There’s always a first time

The morning after the noisy, mindless New Year revelry, a filmy haze—smog actually—slid like a mask across the old face of the metropolis.
The early-morning street I walk through
daily in Mandaluyong was free of garbage. There was no lawless clog of human and
vehicular traffic.
Suddenly, everything out on the asphalt alley shone honestly new and young—a dream.
Thanks to the faceless heroes—the joyless street sweepers and garbage pickers—who toiled all night long, till the wee hours of the next day, to help lend a happy picture even only for the first minutes of the infant year.
* * *
When was the last time an early riser had savored one hope-filled local New Year scene?
It was one rare, unforgettable morning, a first of its kind, for most Metro dwellers, both young and old.
There’s always a first time.
Thus, a similar question must be asked about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benjamin Abalos, and even Jovito Palparan.
It may have occurred only in their wildest dreams.
But, for both Arroyo and Abalos, it was
obviously their first occasion to be arrested and held.
* * *
There’s always a first time.
But who would’ve dreamt President Aquino would grow fast into a fearless, fighting leader (tyrant?) after several nervous bungles in his first year in office?
Do remember that even the President’s revered mother, Cory Aquino, had a sensational ascent, one that generated boundless hope for total national renewal, only to fall prey to
officials she had hand-picked.
For the record, P-Noy has been waging a war against crippling corruption developed into a culture by several crooks officially hired by his mother.
After Cory, didn’t Erap Estrada also trap us into believing and hoping big following his straight-faced “Walang kama-kamag-anak, walang, kai-kaibigan” inaugural pledge?
* * *
Noynoy Aquino?
There was nothing new at the start;
everything was dragging into the same old rotten routine.
The anti-wang-wang inaugural and the Kayo-ang-boss-ko vow were slipping fast into another obscene promise.
Anyway, call P-Noy a slow learner, whatever, but when push came to shove, he firmly stood his ground like his father’s son.
First, he refused to be tricked into granting a travel permit to GMA—who poised the need for urgent medical treatment abroad —despite all the attendant gimmickry
resorted into by the accused.
Then, after the Supreme Court, led by
Arroyo-appointed Chief Justice Renato Corona, tried to save the former President, P-Noy sprang a legal coup, through the electoral fraud case filed with the Pasay City Regional Trial Court.
Aquino also denied the request for either house or hospital arrest by the beleaguered former President.
* * *
No, it was not an entirely neat and popular move, but in the process, Aquino had shown that he has matured fast from an amateurish belly-aching leader into a determined
reformist.
His moves, like it or not, have provided new hope for the country, albeit momentarily.
Meanwhile, out there in my stretch of Metro street, it did not take a whole day for monster chaos to return and take over.
It was back to the boiling nightmare—people and vehicles going any way they preferred, garbage wantonly dumped all over.
Yes, it would take a miracle for cleanliness and order to be regularly restored in the city of our affections.
At least, unlike in that fleeting memorable New Year morning, P-Noy no longer seemed like a soft, fast-fading dream.
In fact, when he shook a mean hand with Chief Justice Corona, the President no longer seemed angry and frantic.
For the first time, he loomed both noble and brave.