The Health Department and the National Police are crowing over the fact that there were 117 fewer persons injured by firecrackers and stray bullets last New Year?s mayhem compared to the previous year?s.

The agencies reported 736 incidents?717 injured by firecrackers, 17 by stray bullets, and two by watusi ingestion.

The all-time low number of injuries during the New Year revelry was attributed to the rain showers over Metro Manila.

But even these injuries could still have been prevented, if not totally stopped. All it needs is political will and resolve.

If Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte can ban firecrackers and other forms of deadly pyrotechnics during New Year?s Eve, why can?t Metro Manila mayors? If the Chinese in Hong Kong can have their New Year?s celebration without firecrackers, why can?t we in the Philippines do it? This when pyrotechnics is supposed to ward off evil spirits, a belief acquired from the Chinese.

Santa Banana, we never learn.

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The question I am most often asked is ?Will there be cha-cha this year??

The way I see it, time is running out for Charter change via Constituent Assembly, or Consa, as members of the House of Representatives would have it.

Note that in every election year, the serious campaigning for re-electionists and those whose terms are ending (but would like their wives, children and prot?g?s to succeed them), start in April or a year before the May 2010 polls.

There are others, of course, like some presidential hopefuls who have been campaigning since last year, long before the campaign period.

Aside from this, there?s a natural public aversion to consa. This mode is perceived to be self-serving; an avenue for the extension of terms of all elected officials, including the President. The Senate, too, would have none of this mode of changing the Constitution.

So what mode will it be?

Again, the way I see it, cha-cha can only be possible through a Constitutional Convention. However, this mode of changing the severely flawed 1987 Cory charter cannot be achieved this year given that such an exercise would need about P10 billion and a year of preparation.

This means that if the mode of changing the Constitution will be through a con-con, delegates to it must be voted together will all those running for the 2010 polls. That will not only save us the P10 billion, but to enable the people to decide whether or not they want Charter change.

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If there?s any Charter change at all this year, it?ll possibly be on the economic provisions, like amending the ban on foreigners owning lands, and the biggest impediment to foreign investments like the 60-40 ownership in favor of Filipinos. These are two of the biggest concerns of foreign investors coming to the Philippines.

An amendment to the Constitution only on the economic provisions is possible through the mode of enactment of ordinary legislation where both chambers of Congress will have their say voting separately.

In fact, both Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Prospero Nograles are in agreement along this mode of amending the economic provisions of the charter.

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With all the gloom and doom on the economy this year, there?s one area that may just be the country?s engine of growth, fueling the economy.

And that, to my mind, is tourism which also became the engine of growth for Thailand and Vietnam.

Properly promoted and marketed, there are lot of opportunities in the Philippines, blessed as it is with tropical weather and a lot of white beaches and resorts.

There are a lot also of opportunities in medical tourism. Even now, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese have been coming to the country for medical tourism.

But, to my mind, the biggest opportunity of all in tourism is the upcoming $10-billion ?Entertainment City? of Pagcor at the reclaimed area along Roxas Boulevard with its hotel-luxury restaurant sports and recreation center-convention centers complex, and other amenities tourists would want and dream of.

Consortia of hotel-resorts cum gaming have already signified their interest in investing in this tourist project for Japan, Malaysia, the US, Europe and Australia. In fact, they have already approved the project?s terms of reference.

The sweetener in ?Entertainment City? is the participation of two local conglomerates-the SM Group of Companies of Henry Sy and the Megaworld of Andrew Tan. Santa Banana, if this project will not attract tourists to the Philippines, nothing will.

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With recession hitting the United States, and the number of unemployment on the rise, several of the children of families who chose to migrate to the United States which was perceived years back as the ?land of milk and honey? are coming back.

Many more are said wanting to return to their homeland were it not for the fact that when they left, they burned the bridges behind them. Others are said to be too ashamed of coming home.