A time for rethinking…

I’ve had a hell of a Monday… We had earlier scheduled that my mother-in-law who was recently diagnosed with cancer was to begin her chemotherapy and cobalt treatment so that the possible healing process begins. I’ve not had a day off for more than a month now because of business problems we have to address as well as the scholarship program we’ve started for the new breed of tourist industry workers we’ve planned and waited for the longest time.

I don’t have complaints about that. But yesterday was like a topsy-turvy day since the schedule was all mixed up given the Monday traffic situation. On the way to another hospital, my wife received a call from my father-in-law that he finds it hard breathing. He had to be rushed to the hospital and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit so all attention was turned on him.

I must admit that I am already quite accustomed to situations like these because of earlier experiences I’ve had with my folks. Well, if I may say, my in-laws are quite lucky that they’ve ripened enough to witness their children lead their own lives and of course see their grandchildren.

As always, I’ve to liken this to a parallel situation I’m now undergoing through with my organization. I’ve always likened the Manila Film Center as a home… a castle, a symbol… I’ve always thought of this building as my own but as Hegel would say; “that the only constant thing in this world is change itself”.

Lately, the burden of the financial crisis has caught up with us and our business. This potentially means that we are risking a lot out of our hopes that the storm could be weathered. Well, I do hope so… but I’ve learned so many times before, that hoping is never enough.

These days are days of rethinking… rethinking that nothing is permanent. The same way that lives are not constant. Keeping the Manila Film Center gives us a semblance of success and prominence. A castle representing an empire that might soon crumble is the only action taken is that of hoping. And that very same symbol of our prominence is the very thing that is keeping this business and this family at risk.

The overhead expenditure for this building has proven too much of a burden that we must now rethink our position in the industry and humble ourselves to the fact that keeping this size may not be as sustainable as we think.

Last year’s sales has proven that the global crisis has dawned upon us and that fact was reinforced by the dismal sales figures we’ve had for the 1st quarter of this year… the future is indeed grim. Taking time to observe may not be in our best interest as an organization. My position earlier into the crisis that spending will be the key to our survival has proven that it is not enough compounded by the fact that a lot of the expenditures meant a lot of activities and therefore a lot of blunders, the effects of which may be felt later than expected or wished for.

If I wanted to gripe about it, then I’d say that I hate the fact that we’ve lost a great opportunity three years back when we had the financial capability to develop this property into something that we can be proud of. But then again, past is past, and it would be fruitless to point fingers at anyone. The present situation has presented us with a fresh challenge and that is what we have to take on at the moment. Like I always say, life is made up of moments… that is all.