all. that. jazz.

Now that the glitzy dust has settled, there is only one thing to say about the Philippines as we, once again, find ourselves in the limelight of terrorist affairs -- we really never learn. Conrado De Quiros summarizes the Arroyo pullout of Philippine troups in Iraq (and the fanfare that went with it) as such:

I have no problem with our enthusing over the safe return of one of our own and even throwing a fiesta in his honor. But I have a problem with our not understanding what has happened, or chalking it up as the product of prayer or the handiwork of brilliant negotiators. 
 

Not everything that ends well is well. Not without understanding it, not without heeding its lessons. The euphoria that comes from it is merely the kind felt by someone plummeting from the top floor, thinking before he hits the cement, "So far, so good."

After Edsa episodes, OFWs coming home in freight boxes, and Erap -- we still fail to understand the lessons behind important events that shape or color our national history. Underneath all the exterior fanfare of Dela Cruz's safe homecoming, we have yet to realize its full impact to our economy, and our pride as Filipinos. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the bravado that President Arroyo has shown -- what is sad is how the local media treats events such as this like telenovelas that Filipinos are so fond of. Sometimes the drama -- of Dela Cruz's kids waiting for their father to come home, or of Filipino troops triumphantly returning to their families -- sugarcoats the bittersweet reality that maybe after a few weeks or months, a lot of Filipinos may not have food on their tables once again because of the skyrocketing exchange between the US dollar and the Philippine peso, or the soaring rate of unemployment. Call me pessimistic, but that is usually the case when something big and colorful happens to the Philippines. It is sad that the media seems to have too much time and space in their hands, and just like the seemingly empty news articles about Ruffa Guttierez-Bektas' luxurious life wherever the hell she is, or Kris Aquino's endless cavorting with complicated men, we fail to grasp reality amidst the glittery trimmings.