GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/13 December)—The first 12 days of December came to a past yesterday and the Mayan prediction of the world apocalypse came in bundles of tragedies – a trio of them – for the Philippines.
To the many who perished in Typhoon Pablo, indeed, it was the end of the world for them. For the families of the more than 800 missing, it is as if the whole weight of the world descended upon them.
To the terrified, and then heartbroken, fans of Manny Pacquiao who saw him collapse like a fallen timber in stunning knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez, it was like the world of boxing ended with his loss.
Then on the night of the 12th, Singapore ended the hopes of the Philippine football nation to barge into the Suzuki Cup finals and win its first international competition title in the post-World War II era of this side of the world’s largest spectator sports.
Somebody mentioned triple whammy about two decades ago.
The first 12 days of December 2012 brought a trio of cascading tragedy and losses these might be what the Mayan meant when they predicted that the end of the world will coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar on 12.21.12, nine days after the Philippine Azkals lost to the Singapore Lions, 0-1.
December 21 is the day the sun will align with the center of our galaxy, as it does every year. It is also called the winter solstice, the start of the year when the night will be longer than the day (Its opposite is the summer solstice – June 21 this year – when the day was as long as the night). The world did not end in June. There is no reason to believe the Mayan prediction will come true.
The world will not end for those who survived the fury of Pablo. And as Pacquiao indicated, his sorry loss to Marquez will not be the end of his boxing career. Neither will the defeat of the Philippine Azkals mark the death of Philippine football.
But for the 12 days of December, it was as if the world ended on many of us.
Ask the grieving and scarred survivors of Pablo’s wrath. Look into the teary eyes and anguished faces of the mothers and wives of the missing fishermen of General Santos City. Just read how Pacquiao’s childhood friend Buboy Fernandez, usually cool and collected, simply exploded and kicked a photographer who was taking pictures of his fallen friend. And look at the crest-fallen faces of the color analysts of the Philippine-Singapore semifinal match in the Suzuki Cup.
They have the world ended written all over the(ir) faces.
But the world did not end there. The world will move on. So will the rest of us.
(Edwin G. Espejo writes for www.asiancorrespondent.com)
