It was the greatest event in the history of humankind…up to
that moment in time.
The boarding house was on the 4th floor of
Laperal apartments.
In Marawi City, there was no electricity…sorry, there was, but only for those who could afford it. The light in Marawi, then and now, is an animal that is more often dead than it is alive. When I was young, television was a distant fiction that I saw
only in the movies.
I arrived in Manila in 1968.
Our landlady rented two apartments that faced each other. In one
apartment, student boarders lived, and in the other, the family lived, which also served as a dining and receiving room, complete with a television.
At 8:00 p.m. on July 19, 1969 (if I remember correctly), all
the student boarders huddled together in front of the TV. It was also the first time a global live broadcast of any event took place. It was the
dawn of satellite global broadcasting.
By midnight, only half of the original group of about 10 were
left. The time of the landing kept changing, and by 6 AM, I was the only one
left. When Armstrong finally delivered, “one small step…one giant leap for mankind,” it was past 7 in the morning of July 20, 1969, and I was all alone – a moment I
cherish to this day. If it was a hoax, then I was a witness to the greatest hoax
in human history.
Fifty years from now…the moon will be a common tourist
destination. Human settlers will thrive on Mars, and with my 14-year-old daughter, who is obsessed with astronomy, she will probably make it to the
moon and maybe Mars – why not? Technology is no longer a creeper…it is a jumper
zooming at the speed of light. Fifty years from now, robots will be exploring
the seas of Europa and Enceladus, and maybe they will have found life in those water worlds virtually a stone's throw away from Earth.
If I live long enough to witness the first man walk on Mars,
I will sail towards the sunset with a smile on my face.
nk
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