Students and school officials, naturally. And if by some streak of bad luck they don't hear it at all, chances are some of them will be hurt and hurt badly by the accident.
That is the case of 11 unlucky pupils of San Isidro Elementary School in the City of San Fernando. Some of them suffered bruises and broken bones when a tamarind tree fell upon them. It could've been worse, as the cliché goes. Thank heavens for pithy clichés and small comforts.
But falling trees where they should not raise important, even life-and-death issues. Unfortunately, official response to them is either indifferent or idiotic. Some high-ranking education official in the province heard about the accident, apparently weeks after it happened. The usual knee-jerk reaction was offered: school safety must be ensured at all times. End of argument.
That's responsibility for you. As for accountability, it so happened-gladly-that the school, where the tree fell, fell under the city schools jurisdiction. And no school outside this jurisdiction has had any accident or incident of that nature. They're fine, thank you.
As fixing the blame more than the problem goes, the official kicked up the it's-not-me-it's-you attitude a little farther away by reminding that community officials have a duty as well to see to it that no tree falls on unsuspecting students. That is as good as saying that someone out there had very well hear or see a tree before it falls, so nobody gets hurt or the blame.
Outside the ideal or miraculous, the normative scenario is, when a tree falls anywhere, everyone hears it sooner or later, but no one owns up to the attendant negligence or equivalent omission.
* * * * *
It seems I have pre-empted a recent survey on people's state of mind about the economy and life in the very near term.
In a recent commentary, I asked if Pinoys felt much better off now than they were before the escalating high fuel and food prices.
I got the answer the other day. Based on a recent SWS survey, 52 percent of Filipinos foresaw bad times ahead, at least in the next 12 months for the economy, and a higher percentage - 62 percent - felt they were much worse off now than 12 months ago. The bright side, if at all, is that 24 percent hoped life would get better against 30 percent who thought otherwise. The balance tilts on which side, pessimism or optimism, is more contagious.
If you believe some mind experts, including quantum physicists, people can change their state of mind by changing their state of mind. In fact, one prominent panelist in the Larry King Live on CNN the other day (Monday) assured that one can be either be a pessimist or an optimist and still have fun.
It's not an original, for sure. The 19th century British poet Thomas Hardy once defined pessimism as the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. "Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child play."
In short, one can not only be a pessimist and still have hope but be in a state of bliss.
No wonder, Pinoys are still among the happiest in the world, despite the current crisis. Or are they still?
