I was in the Candaba Swamps in the afternoon of February 6, 2012. I was there to watch the migratory birds, but I got an added bonus: I was able to watch the sun as it was about to set.

It was a most beautiful sight to see – a picture of tranquility, solitude and peacefulness.  I looked around to check  if the other people I saw working the fields earlier  were watching the sunset.  They were not. They were either walking  or  pedaling their bikes towards their homes.

Just like in Manila, I thought. We have a most beautiful sight of the Manila Bay sunset, but only a few people care to watch it. At the time the sun is setting, most  Manilenos are still at work;  are already on the way home from work; or, doesn't care about the sunset at all!

The sunset is not the only natural phenomenon suffering the same fate. The plants and the flowers in the forests are in the same boat. They grow, they die and they rot without anybody seeing them. The birds in the forests sing beautiful songs with no man being able to listen to their tunes.

So the next time you did something which you thought was outstanding but nobody praised you for it or even called your attention to it,  just remember the sunset and the plants,  the flowers and the birds in the forests.

Beautiful things and outstanding deeds are sometimes left unnoticed. But even then, they remain beautiful and outstanding.