What’s ahead?

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s a new week. And yes, it’s the feast of the Holy Innocents. I can still recall some old folks say that it’s not nice to lend money on this day (whatever that means). Well, if it’s bad debt that you are talking about, we do not need to have this day to have just that – bad debts. Is it the economic crunch? Or force of habit? Anyway, I’m not going to rant about bad or good debts today. For the past so many years, I have been ranting about how the capitalists raked it in at Christmas. Well, can I call it a respite? I mean it seems like they have ran out of ideas as to how make more money out of this day of the niños inocentes.

We’re a few days away to the New Year. As always, a question is asked: what’s in store for us in the coming year? Whew, this early our enterprising friends are into this and that trinkets and what have you for the Chinese New Year! (Whew!) Don’t you see conflict of interest, err beliefs in this? Oh well . . .

Back to the question on what’s in store for 2010. Certainly, nothing could be more exciting (pardon my term) with 2010 being an election year. This early I can hear a good number of people singing “Happy Days Are Here Again” (hmm, I love Barbra Striesand’s version) Nope, I’m not talking about classic songs or divas here. Of course it’s about the national pastime which happens every three years, aka the elections. And I don’t have to elaborate my on use of happy days, do I?

Again, what’s in store for us in 2010? The answers will be varied. I believe it will depend upon your main concerns in life. Let’s talk about economics. Bernanke just made it as TIME Person of the Year, and if that (citation) should be any consolation, we can sit back (a little) assured that the U.S. recession is about to go. Okey, economics is boring. Let’s have politics then. Again, what could be in store for us in 2010? Now this is where the answers will be as colorful and varied thanks to the various political parties trying to slug it in come May 2010. The election may be only five months away, but as it has been said time and again, action for the next election starts after each election. Meaning the campaigning or politicking never stops, and let’s not even start discussing on the political addition and subtraction and mixed marriages called coalitions or alliances of political parties, thanks to the omnipresent political butterflies.

And the survey says! Aside from the election (tally) results, I think the figures given by the surveys are the next most important set of number for politicos of all shapes and sizes.

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Now for the sad part. News had it that the Supreme Court reconsidered an earlier decision on the cityhood of 16 municipalities. As I wrote this column, I still had to receive a reply from Mayor Mel Sarmiento regarding his reaction on the said decision. Mayor Sarmiento is the Secretary-General of the League of Cities of the Philippines. And as he has said many times before, the LCP’s opposition to the creation of new cities is not just kapritso on the part of the City Mayors but a case of having all concerned entities follow the law.

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Wedding Bells. Congratulations and Best Wishes to Sean Marie Roxas and Leslie Dimakiling (both of Oquendo, Calbayog City). They got married yesterday. The wedding mass was held at the Chapel of the Centennial Pastoral Center. Reception was held at the Cardinal Rosales Hall of the CPC.

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Let me now leave you with some more Christmas stories which I got from the History Channel.
In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia . Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

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This is it for now. Have a nice week everyone! Ciao!