Millennium thoughts

It’s funny how the world is at a fix preparing for the end of the century. The center of attention seems to be focused on two things, Y2K and places where the sun would last set and rise.

Companies are testing whether planes wouldn’t fall off the sky, banks wouldn’t falter, phones wouldn’t work, and power wouldn’t fail because of the Y2K bug during the great rollover. As to the sun, hotels and governments are searching for the best spots where to view the last sunset and sunrise, aiming to attract people and give tourism a shot in the arm.

In Manila, flag carrier Philippine Airlines adjusted their clocks in advance and flew one of their planes from Manila to an airport in the northern industrial hub of Subic last month to simulate what could happen the moment the current century lapses into the next. As a sign of overwhelming confidence, the airline president, Avelino Zapanta, and the chief of the Philippine Air Transportation Office boarded the plane for the less than an hour ride. PAL cleverly kept the test flight from the media apparently to ensure against bad publicity if something went wrong. The test flight turned out to be successful and PAL proudly announced the results the following week.

Philippine tourism officials also announced that they’ve found a spot where people could view the first sunrise on Jan. 1, 2000. It’s on a remote easternmost coral outcrop called Pusan Point off Davao province.

Unheard of for decades, a Davao town that would be used as a takeoff point for Pusan suddenly became alive in recent weeks with Manila-based television networks and officials to prepare for the expected horde. Not to be outdone, officials in another Davao town said the sunrise could be seen earlier in their part of the province –– at the top of Mt. Apo, the Philippines’ highest peak. Officials there are organizing a climb to the mountaintop for people who wanted to be the first in the country to see the first glimmer of light that would slit through the Pacific horizon in the next century.

And who would say that people in Manila would run out of ideas? A hotel along Manila Bay is preparing for a big party for the last sunset in the bay. Manila Bay, though notorious for pollution, is a daily destination for tourists for its majestic, reddish flame sunsets. Nearby, in the financial district of Makati, which is known for its chaotic traffic, officials would close a main avenue for a New Year’s Eve mardi gras, at a time when huge flocks of Filipinos are usually heading to a large commercial center along the avenue for last-minute grocery shopping.

But then, who would worry about the hassles? Filipinos are a happy people and would go through everything for fun.

I’ve heard of lavish parties being prepared in many Asian countries, specially Hong Kong, where a great fireworks display is in the works. If Chinese tradition calls for the exploding of firecrackers to drive away evil spirits in the coming year, what needed to be exploded to drive away evil in a coming century? Along that line, I can imagine the frenzy going on in Bulacan province, just north of Manila, which is the center of the firecracker industry in the Philippines, both legal and underground.

Every year, media attention is focused on the number of accidental blasts, sometimes involving whole factories, in Bulacan ahead of New Year’s celebration. Many key cities in the Philippines, specially, in Metropolitan Manila, turn into war zones because of firecracker explosions and burning tires. Manila’s fatalities on New Year’s Eve is probably always one of the highest in the world.

Despite, all the danger and fun around, I expect many Filipinos would beat the path home when the century ends. Close family ties remain an enduring and important value among Filipinos in this age of the internet.

During Christmas and New Year season, the airport in Manila blossoms with the fragrance of apples and oranges being brought by returning Filipino workers. They also cram duty-free stores for toys and imported cheese too heavy to pack in their luggage. And when Christmas Eve comes or the clock beats in the New Year, everybody’s home. Tens of thousands of Filipinos working abroad, mostly as domestics, would also burning the phone lines to their loves ones, barring Y2K.

It’s like another New Year’s Day. We worry about so many things and the last thing we do is pray.