Zamboanga bridge collapse?




The photo reminds me of Thornton Wilder's novel "THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY", wherein the narrator in the story Franciscan friar, Brother Junipero presented five characters who succumbed to a terrible mishap, the collapse of a hanging bridge in Peru. Junipero himself witnessed the tragic event. Compiling then backgrounds on the victims, he seeks answers and a divine explanation of why it happened. Discussing topics such as fate and destiny, connecting the circumstances behind the five unrelated characters - why they were there on that given time and day.

In the Zamboanga bridge collapse, we cannot possibly argue about fate or seek out cosmic explanations. Definitely, politics plays prominently here and the culture of corruption is very visible. Yet the Filipino way of finding oneself in the order or chaos of things in the universe came out as one of the politicians who took a dip in the murky water later then said in an interview: "Blessing in disguise na rin, nakita namin at least ang kakulangan!". I almost fell off my chair laughing. What is the blessing in falling and tasting the stinking water? Perhaps like Brother Junipero, I should look for divine answers.

Pasig 27. April 2018

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