A Return to Normalcy

Warren Harding was the 29th President of the United States. During a campaign held in the aftermath of World War I, he focused his campaign promising a "return to normalcy". Normalcy is apparently what the American people wanted, and Harding won the 1920 presidential election by a landslide. He enjoyed immense popularity during his short tenure, which was ended by his death in 1923.

Today he is consistently ranked as one of the worst presidents in United States history.

His campaign mantra is mocked these days, but for all Harding's virtues and vices, a yearning for normality is something I can relate to. A healthy dose of normal certainly would certainly be a welcome and much-needed change of pace for the Philippines. In the past four decades we have had only one Philippine president whose tenure began and ended under normal democratic circumstances-- and that virtue alone is enough to generally consider his administration an oasis of rousing success.

Political turmoil has been such a lingering scab on our country that is has developed into one of its defining characteristics. Pretty much everyone acknowledges that the noise is not ideal for business, thus not healthy for the economy, and thus not good for Filipinos. That's why it sincerely worries me that so many of the names recently being thrown around for the 2010 presidential election are people who ride into the headlines by tearing others down, or by stoking the fires of discontent, or being fucking convicted of plunder.

What we need is someone inspiring, competent, post-partisan, with a strong positive message. We don't need a revolution, we just need someone to keep us on track, and convince us that we're on the right path so that we stay on it.

I don't know about the rest of the Filipino people, but I am downright homesick for the day I can open the newspaper without expecting a call to overthrow the government. If the next president could just get himself elected, serve his six years without coup attempts, and let go of power with the next election, history would judge him favorably. That would be normal. That would be good.

When things reach the point that the extraordinary becomes standard, a refreshing return to normalcy is just what we need.

Highlights from 2007

Year after year when New Year's Eve rolls around it's standard for people to get together and remark about how the year went by so quickly, how it seemed like just yesterday that we were doing these same old rituals and bidding our farewells to the year that had gone by before.

But my 2007 actually felt pretty long.

It's not that I was bored or impatient with life-- quite the opposite even. I just can't really remember much what I was doing on New Year's Eve one year ago. So much has happened since then, so many events and adventures and experiences to fill up my head. Last year's New Year's Eve doesn't feel like "just yesterday" at all. It feels like a whole year ago. That is a good thing.

It was a great year for travel. I got to set foot for the first time on the islands of Bohol, Panglao, Malapascua, and a tiny unnamed island off of Boracay. This brings my Philippine-islands-I-have-been-to count up to 11.

Most significant of all was my three-month work trip to Atlanta. So significant was it, in fact, that it makes it difficult to write this year-end retrospective without the trip completely overwhelming things. Driving in the interstate, using a dishwasher, walking through the park, filling a tank of gas... even breathing the cool autumn air is an experience in itself.

In March I got a digital camera, which has seen constant action since then and has been faithfully documenting my experiences. In October I got a Wii, which promises all new realms of videogaming bliss and many happy experiences to come. In November I got a laptop, which I am using this very moment.

This past year was a good one in terms of celebrity deaths: there weren't many. The only one I could name off the top of my head is Anna Nicole Smith, and I have only a vague idea of why she is famous in the first place.

So in summary, it was a good year, just like all the others. Onward to 2008!

Hello Philippines

It was actually two weeks ago that I returned to the Philippines after a three-month stay in Atlanta. The trip, by the way, was undeniably one of the most awesome things to ever happen to me. So awesome, in fact, that I almost completely neglected to bother blogging any of my journey. It's the kind of awesome trip that gives a prolonged sense that there are so much bigger things to be doing with my time than struggling to put the experience into words.

Aside from having the time of my life, those were three months preparing myself for a depressing sense of misery when I returned home. As I have said before, the Philippines is an acquired taste. As much as I'd like to consider myself a patriot and a staunch optimist, the last time I returned to the Philippines from a foreign visit I couldn't help but see the worst in everything that surrounded me. The air was too hot, the streets too dirty, the people too ugly... just everything.

To my surprise, this time around I've found things pleasantly... acceptable. The streets are still dirty but there are signs of progress all around (especially in Asiatown IT Park, where I work, which is experiencing an utter boom of construction). Even the temperature-- though I'm sweating for the first time in three months, it still feels as though I am in a hospitable environment. Of course, this country of ours has its flaws, but it doesn't deserve the loathing that Filipinos give it. It makes me proud to be able to say that, freshly coming from America. Things aren't so bad, and I'm optimistic that the future can only get better.

Maybe it's just that I haven't been getting my news from The Inquirer. In spite of everything, it is good to be home.