Naimbag a rabii tayo amin kakabsat.

To the organizers/hosts of tonights party, to its attendees young and old alike, friends and visitors, good evening. First, Id like to thank you all for this opportunity to take part in your celebration in welcoming the New Year. Second, Id like to commend the organizers of this party. Without their concerted effort to put this gathering together, Id guess we would all be home asleep with a major chance of missing the break of 2014. Thirdly, if youre wondering why Im in front of you tonight, it was actually Imees and Singsings doing. At the spur of the moment, yesterday at around lunch, these two adings picked me while we were busy salvaging what was left of my ill-fated cargo box. I was surprised myself because, I personally have no idea what Im supposed to do or say as a guest speaker. Hindi ba pwedeng disregard the second word and maging guest na lang, wala yung speaker, at which point, agtugawak nukuan and just party. But no, the word speaker, appended to guest makes the difference. As a guest, I have that all too benign task of enjoying myself, but as a guest speaker, I have a task more daunting than lighting Judas belt come this midnight. Because as a speaker, I am expected to speak, and what have I got to speak to you about, I ask myself. There isnt pretty much that I can talk about that others here cant tackle, perhaps more even more effectively than I can. And thinking of it, there isnt much to recommend me to the task either. I am but a clueless affiliate of our neighborhood, who is away for most of the year, and during the remainder, a recluse. And since I am not yet fit for the prescriptive role of being a speaker, tonight, if you will, I will be a questioner. Gapu appo ta , I do believe, nga ad-addu pay ti makabael nga agsao kadakayo maipanggep ti nasissisita nga banbanag, haan nak nga umay agsao, I will not stand here to preach, to prescribe or tell you anything because I myself, the same as most of you, am grappling with my own challenges in a lot of various aspects, professionally, personally etc. So instead, umayyak agdamag. In a few hours time, it will be a new day; more significantly, it will be the New Year. So what is going to happen? Anna ti umay nga mapasamak? Addan to ngata pagbabaliwan ti gobyerno tayo kadetoy umay nga tawen? Maconvictaran to ngata dagitay ada pakainagan na kadatay pork barrel scam? Addan to ngata man sumaruno nga Yolandan, iyad-adayo to ti Apo Mangabakak to ngata ti jueteng? Nu wen, tumbok to ngata wenno sahod? Nguminan to ngata man ti sigarilyon? Arak? Kuryente? Gasul? Danum? Baka angin mabayadan to payen? Anat mapasamak kadetoy baru nga tawen? The truth is, you dont know. Arent you going to ask me whether I know or not? Do you think I know? Ano ako Madam Auring? Certainly not. And even if I was Madam Auring, I only have as much a hunch of whats going to happen. Nothing more, our fortune tellers venture to tell as much of what may likely happen, they just have a good sense of probability. But do they know? They themselves admit to a very great margin for error for such as claims, because no one but God knows. These things that we are trying to predict, are to great extent, external, we cannot influence them, awan to gaway tayo nga mangisuro nu ana ti mapasamak tumbigat, next year or even a few moments from now. And in knowing how powerless we are in the face of such fearsome odds, what have we got to look forward to this

2014? Anna ngarud ti adda nga manamnama ti umay nga baru nga tawen? Gapu ta kasta, kunaen tay ngarud lattan nga awan ket awan lattan? Then what is this celebration for then? What are we so happy, hopeful about knowing that we dont know whats going to happen? Nothing, because we have no certainty that anything good will happen. Wow, that is too morbid a realization for a supposedly festive night. But perhaps, we are merely asking the wrong questions, anat serbi na nga damdamagem ti maysa nga banag nga awan met makasungbat? What do we know about the justice system, about predicting the weather, about price hikes and market forces, nothing, much less nu ana ti parwaren ti Bangka nga bola. But I dare say we know about ourselves. That is the only certainty we have. And its not even a 100%, but at least, it is the thing we are most familiar to. And so perhaps the more appropriate question is what will happen to me in the next year? Then again, the tone is too passive, so lets make a more active question, what will I do in the next year? What am I hoping to change? Will it affect me for the better? Anat ubraek ti bagbagik? Ana ti pagbalbaliwak? Nasayaat kadi detoy nga panagbalbaliw wenno adadda nga pakadaksan? These we can ask, because these questions we can answer. But why out of all nights do I have to ask this question now? Why tonight? Why in the New Year? Because its a new day tomorrow, on top of it is the New Year, because we are facing 365 days ahead until the next year, and we have time to answer these questions. Partly also because, we love rituals. This party itself is a ritual. A way of moving to the next year of shedding the old and celebrating the new. It is for the same love of these transitions that we have our so called New Years resolutions. But does it always have to New Year to change for the better? Truth is, not necessarily. We can resolve to be a step better anytime we choose, we can certainly ask these questions anytime of the day; that we can be sure of. The answers will greatly depend on you, because I dare say you are for the most part, in control of yourselves. Lets take smoking for example. I am not going to tell you to stop. Because you might say nga anat bibiangko. Well professionally I should care, but personally I dont care. You know the cons to it. You know its expensive at 4 pesos a stick, not to mention it shortens your lifespan significantly with each pack you consume for just a few moments of bliss, you are the one concerned, so you should be asking this to yourself. Am I going to stop smoking? Well what I can say is that it is totally up to you. Bahala ka, that is your lifeyour business. Whatever I say is insignificant compared to the answer you yourself can provide. But I do hope, it is for the better. And that is just what I hope to leave to you tonight, a simple, unpretentious and timely question. What change will I see in myself this year? Now whether youre going to ask it in the first place and eventually answer it or not is entirely your prerogative. Thank you very much, and I hope you en joy the evening!