After the Luneta seige, you would see different reactions to the same tragedy. Fingers were pointed endlessly blaming people for the tragic death of HongKong tourists.
Jackie Chan got the heat when he expressed his viewpoint (take note I did not even said "defended our country" because he did not) and cursed him. The media took a slap because of their detailed coverage that led to the slain policeman to run amuck inside the bus.
The family of the slain policeman rolled out their case when they cited awards and citations and even at one point gave back tremendous amount of money that earned him the Philippine Jaycees most outstanding police recognition.
The case has been widely discussed and as we write, the news is slowly sinking into the clutter of everyday things the pinoys have to contend with including their basic needs. That has been the Pinoys have taken news and tragedies and the country usually swiftly moves on to new things and quickly forgets the tragedy.
Sad as it is, but it is reality. Least to say, churches all over the metro offered their prayers to the numbers who suffered in the tragedy.
But that was not our only problem.
Students of various schools posed with the bus as the background. The tragic site has now become the new tourist destination for these kids. Even our policemen decided they need a souvenir behind the beseiged bus and gamely posed for several pictures.
Were they not diligently and religiously taught in school that apathy mixed with stupidity is the easiest highway to eternal irrelevancy? When they saw the news, did they not shed a tear for the victims and the misunderstood policeman who had to hold everyone hostage because he thinks he has no other options?
Did they not see that the incident has permanently whacked our national image in the nose destroying our public figure for life?
I think these kids are just plain ignorant on the impact of this incident on their lives.
If the future of our society poses in front of buses just like that, I am afraid of what our future will become. A society that lives with insensitivity and heightened sense that even tragedies such as these are thought of like jokes. Where is our empathy to those who our countrymen have done wrong?
I was even waiting for a mourning period in honor of those who lost their lives. But maybe that would be too much to ask for our busy country.
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