Today, in the Philippines, millions of Filipinos are flocking to churches and cathedrals across the 7 thousand plus islands to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In about 12-14 hours later, their Colombian counterparts will do the same.
Roughly 83% of Filipinos are Roman Catholics and the Philippines is in fact the third largest Catholic nation after Mexico and Brazil. Colombia on the other hand is 90% Catholic. While the two nations are geographically apart, they actually share so many commonalities thanks to the centuries of Spanish rule.
In the world of pageantry, Colombians and Filipinos were actually allies. The current rift of course was induced by the wrong announcement of results by Steve Harvey last December during the Miss Universe contest. It went downhill from there where volleys of insults and bashings were thrown back and forth from both countries.
To this day, while majority of Colombians are happy with the victory of Pia Wurtzbach, a large number of them still think she won in a fraudulent way. Similarly, while majority of Filipinos are sympathetic to Ariadna Gutierrez, many still think she’s a sore loser.
Colombians and Filipinos should be reminded that holding grudge against each other benefits only their adversaries. They should take a good example out from the gesture of Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega who may have been really hurt to remove the crown from Ariadna but she still have the duty to uphold the truth and what was right.
For the Catholics both in Colombia and in the Philippines, today, the Easter Sunday, is a day for forgiveness, fresh beginnings and transcending from negativity. Perhaps it is now the day to forgive each other and concentrate their energies on what lies ahead rather than on what happened in the past. Colombians and Filipinos were friends. They should both allow the spirit of Easter Sunday to rekindle that friendship.
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