‘And the best is yet to come’

 LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

Don’t lose hope, the best is yet to come. But as we say goodbye to a year that was, we also pray for a better year that comes in just so many hours from now. A common wish that many ask for is prosperity, successful career, good business, peace and good health.
    In wishing for the best of health in the coming year, those in the health sector are the most affected since they hold the records of deaths caused by illnesses caused by man and nature.
    Aside from the modern illnesses encountered today such as kidney, liver and heart diseases, the SARS or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome came, followed by other deadly corona viruses (COVID pandemic).
In the past, the world had the Leprosy, a feared disease of the skin, and the Black Death or Bubonic Plague. Then came the killer Ebola that does not seem to die, AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, then the Avian Influenza followed.
    The smallpox in 1520 slowly killed 60 to 90 percent of the Americas' indigenous inhabitants. The epidemic, according to medical research, opened colonial empires by European countries and migration to Asia and America.
    In 1918, while countries were fighting in WW1, one of the world’s deadliest conflicts, the real enemy of all countries came alive, the virus of the Spanish flu that killed as many as 50 million people .
    Knowledgeable of the impact and consequences such diseases bring to life, those in the health sector and medical world hope and pray that 2023 and the years to come will be safer and healthier for all.
In some countries that are prone to natural disasters arising from the seas, they pray for a new year that will not bring in earthquakes, strong typhoons, floods and tsunamis. Certainly, these countries, including ours, have seen thousands of deaths brought by calamities.  
    I wish the Chinese did not invent gunpowder and firearms 10 centuries ago so that we would have mastered the art of fighting with spears, swords, bows and arrows. As a new year enters, I wonder how many millions have been killed with guns.
    Who else should be blamed for WW1, WW2 and the wars that came after other than war generals and their men who order the killings or do the killings themselves? All these were deadly decisions that wasted millions of human lives.
    For government executives and those involved in peace and order efforts, they pray that trigger happy generals think with their brains if they have, not with their fingers, before they start a new war that they will lose just the same.
    There is no further need to assess which year was the worst for business. The picture is clear that the COVID pandemic years brought down world economy. Surely, only those who hid extra money in their banks or under their beds had more chances of survival.
    I suspect, the corona virus pandemic was the main reason prices of commodities could not be controlled even with a series of warnings from authorities especially when lock downs and checkpoints loosened up because this was the best time for businessmen to get even. Employment too was affected.
    The last two years have not been good for business. Thus, it is not too late to start planning for the coming year. Certainly, any investor would want 2023 to be a better year for business, and has things in mind to start the year right.
    Whatever, the bad years have reasons to be there. If not, then everything would be running smoothly and we would have no reasons for wishing for the best in the coming year. Don’t lose hope, the healthiest, safest and more prosperous year has yet to come. Let’s all welcome 2023!