Like Liberation Day
| NO HOLDS BARRED |
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| Armida Siguion-Reyna |
NEW YORK — For almost a day we were glued to our TV set, with bated breaths, watching the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped 2,600 feet below ground level, for 69 days, since the gold and copper mine collapsed Aug. 5. And we were just as emotional as everyone on the site, crying and laughing and applauding whenever a miner stepped out of the metal capsule and on to firm ground.
It was as if we were Chileans — no, not just us in our tiny apartment, but the entire world, seemingly one big country, one big Chile, rooting for a group of men even family had already started to give up as lost, and then were suddenly there, like newly-born.
CNN’s coverage I found excellent. In between rescues, the TV news network gave out bits and pieces of background information in no way hysterical but simply factual — batu-bato sa langit, ang tamaan, well, wala akong magagawa kung magalit kayo, because heck, you’re really hysterical and given to manipulating viewers’ emotions.
Anyway, so through CNN, I found out there had already been complaints against the San Jose Mine; its mother company Empresa Minera San Esteban is known in Chile to have a poor safety record. The mine was shut down in 2007 following an accidental death in its premises, but just like in da Pilipins reopened in 2008, “despite failing to comply with all regulations.”.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101015com4.html
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