I was awaken late in the morning, about 10:00 AM, by the sound of TV in our living room. From my bedroom, I could hear the words "stampede" and "rescue". Something must have happened wrong somewhere, I thought. After a quick prayer, I rushed outside from my room, saw on TV dead bodies laid on the street. There was a woman who was wailing. Perhaps, it was her mother who died. I also saw a father with his son, both crying beside the lifeless body of his wife and his mother.
The next day, in the newspaper, the picture of a young man weeping while clutching the head of his dead mother caught my attention. All of a sudden, time seemed to stop. Quickly, I felt that there was something knifing my heart into a deep wound that hasn't healed yet. I felt again the pain the day my mother died. I was beside my mother when she died. I, too, wailed while I clutched her head and kissed her face every now and then. It was like a big part of myself left the world for no reason at all. I know how it feels to have lost a loved one. And I absolutely know how those people who lost their loved ones in the stampede were feeling. If I were there and my mother was among the dead, perhaps, I would be blaming myself forever. Perhaps, I would turn away from anything that would remind me of that tragic stampede -- any crowd, any queuing up, ULTRA (the place where it happened), the network that organized the event, and the show itself.
In another news, the organizers of the show said none of them wanted this deadly stampede to happen. I believe them. Who would want to cause a stampede? But no one wanted to take the blame either -- not the police, not the city government, not the ULTRA administration, not the organizers of the show. The stampede left 74 people dead and 627 injured. And no one is responsible!
Was the "Wowowee" tragedy merely an accident? Something that happened for no reason at all; and therefore, no one was responsible? It's true that no one wanted that to happen. No good man would have the intention of causing a stampede. But 74 people died and 627 were injured. Why did that tragedy happen?
On February 4, 2006, people massed to the ULTRA for a chance to win cash and prizes that "Wowowee", an ABS-CBN noontime show, would be giving away on the ocassion of its first anniversary. People started to line up at the gate as early as Monday, according to one interview. By Saturday, the crowd was estimated at 30,000. About before 6:30 AM, a stampede occurred. Seventy-four died, 627 were injured.
Yes, it was an accident and no one wanted that to happen. But accident is a result of negligence, lack of responsibility, lack of awareness, lack of foresight and/or absence of selflessness. In order for this accident to happen, somebody should have triggered it. Who did? The decision to open or close the gate could have had something to do with it. The behavior of the crowd where the accident happened could have something to do with it. If there was no stampede, there wouldn't be a tragedy. If there was no stampede, 74 people would have not died and no one would have been injured. Why was there a stampede? Who triggered that stampede?
Stampede is caused collectively by a group of people in a crowd or by even one person. Stampede is a crowd's reaction to something that chain reacted. Who caused those people to react that way? Why did they have to line up as early as Monday if the show was on the coming Saturday? What caused them to line up early? A girl, who spent her 18th birthday in a hospital, was injured in that stampede. In an interview, she said that she went to the event for a chance to win P20,000. She further said that the first 300 tickets would receive the cash prize.
There must be something that triggered these people to go there as early as Monday. If an announcement on the show triggered it, who announced it and who instructed him to announce it? It could have been avoided. If that instruction was disobeyed or objected for the reason that it might cause an uncontrollable crowd, none of this would have happened. But there was no objection. No one foresaw that this tragedy could happen.
In another angle, words that they might have heard, whether factual or notional, might have caused the people in the crowd to react in a way that triggered a behavior that could cause a stampede. Who said those words? Who ordered those words?
The capacity of ULTRA is 17,000 seats. Had they given away the tickets in advance that's good only for 17,000 seats, would a 30,000-crowd flock the place?
This tragic event tells something to every one of us - the networks and the audience, the poor and the government, the shows and the advertisers. The 74 who died sacrificed their lives so that we'd be able to comprehend the reason why this tragedy should happen. Whatever the reason is, only God knows. Perhaps, God has one reason for each one of us -- for each family who lost a loved one, for every person who were present at ULTRA, for every person involved in the show, for every person in the government, and for each of one us at home.
In time and individually, we would know the respective reason due for each one of us. That will be revealed each in our own way and realizations. But for the other people, we can only presume. Maybe, God allowed that tragedy to happen for one or more of these reasons: it was to pay for something we did wrong in the past (call it karma, if you like); it was to straighten a crooked mind; it was to teach us to face reality; it was to humble the proud and the arrogant; it was to train the heart to be truthful and be sincere; it was to transform a soul that lost its spirituality; it was to give us time to pray and to listen to Him, and a chance to change and make no mistakes again.
"Wowowee" is a noontime show in the Philippines that competes against the TV ratings of "Eat Bulaga", a 25-year old noontime show. They belong to 2 giant networks: ABS-CBN and GMA-7, respectively. Both networks spread territorial propaganda labelling followers as either "kapuso" if for GMA-7 or "kapamilya" if for ABS-CBN. Maybe, if there was no network battle between the two, neither noontime show would try to outwit and outlast the other.
