New New Year

We’re halfway through with November and it won’t be long before we trash 2010 calendars for 2011 editions.

Booze, grub, loud audio system and firepower are always part of the festivities. A once a year event should be welcomed with a bang after all. But with Filipinos, it’s always celebrated with the wrong kind of bang because firepower involves firecrackers and guns.

Thanks to such paraphernalia, countless Filipinos have lost body parts and loved ones. And even though we end up with a lot of people getting hurt every January 1, people still find it hard to dispose the armaments because of tradition.

It’s bad enough that we’re hurting ourselves in celebration. But we also happen to be taking Mother Nature down with us. Smoke from the New Year celebration never goes away. If it doesn’t go into your body to pierce your lungs, it goes up to the atmosphere to bore more holes in the Ozone Layer.

Most of our countrymen know and would agree to what I’m saying, but at the back of their minds, they probably want to kill me. “New Year won’t be complete without the boom, boom, boom you party pooper,” says the kid with a lit Five star at hand.

“Everything is hard before it’s easy.” –Thomas Fuller

I understand it is pretty difficult to do something different from what we are accustomed to. Firecrackers have always been associated with the New Year since time immemorial, so asking Filipinos to stop playing with firecrackers is like asking a smoker to drop the habit. But we have to start somewhere right?

I’m not walking away from this with hands clean. I used to enjoy this practice. The sight of a Five star blowing up small bushes into smithereens always got me pumped up in the midst of the smoke and the noise. However, times have changed. Drastically.

For one, we are at war. We are probably in the toughest battle of our lives, because right now, the planet is at stake. Unpredictable weather, sinkholes and extreme weather condition tell us that we are losing. And while we are playing catch up, the emissions from firecrackers aren’t helping.

You can go on all day ranting that this is just a one day affair, but how many New Years have we been doing this? It seems to me that all these one-time-big-times have piled up and has come back to haunt us. In addition, people start purchasing firecrackers come December. From there, it’s a month-long firecracker lighting marathon. The pops and booms turn a notch higher from Christmas Day up to the New Year when party animals under the influence of alcohol start detonating the Crying Cows, Baby Rockets, Judas’ Belts and Super Lolos.

Also, in a time of economic turmoil, don’t we have to put our money elsewhere? With taxes and inflation here and there, I don’t see why we should continue spending lots of dough on explosives when we could use it for more important stuff. Hey, if you ain’t cashing out on firecrackers, you got more money to spend on booze, food and gifts. Or, you don’t have to start 2011 with an empty pocket.

There’s been this saying that you have to start the year right. It kinda makes sense because good beginnings usually have good endings. So if we open 2011 protecting our environment and saving up some money, maybe it could lead to something good. Just think about. Here in the Philippines we always begin the New Year with casualties thanks to firecrackers and guns. How is that a good start? Then we all go wondering why this country is going nowhere? Geez!

Oh yeah, guns. I just don’t understand why some idiots start acting like Yosemite Sam during the Holidays. C’mon. The Holidays are supposed to be fun. Why do something that would cause others pain and grief? You want something noisy? Turn up your TV’s and audio system’s volume. You want something bright? Go burn your house you f**king morons.

Bottom line:  Don’t fire guns. Bullets won’t light up the sky and their sound will always be overpowered by your neighbor playing Pinoy hip-hop songs. And did I mention guns kill.

The government has to do its share if we were to have any changes in our New Year celebrations. Public ads can only do so much. It’s time for some dictator-ish approach.

Legislators should outlaw firecrackers and stop giving a damn about the people who are making a living out of the industry. Just like in the Quirino Grandstand incident, I’d rather see a few suffer for the betterment of the majority. If killing the firecracker industry would save the planet, then so be it.

Don’t worry firecracker beneficiaries. It’s not the end of the world. But if the government won’t stop you, it just might come to that. At least if the planet is saved, you’ll still have a chance to find another source of livelihood and live to fight another day.

I’m writing this blog as early as now in hopes that there would be actions taken before December begins. If you’re reading this, try to convince your family members, and most importantly, yourself, that these practices have got to stop. If no one listens, at least you tried. And at least do your part. Don’t buy firecrackers. Don’t fire guns.

One is better than zero. Just like all the one-time-big-times that piled up, the sum of every individual contributing to this cause is equivalent to a good number of people who want to go against the grain; a good number of Filipinos that want change.