I am asked by a lot of people what I think of the Value Added Tax and I tell them that I think the VAT is a clear illustration of how our country deals with its problems. It takes the easy way out and simply taxes everyone even if we all know that the most affected are the families of the overseas Filipinos who produce the bulk of real production in our country today. The government refuses to admit that it is mortally afraid of these powerful banking institutions from whom it depends for loans to pay all those loans, some of which were transacted under immoral circumstances (like paying billions of dollars for a nuclear plant that was never used and which was the result of complicity between corrupt government officials and businessmen). The government is not addressing the root cause of corruption in the form of tax leaks and tax breaks that favor the wealthy and powerful but how can our leaders implement a corruption- free policy when they don't have any credibility? They freely make promises they don't keep and whenever they are caught doing dishonest deeds, they muddle the issue and stymie, by all the various means they have at their disposal, the pursuit of truth.

The last few days have been very busy and I expect the pace to pick-up even more. I am meeting a lot of people and I am seeing so many new facets in our society. And while there is widespread hopelessness and cynicism I feel that people want to participate again. I feel that they want to resume reading newspapers again. I have heard many a regret about not having voted for a while. Bringing these people back to caring about the future of our country is a solid first step towards taking our country back from the clutches of traditional politics.

Attended today a symposium of college students. My invitation had been an afterthought the night before the event for two candidates from the "Genuine Opposition" had confirmed their attendance. As I expected, the two did not show. I felt for the idealistic organizers of the event who still had no idea that when the stakes are high, it just does not pay to engage in retail politics. But when your mission is for the conversion of a corrupt system these are the meetings that matter and I had a wonderful time engaging people half my age for an hour and a half discussing my dreams and their dreams for our country.

We need to do something about the debt problem. More than 40% of the budget goes towards paying the interest on our numerous debts. We currently have a law that automatically appropriates money from whatever money the government makes through the collection of taxes, exports, overseas remittances, etc.

Because of the large share that ends up being eaten by interest payments, social services that had already been marginal have been cut back further. There are hardly any appreciable investments being made towards the maintenance and upgrade of infrastructure. Schoolteacher salaries have been stagnant. Government, which should be the prime engine that drives the economy, has acted with embarrassing impotence simply because it does not have the money to stimulate growth.

Remember that part of this debt continues to come from dubious deals that were made 30 years ago including a nuclear power plant that was built but never produced a single kilowatt of energy because in the indecent haste in which the deal was sealed and soon after the large payoff-bribes has been delivered, it was determined that the plant was astride a geographical fault. I remember the figure well: $300,000 a day was being paid by the Filipino people. An amount that could have built so many schoolrooms, that could have provided a glass of milk to millions of schoolchildren. Instead, one of the cronies responsible for the deal bought himself a castle and a title in Austria.

It is immoral to continue to pay interest on these odious loans. Our leaders need to show more courage when they negotiate with financial institutions that knew exactly the corrupt origins of some of these loans

There have been quite a few editorials decrying the lack of intelligent discourse surrounding the senatorial race. This coming from a group that shuts out entities that have no money budgeted for "media operations". There is truly quite a gulf separating those who spend public money over those who spend hard-earned money. Even radio stations in the provinces now ask "permission" from Manila if they can conduct radio interviews with candidates coming from unheralded parties, permission that usually comes with a price.

Here we are, bursting with ideas yet confined to discussing our hopes and plans for the future with market vendors and waiting trisikad ( a tricycle-rickshaw) pedal pushers. We can't even break into the debates sponsored by wealthy business interests because they all seem to want to hear the same old garbage and promises that have protected the economic elites all these years. Don't they see that such a rotten system will keep us from fully developing as a nation?

Here in Bacolod, I got to think how things went our way to enable me and my family to return home. Just imagine if I had been diagnosed with cancer, and a few of my classmates have already been stricken with this terrible illness or if one of my 4 daughters had a condition that required treatment in the US or if our clinic did not allow us to become financially independent...so many blessings that I can't ascribe to my hard work and perseverance alone. This is probably a major reason why I have become a little bit more spiritual in my middle age, after seeing many patients suffer diseases nobody on earth deserves and witnessing how injustice has become part of the daily grind of so many people. Human acts do not just count for that much.

My return home is the result of a confluence of blessed circumstances and I should continue to view this opportunity as nothing less than a rare privilege to serve others. It is my responsibility to get this through as far as I can.