As a physician I know from many years of medical practice that in life threatening conditions the key element to survival is hope, the will to live, the belief that all is not lost. Hope.

Ninoy Aquino inspired it in us in the darkest days of Martial law. Cory Aquino brought it in us in the face of military attacks against democracy.

In the midst of shocking corruption and misrule, Noynoy Aquino brings hope to us now.

We see Noynoy, honest, straightforward, incorruptible and we hope that our country will not break down, will not collapse, will not be defeated by the forces of greed and deception.

With Noynoy as President we shall regain our economic, moral and political health as a nation and as a people. This is my hope. Noynoy is our hope.

It boils down to faith. The first of 7 themes of Catholic Social Teaching enumerated by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is the sanctity of human life and dignity of the person. There is a tendency to overlook the second component.

Take me as an example. My wife and I trained in the busiest hospital in the Philippines as well as in the busiest hospital in New York City. We were exposed to all forms of contraception including abortion. After a period of discernment, we decided on natural family planning methods. We have 5 children, the youngest of whom is 2 weeks old.

At 47 (my wife is 46), we had not expected to experience again the pure, joyful blessedness of a child's birth.

Pope John Paul II states that Catholic social teaching “rests on the threefold cornerstone of human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity.” (1999 Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in America, 55). Solidarity, John Paul II wrote is “not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others. It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good” (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 38).

Complementing solidarity is subsidiarity. Pope Pius XI declared “that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry“ (Quadragesimo Anno, 79).

During these partisan times when politicians pander to various interest groups in the spirit of expediency, let us not forget that each one of us possesses the capacity to prayerfully reflect upon our choices. For St Thomas Aquinas, conscience is the act of applying our knowledge of good and evil to what we do. The principle of the primacy of conscience is contingent upon education and enlightenment. John Paul II affirmed that “in order to have a ‘good conscience,’ (1Tim 1:5) a person must seek the truth and must make judgments in accordance with that same truth”(Veritatis Splendor, 62)

750,000 abortions each year is unacceptable (Pro-Life Philippines). In the absence of education, it is becoming the contraceptive of choice in our country. We must do something about this national tragedy. "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46)

While I cannot support House Bill 5043 because of its punitive provisions towards health professionals and private enterprise as well as an inadequate educational component, we must persevere in crafting guidelines which will allow every Filipino to act according to their sufficiently formed conscience. We must have faith that each one of us, properly enlightened, will do right.

Pork Barrel is destroying our country. It feeds systemic corruption and nourishes immoral political behavior.

The Constitution assigns to Congress, the power to spend. The President may propose a budget but only Congress can appropriate the money and specify the project or activity covered by the funds. We cannot completely abolish pork barrel but we can certainly curtail the pernicious practices associated with it.

To produce Filipinos capable of competing in a 21st century world, we need to invest in health, education and infrastructure. There has been a disproportionate emphasis on infrastructure projects over the last 20 years because of the enhanced opportunities for personal profit.

I propose slashing the infrastructure budget by 90% over the next 3 years, leaving a much reduced amount to maintain existing roads and bridges. The amount saved will be applied towards doubling the salaries of teachers, physicians, nurses and other health workers, soldiers, police.

This measure will attract qualified applicants to fill these essential positions, reverse the exodus of our professionals to other countries and significantly pump-prime the economy because these public servants will increase domestic consumption.

We not only increase our investment in health, education and security, we also minimize the leakage lost to corruption.

We must also de-professionalize politics. We need to return to the days when politics was public service for the common good, when public service required personal sacrifice.

Today, politics has become too personal because many politicians make a healthy living from it. The stakes have been raised immeasurably because more and more public funds are involved. My one, single promise is I will only serve one term in the elective position that I am seeking. Six years is enough time. Nobody should be so arrogant as to think one will not get accustomed to the perks of political power, a condition directly proportional to the length of office.

The day you regard public service as your own exclusive, private domain should be your last day in politics.

There has been an alarming increase in the rate of new Human Immunodeficiency Virus cases in the Philippines. While we still have one of the lowest prevalence rates of HIV in the world, we must immediately take the necessary measures to avert a full-blown crisis.

From the time the Department of Health began tracking HIV disease in 1984, there have been 4021 cases recorded. 318 have died from the disease. The mortality rate is difficult to determine however because most of the afflicted patients go home to their provinces and spend their final days in seclusion and anonymity.

Compared to 2008, there was a three-fold rise in the incidence of HIV in 2009. The increase was largely attributed to the cohort group of men having sex with other men (MSM), differentiated from openly homosexual males. Current public health interventions do not cover the generally invisible MSM population composed of young, urban professionals in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.

A coordinated educational campaign through the internet, which is the preferred mode of communication among MSM groups must be immediately implemented. Widespread and frequent testing for HIV which is offered free of charge in government tertiary care hospitals should be encouraged and the principles and practices of preventive measures clearly articulated.

It would be a national tragedy to confront yet another epidemic when we haven’t even contained the scourge of tuberculosis.

"Is He Autistic?" distracts us from focusing on pertinent issues and instead plays upon laymen's ignorance and fears.

Mental disorders are diagnosed and classified using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV).

Autism is an apparent, ascertainable condition subject to easy diagnosis by any physician or trained psychologist. The diagnosis of autism requires a total of 6 symptoms including at least two symptoms of qualitative impairment in social interaction, at least one symptom of qualitative impairment in communication, and at least one symptom of restricted and repetitive behavior.

In other words, autism is both observable and obvious.

From a medical standpoint, Senator Noynoy Aquino does not in any way suffer from autism.

He does suffer as a victim of inuuendo and personal attacks based on psuedo medical imaginings meant to discredit him and distract the electorate.

Not that autism automatically excludes anyone from public office. Thomas Jefferson was known to have exhibited a number of symptoms pointing to some form of autism ( Ledgin, Norm. Diagnosing Jefferson: Evidence of a Condition that Guided his Beliefs, Behavior, and Personal Associations.). President Thomas Jefferson is the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.

Autism as an issue is a sham. It is unworthy of serious discussion.

We must instead focus upon the qualities of our presidential candidates that will result in peaceful, revolutionary transformation. Former and present leaders who displayed legal brilliance, a variety of talents, and unprecedented hard work all failed to unite us Filipinos into becoming a productive force. We need an honest President with a clear mind and a clean heart who will rally us from all this hopelessness, violence and corruption.