PINK Museum of Hope

 “Have you been to the Museo ng Pag-Asa?” my friend P messaged me yesterday.  

“Yes.” 

“Then why have you not blogged about it?” she probed. 

“How do you know?” I asked, surprised.  

“I read all your blogs.” 

“You do?! Why?” 

“Why not?” she sneered. 

Friends say the nicest things. 

Seven months ago, in March, our driver Sam, Tony and I made time to visit the PINK Museum of Hope, a long two-hour drive from our home on a good day (moderate traffic flow).  

From the moment we entered the gate to the time we left the place, I was all choked up. I could not describe how I felt. Every word stored in my head escaped to somewhere far away.  

On several monitors, we watched one PINK massive rally after another in different places, and in every single one of them, the energy hit the rafters. People of all ages in PINK were all fired up, holding up creative posters and chanting inspiring words. The enthusiasm was palpable. 

Looking around at all the items (gifts to Leni and Kiko) from shelf to shelf, I had goosebumps. These were no ordinary gifts—they were handmade, personalized, and crafted in love. They came in all art forms: sculpture, painting, literature (poetry, letters, coffee table books), music and dance; performing arts; film; and architecture (the place was cleverly constructed to showcase all the thousands of magnum opuses).  

I have never seen anything like it!  

And I am not speaking of just the museum but the spirit that drove it. There is no adjective in the dictionary good enough to describe that PINK treasure-of-a-place and my feelings, especially because the result of the election was the polar opposite of what this place evoked.  

And so I could not blog about it. 

This much delayed upload, prompted by P, does not even begin to capture the essence of what we experienced—through the campaign that culminated in a place not Malacanang, but one called Museo ng Pag-Asa. 

The message drilled into my soul after that visit was HOPE: someday, grace will enable us to vote into office candidates with an honest, honorable heart that beats for service. God, in His infinite 

mercy, will not leave us under the reins of politicians with a dishonest, dishonorable heart that beats for greed.     

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.” Psalms 42:11 (NKJV)