During the last election, the superficial message of hope won the ballots. We put in to the highest office a man whom we barely knew except for his family name which became tantamount for hope among many Filipinos. We hung our hopes on him because we believed that his platform is a platform of righteousness and truth. Hope has become the highest commodity in the recent years as turmoil and disasters continue unabated not just in our country but also in the world. The recent turn of events however dashed our hopes to pieces and revealed the precarious foundation which we have placed our lives. Hopes that are placed on man will always be superficial. It is not sin to put confidence in a man, but it is better to put your trust in the Lord. Ultimately, it won’t be your leaders who will save you for you have one Savior and Lord over-all, His name is Jesus which is above every name whether in heaven or in earth.

There is no force more potent in this world during this time other than hope and there is no force more destructive other than bitterness. Because of hope we now have a government in place that is running after the highest trust ratings more than the previous two administrations combined together. But this trust and belief of the people for the present administration must be translated into action which is an actual evidence of how Pres. Noynoy truly works as a leader.

Obviously, it is for this reason that the hostage crisis went awry, he came to Luneta too late in the evening and even then had not actually been in control of the situation. To be an anchor or the hope of a nation is a great calling and one that has to be carefully handled and carried. To be careless on matters of national security and protection of the lives of the people is to really care less regardless of the confession to being careful. There are no more foolish assumptions to take than that everything is fine when in fact everything is really aweful. Neglect of duties is the consequence of irresponsibility and indifference to the plight of your people. It was for this reason that the Titanic sunk, by failure to heed the request of its watchmen for binoculars to lookout for icebergs. It was a calm night and the sea looks treacherously welcoming so that they were lulled into partying and neglect.

It seems that we have all reached the juncture of time when everything that we do will have grave consequences unless we repent of our previous failures and return to being awake and alert at all times. During the ancient times, watchmen posted on the wall are called just for this, to simply watch out for enemies that maybe on the run or hiding during darkness. Some may even have to give their lives in order to warn those in sleeping within the city walls. The event that transpired last August 23 was not just an attack to the Hong Kong people, it was an attack to our hearts, it was a heart attack meant by the devil to betray our trust and confidence on our new president; it was also meant to betray our friendship and alliance with Hong Kong which had been consistently trying to help us by way of financial investors and tourism as promoted by our folks who are living with them.

The thick veil of confusion among the policemen and the leaders who tried in vain to end the deadlock was meant by the enemy to put us all down. By the end of the violent confrontation, the sin of one man nailed the whole nation not just into grief but the sad realization that in fact we failed to do something coherent that could have saved the lives of all those in the bus. It was not only presumption that killed the Hong Kong tourists, it was our neglect to prioritize lives over our own comforts and convenience. Pres. Noynoy acknowledged his errors in that he did not prioritized the hostage crisis situation but was perusing the budget and the dengue fever outbreak.

He was confident that his men on the ground would be able to normalize the situation. However, this seemingly nonchalant attitude can get others killed. It seems that from the very beginning, this was not given the priority it could have deserved; it was one pure leadership in crisis for the lack of visibility at the most crucial hours when it could have been ended as soon as possible. The lack of equipment will not suffice to be the only reason, it is one pure leadership crisis…no one was seen leading the body of policemen on the ground…no one was seen helping to end the crisis by way of peaceful negotiation. It was the lack of good and determined leadership that brought them down to the grave.

As the Apostle Paul wrote however, we have a way out. We are now in the time when darkness is covering the earth and deep darkness the people, so we are also in the time when the glory of the Lord will be revealed to and through His people. When almost all the nations and peoples are crying for leaders to help them, we can recognize the urgency of such situation. In times of darkness, those who have the light will shine out even more. This is the time when the Church should arise and lead the nations and the people towards His light. We are given a great promise in I Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (NIV). Every crisis or problem that we go through is common to man, he will empower and strengthen us so that we can bear them.

He will also provide a way out when the temptation is beyond our strength to overcome. As no leader could single-handedly overcome such grave situations, let us learn from this mistake and move on. Let us ask forgiveness for what happened and restitute the love ones of those who died. Let us continue to offer them encouragement by grieving with them, praying with them and apologizing. We must also resolve that no repeat of this event should happen anymore in the future. There is great hope for the future, for every affected policeman and tourist who will continue to believe for the best and to walk by faith for we have a God who helps us “…thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet  aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place”(2 Corinthians 2:14).