Q: “WHAT has ThePSN learned from his backpacking trip in Europe that can be applied to the Pink Campaign in the Philippines?”
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First, it’s all about will power.
If we want it badly, we are willing to make sacrifices to get what we want.
We are willing to go the distance.
We are willing to do what it takes.
We take the blows, we survive them, we overcome them.
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Second, it’s not impossible.
Things may look impossible, but God makes a way for those whom God blesses.
I have trains that were 30 minutes late, and were sure to miss their connections, but somehow, I’m still able to make it to my connecting trains.
I worry on the way, and I pray harder, but in the end, everything works out all right.
I also have trains that clearly run very late, and by strike of genius, I just decide to reroute my travel.
I get off the train, and take another train to catch my final connection.
Problem solved.
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Third, nothing beautiful comes easy.
Of course, there’s always money to buy things, to book skip-the-line tours and VIP trips.
But the best things in my trip are those I have explored on my own—
City walks, free walking tours, street food, local cinema.
My photos of Warsaw, Bucharest, and Sofia, for example, are not the ones you see on the postcards.
Rather, they are representative graffiti, dilapidated buildings, photos of damage, decay, devastation.
But I have to walk the “road not travelled” to get what I got.
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Fourth, there are silent people, untagged by surveys.
They are Pink people, but they choose to be silent (at least, in social media).
And there are those loud supporters of the liar and thief, who are often just misinformed.
I talk to them, I explain history, I make them imagine the ramifications of stupid choices.
In the end, people will listen to reason.
Unless they are too hungry to listen.
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Fifth, we need the barest minimum to survive.
So far, I have survived this winter tour with three pairs of pants, four sets of warmers, three long-sleeved shirts, and two coats (although I mostly used the white Tommy Hilfiger because I wanted to frame it as the biggest reminder of ThePSN 2022 Pink Ambassadorial Tour of Europe).
I have survived on one-meal day diets; and I have a record fasting of one day and three hours.
That’s 27 hours without solid food!
In a Pink campaign, it means that we don’t need to flood a town with toxic and non-biodegradable tarpaulins.
The most basic that we need: kindness, and the heart to educate our voters.
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Sixth, serenity.
In my travels, I enjoy the quiet of the empty churches.
I enjoy a quiet reflection during sunrise and sunset.
I see the big picture.
I understand God’s will.
In the hostels where I stay, I meet a variety of people.
They have different ideas of the world.
I am so tolerant of these ideas because, well, they do not affect me, or my country in the long run.
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If I could stop caring for Filipinos, if I could stop caring for the world, my life would be simpler, and perhaps happier.
I mean, who is so rich he only spends his time watching sunrises and sunsets?
Who is so blessed he travels the world during the pandemic?
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But for now, my happiness is to be involved.
To be helpful in giving people information, insights, education, illumination, wisdom.
I feel that when people are as smart as I am, or even just 10% as smart as I am, their lives will be better.
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In most of my travels in the Balkans, I’ve seen a lot of depiction—statues, stained glass art, paintings—of St. George and the dragon.
St. George is a military saint, and was venerated since the Crusades.
The Pink Revolution in the Philippines is also a crusade, and I see the Woman in Pink doing a St. George fighting the dragon.
I am with her!
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In Frankfurt, Germany, one of the last places I’ve visited, I saw a statue, a bronze sculpture by Richard Hess.
It is called “David und Goliath.”
It depicts the small David sitting on the decapitated head of the gigantic Goliath.
We know who the David is, and who Goliath is, in the forthcoming Philippine presidential elections.
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I believe in signs.
I believe in reason.
I still believe in the Filipino people.
This is not an easy battle.
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We have 60 days to turn the tide, if it is not already turning.
We must double our effort.
Goliath is crumbling, devolving, losing ground.
Maybe, just maybe, and I’m praying hard for it, the Filipino people will once again prove their worth in 2022.
I pink you all! (To be continued)/PN
