I do not know about him but Metro Manila homeowners will probably be getting nightmares of sewer sludge backing up all the way into the house, even if we do keep it down to the biodegradable materials. The only people who would probably rejoice about Fernando’s suggestions are the people from his Health Operations Center, some of whom have been making the rounds of upper and middle class neighborhoods demanding that the homeowners produce the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of their humble pozo negro.

I never knew that you needed an ECC to build a residential sewerage system. I did not even know that the MMDA was empowered to check on such requirements since it is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that hands them out.

But then, Fernando must harbor some suspicions that half of Metro Manila’s population must be somehow radioactive. I can only hope that this flushing-down-the-toilet suggestion of Fernando does not set the tone as to where the rest of the country is headed for in the coming year.

According to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS), the majority of Filipinos, 91 percent to be more precise, do look forward to the advent of 2008 with hope instead of fear. And that is good, since we can rest easy knowing that the fiber of our society will not get frayed by the way the clowns in our government have been mismanaging it.

One thing funny about the SWS survey though is that more people are actually hoping that they can stop smoking (6 percent) and control their temper (5 percent) than there are those who want peace and unity, which came in at only 1 percent of the possible New Year’s resolutions mentioned. Insignificant as these numbers may seem against the whole, it does makes a malicious suggestion to my mind that, with our current state of affairs, kicking one’s addiction to nicotine is easier than loving one’s neighbor.

The same survey also suggests that optimism among the more affluent Filipinos or socio-economic classes ABC has declined in the last year from 92 to 88 percent or a net of 4 percent. While it remains very high – the SWS points out that it was only 73 percent in 2005 – this only goes to show that it is going to be harder to recruit more people who can genuinely make a pitch about things are getting better in the Philippines as portrayed by that horrible government-paid advertisement.

Perhaps, however, what is more important in the end is not what we hope for but instead what we learn. Our aspirations may carry us through the darkest times but what we really must rely on is the experience we garner because, in any situation, we cannot afford to make the same mistake twice.

And, what have we learned is that the powers behind our government who manage its affairs from the back alleys of power will not think twice about making a dishonest peso at our expense. We can expect more of the scams like the aborted National Broadband Network and those overpriced fuel purchases for our coal-fired power plants. We have also learned that putting an end to their merry ways will not be an easy task. They came prepared to take over the government in 2001 and will go to extraordinary lengths to stay in power. Not easy, but not impossible. We just have to remain steadfast in our convictions that we out it to the next generation of Filipinos to put our country’s affairs in the right order. Happy New Year to everyone!.