December is speeding by so fast; it probably makes you want to just stop and contemplate all that has gone on in the last 11 months.
When you start to feel flattened by recent events, it helps to flip through your calendar, diary, or whatever memory keeper you use, whether it be digital, print, or just in your overworked mind.
Looking for my columns written over the past decade or so with my former "He Says" tandem beside me, I was saddened that I could no longer find them online, blame it on technology glitches or turnovers or some such reason.
What I could find, however, struck me by how certain issues or observations made then remain.
So here goes one, written in 2008, where I rant about life then:
"Night after night I get glued to the television, attracted yet repelled by the news I am watching."
"In the past weeks, I have found myself wondering if I have been missing something, try as I might understand what Gloria and her loyalists mean when they say that 'the economy is doing better,' and that she has done wonders for the economy than we care to appreciate."
"Do not be hasty in your judgment. Strive for balance in your stories. These I learned for years from my school and my church, but never have I had to remind myself of it more than now, when my gut is filled with a consuming rage at what I am seeing around me."
"Am I being too hard on this publicly hated and bewailed president who some people have dubbed 'worse than Marcos?'"
Lest anyone reacts in similar rage at these thoughts spilling out 14 years ago, allow me to explain why I am bringing it up again here.
The most obvious reason is that Marcos Jr. is now our President, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remains in power, still wielding prime influence on our government.
So, lately, their surnames once again cropped up in the same articles, still with the economy slant.
My topic all those years ago intertwines with the recent discussions on the Maharlika Wealth Fund. Back then I mused about the impact of the martial rule and how things did not really change for the average Pinoy through various presidents.
"After the drama on Edsa in '86, we braced ourselves only for good and better things. …We had it, and we carelessly let go of all our chances," I wrote with embarrassing pathos.
Yet here we are, under the leadership of the son of Ferdinand. Who would have thought it could happen?
And here he comes with ideas of his own and different priorities under transformative times, pushing for a P275-billion wealth fund bill that is supported and defended by Rep. Gloria.
Economists will understand the reason for this proposed source of capital to fund big projects usually "scrapped" from the national budget for other immediate priorities.
Critics will tear it down based on the risk factor that could affect certain sectors under the agencies that will be tapped for the initial capital.
It just feels somehow justified to stop, think hard, and make sense of it all right now.