I hope that this tragic event would always be a reminder to either network and to all of us that IN A WAR, PEOPLE DIE.
The next day, in the newspaper, the picture of a young man weeping while clutching the head of his dead mother caught my attention. All of a sudden, time seemed to stop. Quickly, I felt that there was something knifing my heart into a deep wound that hasn't healed yet. I felt again the pain the day my mother died. I was beside my mother when she died. I, too, wailed while I clutched her head and kissed her face every now and then. It was like a big part of myself left the world for no reason at all. I know how it feels to have lost a loved one. And I absolutely know how those people who lost their loved ones in the stampede were feeling. If I were there and my mother was among the dead, perhaps, I would be blaming myself forever. Perhaps, I would turn away from anything that would remind me of that tragic stampede -- any crowd, any queuing up, ULTRA (the place where it happened), the network that organized the event, and the show itself.
In another news, the organizers of the show said none of them wanted this deadly stampede to happen. I believe them. Who would want to cause a stampede? But no one wanted to take the blame either -- not the police, not the city government, not the ULTRA administration, not the organizers of the show. The stampede left 74 people dead and 627 injured. And no one is responsible!
Was the "Wowowee" tragedy merely an accident? Something that happened for no reason at all; and therefore, no one was responsible? It's true that no one wanted that to happen. No good man would have the intention of causing a stampede. But 74 people died and 627 were injured. Why did that tragedy happen?
On February 4, 2006, people massed to the ULTRA for a chance to win cash and prizes that "Wowowee", an ABS-CBN noontime show, would be giving away on the ocassion of its first anniversary. People started to line up at the gate as early as Monday, according to one interview. By Saturday, the crowd was estimated at 30,000. About before 6:30 AM, a stampede occurred. Seventy-four died, 627 were injured.
Yes, it was an accident and no one wanted that to happen. But accident is a result of negligence, lack of responsibility, lack of awareness, lack of foresight and/or absence of selflessness. In order for this accident to happen, somebody should have triggered it. Who did? The decision to open or close the gate could have had something to do with it. The behavior of the crowd where the accident happened could have something to do with it. If there was no stampede, there wouldn't be a tragedy. If there was no stampede, 74 people would have not died and no one would have been injured. Why was there a stampede? Who triggered that stampede?
Stampede is caused collectively by a group of people in a crowd or by even one person. Stampede is a crowd's reaction to something that chain reacted. Who caused those people to react that way? Why did they have to line up as early as Monday if the show was on the coming Saturday? What caused them to line up early? A girl, who spent her 18th birthday in a hospital, was injured in that stampede. In an interview, she said that she went to the event for a chance to win P20,000. She further said that the first 300 tickets would receive the cash prize.
There must be something that triggered these people to go there as early as Monday. If an announcement on the show triggered it, who announced it and who instructed him to announce it? It could have been avoided. If that instruction was disobeyed or objected for the reason that it might cause an uncontrollable crowd, none of this would have happened. But there was no objection. No one foresaw that this tragedy could happen.
In another angle, words that they might have heard, whether factual or notional, might have caused the people in the crowd to react in a way that triggered a behavior that could cause a stampede. Who said those words? Who ordered those words?
The capacity of ULTRA is 17,000 seats. Had they given away the tickets in advance that's good only for 17,000 seats, would a 30,000-crowd flock the place?
This tragic event tells something to every one of us - the networks and the audience, the poor and the government, the shows and the advertisers. The 74 who died sacrificed their lives so that we'd be able to comprehend the reason why this tragedy should happen. Whatever the reason is, only God knows. Perhaps, God has one reason for each one of us -- for each family who lost a loved one, for every person who were present at ULTRA, for every person involved in the show, for every person in the government, and for each of one us at home.
In time and individually, we would know the respective reason due for each one of us. That will be revealed each in our own way and realizations. But for the other people, we can only presume. Maybe, God allowed that tragedy to happen for one or more of these reasons: it was to pay for something we did wrong in the past (call it karma, if you like); it was to straighten a crooked mind; it was to teach us to face reality; it was to humble the proud and the arrogant; it was to train the heart to be truthful and be sincere; it was to transform a soul that lost its spirituality; it was to give us time to pray and to listen to Him, and a chance to change and make no mistakes again.
"Wowowee" is a noontime show in the Philippines that competes against the TV ratings of "Eat Bulaga", a 25-year old noontime show. They belong to 2 giant networks: ABS-CBN and GMA-7, respectively. Both networks spread territorial propaganda labelling followers as either "kapuso" if for GMA-7 or "kapamilya" if for ABS-CBN. Maybe, if there was no network battle between the two, neither noontime show would try to outwit and outlast the other.
I hope that this tragic event would always be a reminder to either network and to all of us that IN A WAR, PEOPLE DIE.
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