Religious talk

her bravery in going to his place stumped him.

We had a stormy relationship when I was in my teens. I wrote something in my diary, she read it, and it caused a rift between us.

I once told her and my dad, “I did not choose to be born, and if I knew my life was going to be like that, I would have preferred not to exist.”

Painful, I know. I hurt her feelings a lot, count- is the general, sustained increase in the average price of goods in the economy)

The second issue is on the higher prices of goods in the market. According to the computations of DTI, the effect of the excise taxes on fuel will only be minimal on price of the goods in the market. His benchmark are the products sold in groceries and supermarkets. But they (the DTI) regulate these firms so they can’t deviate from the suggested prices.

Inasmuch as it is nice to hear people from the government saying that the effect is minimal, in reality, when one goes to the actual market, it cannot be denied that prices of many goods are noticeably higher already. Prices of pork, beef and chicken increase by a few pesos. Seafood and fresh fish, although quite erratic, their prices generally increased, as well. What is worse is that some unscrupulous merchants take advantage of these circumstances to raise their prices for their own selfish gains.

Despite the government’s efforts of denying or sugar coating these price increases, this phenomenon is really happening, and it is attributed less times, but she and my dad never bailed out on me.

For a long while too, I thought she had favourites among her kids. And I resented this, particularly because I was her favourite to scold, haha.

Somewhere in my thirties, I realised we were all her favourites, she just devotes a lot of her time and attention to the one who needs it most, when they need it. She extends her help, even without being asked.

When I was at my most challenging period, to the implementation of this new tax reform package.

The third issue that was raised was on the workers from the informal sector. The workers in this sector include among others the microentrepreneurs, home-based workers, vendors, small transport operators (tricycles, pedicabs and bancas), petty retailers, barter traders, smallscale miners and quarry workers, non-corporate construction workers, entertainers, beauticians, laundry persons, hairdressers, small and landless farmers, artisanal fisherfolk, on-call domestic helpers, volunteer workers, barkers, unorganized cargo handlers, etc.

Basically, these are wage earners and nonwage earners whose annual incomes do not reach the taxable threshold, even from the previous income taxation scheme. This means that with the adjustments on the income tax brought about by the TRAIN Law, they are still not affected. Their take home pay will not change as a result.

However, these workers from this sector as well as their households are the most affected by the effects of the other tax introductions and adjustments. These taxes generally caused the increase of prices of goods, from the prime comalmost

ITRY not to be a hypocrite. The operative word here is “try.” But as you all well know, it’s not that easy. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s almost next to impossible. It’s like telling the sun to leave the sky or asking a baby not to cry… it’s just impossible.

However, it does make for a convenient excuse not to attend mass on Sundays. Trust me, I don’t want to add to my plethora of sins.

That’s why I communicate with God directly. But there are occasions that I do go to church. Unfortunately, in the last few years, these involved the passing of family members or friends. Don’t get me wrong, though.

I love attending religious festivities, especially if these involve drinking--lots and lots of drinking--and singing. I also have many friends who are active in church.

Heck, I even have relatives who are of the cloth. They make for excellent company.

Not only are they intelligent conversationalists, they’re also great drinkers.

So why am I talking about hypocrisy and religion in the same breath? That incident a few meters outside the Basilica del Sto. Niño last Monday night brought it on.

To those who don’t know, there’s this video of a woman attacking a taxi driver several steps away from the basilica that is going viral on Facebook.

You don’t exactly see her face but you do see her trying to wring the hair out of the guy. She even allegedly punched him in the face.

At least, that’s what the driver told an FM radio station.

So what did he do to warrant such a reaction from a woman who, presumably, just came out of the church? (And I had to presume since the video does not show her emerging from the basilica’s gate but let me just say, for argument’s sake, that she did.) Well, the driver refused to ferry her and her companions to their destination. They were going to Talisay while the driver claimed that he was on his way to their garage in Mandaue. SSCebu losing our house, she was there, offering support, and advise, and assistance.

I would not be where I am, brave and courageous in my own way, if I did not learn from her.

I’ve learned many spiritual truths as well. One of the most profound is that we choose our parents before we are born.

In my heart and soul, I know I chose the best mom I could have when I chose her to be my mother.

Happy happy happy birthday, Mang! We love you. modities to even the luxury goods, as well as services, like public transportation.

While in the subject of public transportation, in more recent news, transport groups have flocked to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to file their petitions for fare rate increase, attributing to the increase in the price of fuel due to the additional excise tax imposed on these products.

The imposition of taxes, if I analyze it using pure economic theory without bias of my advocacies, has truly noble aims, considering the long-run effects that we would like to achieve through this tax reform, despite the difficulty of it being implemented in the short-run. However, I believe that the people from government only highlighted and emphasized on the supposed benefits of the TRAIN Law, and chose not to talk about the provision of the tax reform package that may have adverse consequences. They should have not sugar-coated these bitter yet salient provisions of the new tax law.

As was mentioned in the first part of this series, the taxpayers will still pay taxes, despite their apparent difficulty, even if they don’t like it, because at the end of the day, the law maybe harsh, but it is still the law.