AND I'm down to my last column on the last day of the year.
Like you readers, I'm taking a deep breath after a month of surviving a Christmas rush of traffic, parties, get-togethers, school programs, and gift-buying and giving.
And as we look forward to the next year, we look back at what a year this was.
It was a year that "Change" became a byword, a battle cry of Duterte that resounded with the people frustrated with six years of inutility and unfulfilled promises under daang matuwid.
Is change here now? In Manila, taxi drivers say they can drive at night without fear of getting mugged.
Government is responsive now when disasters strike provinces, thanks to an activist social welfare secretary.
Agrarian lands are now distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries by an activist agriculture secretary.
Big mining companies are now suspended for plundering the environment thanks to an uncompromising environment secretary. Government transactions are faster. Peace talks are happening. No more laglag bala schemes at NAIA. SSS pensions will increase.
But not everything has changed. Contractualization is still present. Traffic is worse everywhere including Davao City. Farmers are being shot and lumads are still living with the presence of soldiers and paramilitaries.
And the cries of widows, mothers, and children of the victims of the war on drugs resound. 6,000 killed in six months is a staggering statistic. Some of these victims were innocent, some were reformed, some were shot defenseless. This war is not bound to end, but at what cost when the poor who needs saving are perennial victims.
In the middle of the year, Marvel's Civil War came out and saw a former collective of superheroes torn apart by different beliefs. It very well speaks of what we are encountering now from the elections up to now. We have become divided on the issue of extrajudicial killings and the Marcos burial, and social media warriors from Duterte-diehards to "Yellowtards" to Marcos loyalists only fan vitriol and distrust on Facebook, and who wins?
To find respite, we turn to sports. The underdog Cavaliers and LeBron had a storybook NBA championship beating a record-seeking Warriors. We are split on what we think of Manny Pacquiao's comeback.
We find in respite that movies are also good, most especially the indies and the Metro Manila Film Festival. Stories of OFWs, the LGBT, broken-hearted teens defy the cheap standard set by Mother Lily, Enteng, and Vice Ganda and made viewers appreciate the quality of stories from indies.
Perhaps the most significant moment for me was not the Duterte victory. It was the series of rallies nationwide that gathered millions in protest of the Marcos' secret burial. It was a moment when old-time activists, Martial Law survivors joined the next generation, who are afraid that history is being robbed by the elite and patronage politics.
That I think is the lesson of this year. To fight, to struggle.
To end, there were two great icons who passed away leaving us something to look forward to 2017.
British rock-god David Bowie sang that "time may change me, but I can't change time." We are defined by the moments we seize.
Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher, as Leia Skywalker, said "All rebellions are based on hope."
To let change happen, it needs us to be involved to make it more inclusive. That's my wish for 2017.
tyvelez@gmail.com