Now only the rich can afford to be diabetic.
The Department of Health is asking Congress to pass a law that will further tax sugary beverages. Cost of our favorite colas will soon be beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.
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One foreign bank in the country recognizes the sudden surge in the number of multimillionaires in the Philippines.
This foreign bank is introducing in the market new investment packages attractive to this new crop of multimillionaires.
Guess why the surge of new millionaires.
Three reasons, my guess: First, the peso continues to weaken against the dollar. Our currency is on its lowest ever that dollar earners like the OFW families and their recruitment agencies are raking in more spending money from the increase in pesos of their dollar incomes.
Owners of recruitment agencies and select OFWs are getting richer everyday as our pesos plummets to record lows.
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The next reason is our exporters are going to town with their increased peso margins given that the cost of labor got stuck low, unable to match the rise in inflation.
The third reason, the new names entering the government service, getting the juicy positions at the Department of Health, Department of Finance, the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Budget and Management and others.
These new names also made their friends and relatives multimillionaires who turned out to be suppliers and contractors in government projects.
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Last Saturday night, I was at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to watch Musikal II, a CCP anniversary gala.
The musical was a display of the awesome talent of Filipinos on stage and even backstage, as the production, the creative talents of the team showed in the quality of the show.
Fabulous, I’d like to describe the gala. I am not surprised our local talents capture the world stage. They deserve it.
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Pres. BBM was scheduled to be there but cancelled on the last hour, we heard. Had the President been there, security to the President would be challenged as the main theatre was packed to the rafters.
The show being by invitation, was free. Hundreds failed to make it inside the main theatre even when the boxes were opened to those who waited.
The first time I saw CCP getting filled up in all corners with people, men in barongs and the ladies in their gowns.
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I got to meet good friends while we were waiting for the gates to the main theatre to open.
Sammy Santos, senate media chief, was the first I saw and we had a good chat. We talked about farming, the favorite topic of retirees, next to health issues.
I also met, Marlon Ramos of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was with his family, including his two sons who are into music and arts.
I also met other friends who all said, two years getting locked up because of the pandemic, the musical is a big relief from stress.
Thanks to CCP.
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The gala was a look back at different productions of the CCP, like El Bimbo, Himala, Dekada 70 and many others.
It was also to announce the closure for two years of the CCP main building for renovation. The CCP theatres were built to make real the vision of the mother of President Marcos, a fellow Tolosano, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, when Marcos Sr. was president. CCP needs massive repair.
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The good thing, the CCP has moved to bringing its mission of discovering and nurturing Filipino natural genius on stage to the countryside with programs like Kanto Kultura.
More power to CCP.