A tad cross-eyed and a little sleepy but I am back at the clinic seeing patients. It's always good to return to the US where there is order. And the cure to the chronic congestion and pollution in high-density Manila will be found in the Oklahoma panhandle, wide-open and pristine. We've had an unusually wet August and it's never been greener in memory.

My wife donned her white smock for the first time in two months and began treating her grateful patients who were so happy to see her. Who says we can only have one home? I feel entirely comfortable here and in the future I will post in the gallery photos of selected Guymon people, among the most decent and friendly anywhere in this world.

If you really want to participate, you need to be on the ground continuously tracking the national pulse. These experiences must be supplemented with a rigorous reading schedule and the depth of one's understanding will only be enhanced with spiritual exercises following the precepts of St. Ignatius.

The end result should lead to a strengthened resolve, a greater appreciation of the widespread suffering and a deeper commitment towards the common good.

Haven't posted anything in a while because I was undercover. My complete anonymity allows me to go around everywhere and observe and talk to people and listen to them. To those who think that the poor in Manila are poor need to go to the Visayas because the poor are even more wretched there (if at all this is even possible). I will visit Mindanao next because I am told to expect even worse conditions!

A fast and effective way to contain corruption in a society where nursing exams are leaked, little league qualifications are doctored, election results are rigged and customs and tax agents are routinely bribed is to slide towards anarchy. Cut governmental supervision. Abolish laws and minimize licensing. Standardize tax collection, integrate the armed forces into an effective constabulary that will protect and not take advantage of the people. Competition must be encouraged and political dynasties dismantled.

We need to be obsessed with the future. We are being eaten alive.

Listened to Justice Anthony Kennedy expound on the concept of "Rule of Law". He stated 3 requirements. One was the active participation of the citizenry towards the creation of just laws attuned to human rights, another was the enforcement of these laws without fear of retribution but it was the third component that got me thinking. Kennedy said that a government and its agencies needed to be reminded that they were not above the law. He felt that it was this concept that could explain all the corruption and graft and dishonesty in nations with less-developed legal systems because government and its agents have this notion that it is them who have the power to grant licenses and permits and enforce laws when these agencies exist primarily to process these claims to those who are entitled to them.

If you expect to go far in Philippine bureaucracy you need to adopt this pose of utter humility and ignorance because many in this entrenched class will only pounce on you harder if you so much as demand for what is rightfully yours. These people think that but for their compassion and grace you are not allowed anything. A fellow physician told me about what Oprah said: Never accept a No from someone who never had the right to say Yes in the first place.

Never mind that we may be 200 years behind but it is time to avail of modern tools. Carpenters don't have electric drills and saws and it requires so much more time and energy to perform tasks that any weekend worker in the US will finish in a fraction of the time it takes our professional carpenters to complete. Numerous laborers can be seen digging and toiling the entire day what a lone heavy equipment operator can accomplish in a few hours. Our farmers continue to rely on carabaos and wooden farm implements which explains why the ratio is still one farmer to a couple of hectares where in the US, one farmer with a combine can easily handle 500 hectares.

The argument has always been what our laborers will do with all the extra time and energy. This is a demeaning argument. Every human must be allowed to complete their tasks in the most efficient manner. This is the reason why we need to "recreate" whatever extra time we have in order that we do not lose sight of why we need to work in the first place.

We will never get our National act together until we recognize that other people's time is as valuable as ours.