Forty-four thousand pesos. I can't believe I owe the World Bank that much money. I can't believe every Filipino, young and old, owes the World Bank that much money. And I can't believe even those who are yet to be born owe the international bank that much money. To think that I pay so much already for taxes.

Taxes, by definition, are funds collected by the government from its people to be used in its services like providing social needs and infrustractures. The more the population of a country, the more funds the government can collect and use for the benefit of its people. The population of the Philippines grow by the thousands everyday, considering that Filipinos don't actually know how to use measures to control its growth amidst numerous policies set by the Department of Health. Anyway, the Bureau of Internal Revenues, on the other hand, should be happy for this. The government should benefit from it. And in turn, the people should at least feel that their taxes are being returned in terms of goods and services. But nope. It doesn't happen here in our beloved country.

Look. Jose Rizal himself said in one of his letters to his friends that imposing higher taxes to support the financial problems of the country may cause harm to both parties (the government and the people). The solution is making the collecting process more efficient, says Rizal. But how is it possible in a country where palakasan, bureaucracy, graft and corruption and greed are seemingly permanent ingredients of the culture? Do all rich government officials pay their taxes in full? Or do they pay taxes at all? Ah Rizal... such an idealist.

And so the government, lacking funds due to the inefficiency of tax accumulation, turn to the IMF/WB to solve it's financial turmoils. Yes, the more the government spends, the higher our creditline becomes.

And then we have here a president who boasts that she did very well during her term in office- the reason why she wants us to make her president again. She did this, she did that. She built more roads, made the MRT even more effective (thus paying $400M to it's contractors), solved the prohibited drugs menace, etc., etc., etc. These, she did by spending the money we have yet to earn in the months or years to come. I see the picture here- thrifting her way to May 2004 would not help build her image as a reelectionist. Do more while overspending on the side would reflect that she did many during her term of office. To win the next election, it's just a matter of showmanship. But the problem's still there, and even got worse.

I owe the IMF/WB P44,000.00. Even now, I find it hard to accept that I, and every Filipino I know, bear the cause of the relentless degeneracy of the few and powerful. And it hurts to know that even the coming generations are to bear this burden. Now I think I know how the Katipuneros felt as their fight for their children's sake, for the next generation's sake.