THE LATIN phrase ?annus horribilis? has been in the popular lexicon ever since Queen Elizabeth II used it to describe 1992, a year plagued by misfortune for her property and her family. The same has been said of 2009; it surely qualifies as one of the worst years in living memory.

It comes as no surprise, then, that polled before the year ended, an overwhelming majority of Filipinos from all walks of life (89 percent, according to the Social Weather Stations) expressed hopefulness about this year.

We have dwelt on the disasters and the grim events that hogged the headlines in 2009, the political and economic difficulties that beset a nation battered by natural calamities.

What we wish to do now is point out that even as official irresponsibility and impunity alienated the public, and the economy and nature battered the citizenry, we were able to witness heroism and compassion temper these events, giving hope and providing inspiration to all of us.

Suffice it to say that if we saw our political institutions preferring to live lavishly, lie constantly, exercise impunity with a near-total failure on the part of the citizenry to exact accountability, we saw individuals and even groups demonstrate how to serve humbly, and live lives that bear authentic witness to truth and public service.

While still far less prevalent than we hope, these witnesses to virtue and duty have helped the public to realize that official corruption and indifference have a price; and that the public has the means to change the situation for the better.

At the heart of this possibility ? never a certainty, but a distinctly achievable goal if enough citizens set their mind to it ? is our ongoing democratic project.

Surely many citizens feel optimistic about 2010 if only because a New Year brings New Life, a turning of the page. And yet in terms of our being local and national community members, optimism about 2010 is possible, even inevitable, because we live in a democracy where change is regularly scheduled. Each of us now has a chance, provided we registered as voters, to accomplish change without risking our lives or the stability of society.

So let us embrace that chance, and make the most of that opportunity. Let the divisions last a little longer, since every voter must pick sides come election day, but commit, as well, to our electoral exercise being marked not by fraud or terrorism, but a collective assertion of one person, one vote. Let us have polls marked by the public overcoming the obstacles to free suffrage put in our path by political operators and the politicians themselves.

Let us strive for a national election in which individual candidates may come out the victors but in which it is the country that comes out the biggest winner: by having a new administration with a mandate untainted by fraud or doubt; where the public can unite after nearly a decade of deepening divisions. Where the past no longer haunts us, but begins to recede as we finally start working together to build a better future.