Chapter 7.2: Hope and Despair - A Commentary

A few days had passed since the whole Philippines got teleported to another world. At first, the only issue was the loss of internet (a real big deal for the younger generations and for those who depend on it for their livelihood), but other concerns have started to surface. For instance, the Philippines is actually a self-sufficient agricultural country. However, greedy bastards who hoard food items in order to decrease food supply and skyrocket prices exist. They were using the "transported to another world" issue to justify the price increase. Oil prices also increased due to more legitimate reasons. Being cut off from the rest of the modern world means that the Philippines has to depend on its own limited oil supply which can only last for the next twenty years. While the former ASEAN country had managed to acquire oil drilling equipment and technology for the last two decades, it would still take some months or even years before a new drilling project would become commercially viable for use. Then, there's the decrease of Philippine Peso's purchasing power that made things even worse.

In order to cope up with the predicament, the Philippine Administration ordered a price freeze that pinned down the prices to twice of those before

the "teleportation incident" happened. Too bad, the current President and his staff are from influential oligarch families, and thus are pressured to obey the interest of their kinsmen. It could have been worse though as the oligarchs really wanted to triple the prices but they came to realize that such abuse would guarantee the defeat of the political party they are supporting for the upcoming election. Even worse for them, aggravating social unrest would surely result to uprisings that could potentially kick them out of power.

With such problems in mind, President Yap hastened the exploration of the new world the Philippines is in. No sooner, evidence of intelligent life in the form of a maiden riding a pegasus quickly caught everyone's attention:

"Are we already in Encantadia or Sansinukob?" a teenage girl joked as she was being interviewed by the media.

"Obviously, no. We are in Askr. Y'know, the country in Fire Emblem Heroes?" a teenage boy disagreed with the girl, referring to an almost 30 year old and still kicking mobile game.

"She's obviously a pegasus knight. In Askr, it is common for female soldiers to be recruited as pegasus knights. Hmmm... It seems the pegasus is enjoying the ride. I wonder if she has no pa..."

*Slap*

The interview was cut short after some acts of violence were caught in the camera. The media broadcasted a heavily edited version, removing inappropriate comments made by the boy. Nonetheless, the bystanders who happened to be there managed to capture the whole scenario and shared videos via Bluetooth.

Nonetheless, the photos taken from the other world piqued the interest of several parties. The scientific community obviously came into the forefront, encouraging the Government to support scientific explorations. The religious denominations expressed intentions of spreading their doctrines in the new world (not counting the ISIS-wannabes whose intentions are obvious). The oligarchs mentioned expansions of their businesses to the brave frontier. Then, there are those leftists.....

While The Philippines is in a dire strait, it seems not all hope is lost. The new world is potentially a boon or a bane, but it shall heavily depend on the choices the people of the Philippines would have to make. Thus, a new chapter of the Philippine history has been opened. However, shall it tell a success story or a tragedy? Only time could tell...

- Atty. Teodoro Jefferson R. Zaide, MPA, PhD., Manila Bulletin, March 14, 2042.