning from this tragedy and preparing for the worse, can help save more lives in the future.
• A ball dropped so low can still bounce back higher than its fall. I heard this from Fr. Joey Faller’s homily. He is right. We can still bounce back from this pit and we will persevere. As long as we learn from our past mistakes.
• Humility. This is our lesson in humility. This is no time justifying our actions, making excuses and covering up our lack of training and coordination. We need to apologize. Accept our shortcomings. We also need to sympathize and pray for all the victims of the tragedy. Check this link where the prayers of the faithful is published by the Archdiocese of Manila in response to the wake of this event.
• Brings out the true Filipino is us. There are those Filipinos who joined the rest of the world in condemning our country for the wrong of a few. But there are also those who stood by our race through good and bad times. There is one particularly teenager who did just that. He made a personal letter of apology to the families of Hongkong victims, as well as defending Filipinos in general. Read the letter in full here http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6581538-a-letter-of-apology-from-a-filipino-teenager-after-the-hostage-drama 
• We are all connected. As the saying goes, “Sakit ng kalingkingan, dama ng buong katawan”. The hostage taker has his own personal reasons for his violent actions which we know nothing about and yet the consequences put the whole country in total condemnation. The media saw an opportunity to catch the latest ‘scoop’, and took a live coverage of the whole situation, even if it means obstructing the negotiation process and broadcasting our futility. Others, even after seeing how horrendous the tragedy is, managed to pose in front of the hostage bus like a new tourist destination. Our actions, be it big or small, affect not only one but all of us.
• Do not judge. The hostage crisis that happened last Monday was not the first of its kind. There are a lot of tragedies that happened around the world, that either go unnoticed or just passed like a bad dream. It is not right to judge that what happened was the worst, or that things could have been done differently. We are not the experts, we are not the ones involved (thank God) and no one could have guaranteed that any person could even think aright (even the trained) in those kind of situations. As the Bible says, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone." John 8:7.
• Respect emotions. Our Chinese brothers and sisters from Hongkong are grieving, enraged and confused because of the tragedy they suffered. They have the right to feel their emotions. I heard from a Filipino-Chinese in a news program that Hongkong Nationals and Filipinos are very different in accepting tragedies. We, Filipinos, are resilient to the point that we don’t dwell on tragedies that long enough to hold a grudge. But for our Hongkong Chinese brothers, they want closures faster and they will not stop until they find justice. So if they vent harsh words on us, we must not reciprocate with hostility. Instead, we must keep our silence and show compassion.
• Prove them wrong. This is a time to be more careful with our actions. Do more good. Let them realize (remember) the good-hearted people that we are – that what happened on that dreadful Monday evening is but an isolated violence and mishap.

“You will forget your misery, you will remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life will be brighter than the noonday, its darkness will be like the morning. And you will have confidence, because there is hope, you will be protected and take your rest in safety”

- Job 11:16-18