I go to the Quiapo church area in Manila fairly often for a variety of reasons, including buying the best hopia monggo in this part of the country. (Note: It’s a small corner bakery in the same building as Mercury Drug opposite the church.)

What I find quite amazing is the number of fortune tellers occupying semi-permanent positions in the plaza facing the church. They’re mostly elderly women, and it reasons that they would not try and make a living there if there were not enough paying customers.

I’ve never had my fortune told there (or anywhere, for that matter). But I do know a few people who have. Over the decades, the fortune tellers will usually tell their victims—oops, I mean patrons—the things they want to hear.

If the clients are youngish, they will be told two things: 1) you will be making a lot of money in the next few years, and 2) you might be going abroad very soon.

These predictions may actually happen. Wishes can become self-fulfilling prophecies when the person wants something very badly. A fortune teller may provide the small boost necessary to force the person listening to her and paying a few bucks to turn the dreams to reality.

This is not to say that there are no people who have the gift of seeing the future, AKA the gift of prophecy. Throughout the ages, there have been a few individuals who had the uncanny ability to foretell coming events.

Allow me therefore to sharpen my fortune telling abilities with a few predictions for 2013.

One, there will be a major political scandal in the Philippines. It will involve a very well known and powerful leader;

Two, a beloved showbiz figure will pass away;

Three, a new sports hero will emerge, and become a major star. He/she will become a mega-product endorser;

And finally Four, a large private corporation will be revealed to have engaged in unethical practices. But this company will be able to wriggle its way out of the hole it dug for itself through the use of effective public relations.

I can even add a prediction Number Five: some candidates who will lose in the midterm elections will claim they were cheated. They will present some people who they will insist are credible witnesses.

I am willing to bet half a month’s salary that the majority of my predictions will come true. Anyone who wants to take my bet can deposit the sum to my savings account, and I will either return double the money by the end of 2013, or keep it because my gift of prophecy proves uncannily accurate.

Now I don’t want to take anyone’s money. Take a look at my predictions and realize that they are not forecasts of the future at all. They are nothing more than events that happen year after year after year.

Political scandals are part of life in the Philippines. There has never been a year when we did not have some kind of scandal involving politicos.

And as for a “beloved” show biz figure passing away, there are enough past stars who are at the tail end of their lives who will surely die in 2013. In death, they become “beloved,” even if they were jerks during their peak years.

Sports heroes come and go, and there is no shortage of private companies which victimize the public with their questionable schemes. And as for the losing candidates, few have the ability to take defeat magnanimously.

Anyone still want to take my bet? I don’t think so. The coming year will be what each one of us makes it to be. So maybe we should just try and make it better than 2012? Not a bad idea, isn’t it?

Merry Christmas to all the loyal readers of The Manila Times!

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