Flores de Mayo got off to a smashing start here in Balugo.  Children attended religion classes taught by cathechists .  The month ended with confessions held at our chapel for over an hour.

On the last day of May the children who attended religious instruction were rewarded with a party (juice and cookies).

Boy, every time I go to the store the price of food is higher than the previous week.  People here are eating yellow corn.  They can’t afford white corn or rice.  What the heck is going on?  Of course, the problem is overpopulation.  High prices and scarcity of food products have nothing to do with greed and hoarding.  Now, that’s real baloney!Rivers are flooding the towns and landslides are burying houses and people.  Does this have anything to do with the unabated cutting of trees?  Of course, it does.  When will we learn to respect nature?Here’s a question to ponder and mull over: Why do CR’s in public places always have such a bad smell?

Health Notes

Yippee, looks like the “cheap” medicine bill will finally be signed into law.  The big question is – will it work?  The multinational drug companies will do everything in their power to make sure it doesn’t work.  All we can do is wait and see the results of the price of medicine.  The last generic medicine law didn’t result in lower medicine prices. Hope the new law will be successful.

The stupid and anti-poor 12% E-Vat tax on everything has played a major role in raising prices.  The rich can afford paying it but the poor can’t.

Recently saw a lady at the health care center who was diagnosed as having a myoma. She was sent to a local private hospital here in Dumaguete.  To operate the doc would charge P60,000.  What poor person can afford that?  I referred her to the provincial hospital.  Seems that of the three hospitals here only the provincial hospital cares about helping the poor with their medical needs.  Although the other hospitals say they help the poor.  Some doctors do help but the institutions as a whole are geared to treating the people who can afford their services.  How’s that for Christian Charity?

Until next month, Fr. Tom Welu, MI.