Last Monday started the new year according to the Gregorian calendar. Some sectors, like the Muslims who follow the lunar or Hijra calendar, celebrate the new year on another date. Muslims count dates starting from Hijra, when the Prophet Mohammad, PBUH, made his journey to the Holy City of Madinah after being persecuted in Holy Mecca, which signals the beginning of the Islamic era.

Regardless of belief, people view the day with similar perspectives and practices. They place the year ending under a microscopic introspection to assess how they lived it. Was their performance at, above or below par? Which part did they fail, which can they remedy, and which part needs enhancement for a better result? This is the simplistic universal message of a new year.

Having said that, Filipinos have had enough warnings about the “Big One.” Drills have been conducted in schools and offices to prepare them. The Philippines is situated in a geophysical position on Earth, making it prone to weather aberrations, natural calamities, and disasters. It counts many geological fault lines.

Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes come unexpectedly like a thief in the night. Science is at its wit’s end, trying to determine when and where it will strike. Even when an area is reeling from the disastrous effect of a superstorm, another one comes threatening. Hydrometeorological oddities are common occurrences.

More often, the government is found wanting in the race to address calamities. The budget for certain sectors is sacrificed for the needs of the victims.

It’s time Congress legislates the creation of a separate department on national disaster risk reduction and management. The earthquake in Japan this New Year should jolt our policy-makers to the need for a department focused on disasters.

My wish, therefore, is for fewer calamities in 2024.

Our society has long suffered from fratricide — Filipino soldiers killing Filipino dissidents and criminals.

We hold the world record for fighting the longest war against communism, an ideology long discarded by its proponent countries. The life of the nation and its citizens should at all times preponderate over any ideology.

Whatever one group believes in, its evangelization should be done in the free market of ideas, not through the barrel of a gun. Violence should never be a means to spread an “ism.”

My wish is for the government to take a second look at its peace strategy and ask why it is not working. It should never tire of holding out the olive branch to groups that go astray. Reviving the peace negotiations and offering amnesty are effective modes of putting out the fire of violence to achieve political goals.

I align with those who advocate for the continuance of the NTF-ELCAC as a government agency that leads the “whole of nation” approach to end the local communist insurgency. I see it working in the hinterlands of the town of Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat, where the AFP and local government are collaborating in the peace campaign.

I wish the government will finally win over advocates of fake Islam that evangelizes violence, extremism, and terrorism inspired by ISIS. They are active in the boondocks of the BARMM, forming terrorist cells. The autonomous government can effectively help campaign against this social menace, considering its familiarity with the problem and the terrain.

As we had predicted earlier, the political air in the BARMM will be polluted with too much politicking and maneuvering that will push priority economic development policies to the backburner. We wish a tone-down of politicking in the BARMM in 2024 and onward.

Readers, indulge me as I get personal. I am blessed that despite being an octogenarian, I can still move around with facility. My wish is for the sustenance of my health and my physical flexibility and agility so that I can still swing my golf clubs, enjoy the camaraderie of and banter with my golf mates, and savor the sweet dew-kissed fairways. I fantasize about maintaining a score of 81 (my age), which I rarely get with my official handicap of 17, computed by the World Handicapping System.

amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com