Sunday, March 09, 2014

I got home and my parents were real pissed. They saw something I posed on the Internet. It was a message that was about doctors and the way taxes are done, and how I wasn't on the doctors' side.

My Dad is a doctor, and my brother and sister are on their way. I have an aunt, and some extended family who are MD's too. Basically, it's a family thing. We keep our good lives because of that kind of work.

So when the government went on a witch hunt calling out professionals who aren't paying the proper rates, you'd expect that I'd be upset. You'd think I'd be all up in arms saying "it's awful advertising, and makes sweeping statements that are false".

But I didn't. In fact, I went on to say that I wasn't exactly too proud of how our family clinic works. (Which caters to the lowest income-earners.) While I totally get the pragmatic side of making a profit and I do live in the relative luxury gained by this profit, I still ask: "Why are we still pinching the money from them at all? Is there no better way to earn? Why do I still have the means to an Ateneo education, while there are people whose last 50 pesos or less could've gone to food, and instead to to my family so my brother can get married in a nice wedding, my sister can have a nice apartment all her own, and why I can afford to travel?" It never sits well. Never does.

So I voiced my solidarity with the cause that while, yes, the government's campaign is broken, and not all doctors are crooks, I went out and said that there should be more accountability. That there should be more parity in how doctors work. That even the folks in my household pay a rate that is lower than a lot of people do, including people like me.

So the folks got mad. They yelled at me for a solid hour. They went on about how I may have incriminated them, and the suits would be up in Dad's face, and he might get jailed for tax evasion. All sorts of stuff.

And I feel bad. I do.

But I also know: if you're not doing anything wrong, why are you afraid?

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