MARK L. LOPEZThe year 2020 is definitely a year that most of us would remember as the year Murphy’s Law took effect and took over the world. Our lives became unrecognizable as we tried to navigate a globe that sat on its head.

Some of us are still reeling from the toll of the pandemic, licking our wounds from the shutdown of businesses, including our beloved ABS-CBN, and smarting from the tragedy of one disaster after another.

It was easy to accept defeat and declare 2020 as the year that we all lost. However, with each unfortunate event, heroes appeared from nowhere. Doctors, nurses and health workers braved the dangers of COVID-19, trying to save as many lives as they could.

During the lockdown, farmers, factory and store workers and delivery personnel stepped up to ensure that we all had essential supplies in our homes. With each calamity that struck, many rescuers, relief workers, volunteers and donors reached the farthest and most challenging areas, if only to lift another person.

And during ABS-CBN’s darkest hours, we found allies and supporters who had the courage to allow their voices to be heard alongside ours.

We continue to grieve for the loved ones we lost, we allow ourselves to shed tears for our failures and we are all still trying to make sense of injustices and misfortunes that befell us. However, we should not stop there. We must remember all the good people who remained steadfast when we were wavering, who gave us strength when we felt fragile and who held our hand when we could no longer take another step forward. Those are the moments that we should forever hold in our hearts. Those are the moments of humanity at its finest. Those are the moments of hope that God has blessed us with.

Christmas is precisely that. A season of hope and renewed faith. A time when the world received the greatest gift it could and will ever receive.

This Christmas, may we find the true meaning of joy, unity and love amidst the darkness. May we find the passion for standing alongside the brave, the compassionate and the kind so that others may live, so that others may succeed and so that others will be able to rise above their challenges. Tayo sana ang magsilbing Liwanag at Ligaya sa buhay ng ating kapwa Pilipino ngayong Pasko at sa mga araw pang darating. Being in the service of the Filipino, in good times and in bad times and every day of our lives, is in itself a gift.

From our family to yours, may your homes be filled with blessings, and we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! - MARK L. LOPEZ