CHANGE IS YET TO COME
(Voiceover 1) The prophesies of Nostradamus are part of the historical record. Though they are highly speculative and controversial, their legacy endures up to now. Listener discretion is advised.
(Voiceover 2) Dec. 21st, 2012, the day has broken, but the skies are dark. Could it be the end of days, as predicted by the Mayans, the earliest civilization of mankind? And as many cultures, religions, scientists and people believe so? Are the events that are happening now all pointing to 2012?
I don’t know the answer about the FUTURE… But in the NOW, I think we humans need to get serious and get our acts together.
The quadruple typhoons that hit us recently, Big Boy Ondoy who gave us the flood that could put our modern-day Noah’s Ark to the test, Persistent Pepeng who landed on us not once, not twice, but thrice, No-Feel Ramil who’s worth forgetting and the initially windy and gusty but really Holy Santi who spared us, they all have something to tell us: we will we will blow you…(with whistling)…Go back to your home and run to a safe place, I’ll knock your face, you big disgrace, gather your mess all over the place…I say, we will, we will blow you…(whistling)
Blown away we were, we went home and our homes were unsafe and unsecure. We drowned with our homes, we were thrown in the wind with them, some even got buried under them. Some didn’t even get to see their home. But our big home, the environment we were born and lived in, the shelter that seeks to nurture us, whose plentiful resources serve us, now revolts against us. Why?
Let us count our ways: We choked it with CO2 from our cars and factories, we poisoned its blood with chemicals and obstructed its circulatory system with garbage, we shaved its hair of trees and forests to make money, we raped its body and violated its flora and fauna. In short, we have damaged the place we call home. Poor or rich, squatting in Welfare Vill or living in Provident Vill, walking or driving when the tragedy happened, we are all guilty of these acts.
The winds have blown furiously and the rains have inundated us. Floods…landslides…many dead, many missing, many grieving..so much loss..so much distress…What’s the meaning to all of these? I don’t know…But I think they are necessary.
We don’t need to wait for the ground beneath our feet to shake and crack, for the volcanoes to erupt and throw lava once more for us to feel like it’s 2012. Let us start thinking of solutions and doing some actions. The future is NOW, whether we believe it or not.
(Voiceover) Meanwhile, as the truth of Nostradamus’ predictions are being debated, the world continues to exist to serve humans, the most honorable of all creatures. Let us prove we are worthy of this honor…
Good evening, fellow Toastmasters!
![[LAB]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PJ-AR296_LAB_DV_20090831134421.jpg)

