Which one will the fountain bless in 2016

When we were young, my mother took me to watch a wonderful technicolor movie titled “Three Coins in the Fountain,” the theme song of which was by a group called the Four Aces. It was a hit among the youth at the time and I can still remember bits and pieces. It came to mind last week when I came across an interesting news item that Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has just bolted from PDP-Laban, is now going to form his own political party that will carry him as its own presidential standard bearer in the May 2016 elections.

In a subsequent report, Binay revealed that he is considering Senator Jinggoy Estrada to be his vice presidential candidate. I have to admit, that bit of news shocked me, but then, the more I thought about it, the more it began to make sense. Binay knows that the elections are still a good two years away, and by that time people will most certainly have forgotten that Sen. Estrada is being crucified today.

After all, if there is one thing we can be certain of, it is that Pinoys have a very short memory and whoever has the popularity when the elections come around, will get the votes. After all, who would have thought that the Marcos family would ever be back in the government after all that happened in the Edsa Revolution? But they are back, right back up there as if nothing ever happened. And, just look back at the elections in 2010. Everyone was sure that Mar Roxas had the VP position in the bag until a dark horse by the name of Binay came along and took the top position in the final yards.

Even in the senatorial race, everyone thought that Grace Poe would be on top of the list while others thought it would be Loren Legarda or Chiz Escudero. Not many thought that Nancy Binay would be the strong contender that she turned out to be. Despite all the backlash against her during the electoral race, she was a write in when it came time to tally the votes. Who knows, we may be in for a big surprise once again in 2016.

When I think about it now, I would have to say that Binay is probably, at this stage at least, a frontrunner in 2016. As much as so many people may not want that to be the case, we have to face facts and take note that the bulk of the voting population will most likely make it so. After all, despite all the propaganda against Nancy Binay claiming she had little to no experience, did not have the chops for the position, or even the acumen required to be a senator, her name still pulled her through. And not just pulled her through but pulled her through by a mile.

I guess time will tell what will happen in 2016. We always hope that the voters turn in more intelligent choices, but until we can truly educate all the voters, the results will always be the same. The elections are a popularity contest and sometimes having the name matters more than having the credentials. I wonder who Binay will eventually settle on as his running mate. Will he choose Jinggoy or will he ask Loren or Chiz? As the old song goes, which one will the fountain bless? It’s a good guessing game.

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The shame campaign that the BIR launched recently has drawn a lot of heated backlash from the nation’s doctors. And why not after all? The ads they have taken out recently have painted our nation’s doctors as tax cheats and labeled them a “burden to society,” even going so far as positioning them on the backs of the hardworking teachers in society. Now the backlash has nothing to do with teachers, in fact, the person’s job on the bottom of the ad could have been anything, it has more to do with the fact that the BIR basically declared all doctors as being tax evaders.

When I first saw the ad, even I was confused, and I knew it would get people’s attention, albeit not in the way BIR intended. Perhaps when they drafted the campaign, they thought it was a good way to shake things up and really get results. However, they should have taken the time to consider the backlash from singling out one profession in particular. Especially a profession that, let’s face it, protects the health of the nation.

As predicted, the moment the ad came out, the doctors in the country were up in arms. Quite frankly, I don’t blame them. It’s such a common misconception these days how much doctors earn. Granted there are a few that make a lot of money from really rich patients, there are also far more that are lacking patients and are getting by with just enough to pay for their clinics and yes, pay their taxes.

This is especially true for doctors who choose to work in the provinces. Many times they barely break even and a lot of their patients can’t even afford to pay for their services. Many doctors in the provinces take on charity cases because they don’t want to turn away sick patients that cannot pay them. It’s no wonder that so many of our country’s potential doctors and great medical minds migrate to other countries. As much as they would like to donate their skills to the Philippines, a lot of them just won’t survive practicing here. It’s truly such a pity to lose so much of that talent.

I knew that the BIR advertisement was going to be a hotbed for controversy. In fact, I don’t envy the BIR. I know they are trying to do the best job they can, all things considered. They have been tasked with collecting more taxes this year than last year, which is already going to be challenging because of the horrible perception the public has of the government and their use of the taxes they collect.

I think that is the BIR’s biggest hurdle when it comes to collecting taxes. People are tired of seeing their taxes going straight into the pockets of corrupt government officials instead of being funneled back into the country where they belong. I honestly believe the BIR would have no trouble collecting taxes from the people if they saw that their hard earned money was being used for the right purposes – healthcare, education, infrastructure – instead of into the lavish lifestyles of corrupt politicians.

Like I said, I don’t envy the BIR when it comes to meeting their targets, I’m sure they are also trying to do the best they can with the information that they have. What matters most now, I believe, is everyone working together towards the same goal. We all want our country to prosper, so instead of fighting amongst ourselves, we have to find ways to achieve that goal together.