It takes two to
give to the poor.
Photo shows a painting of Renato Enriquez with Jose Rizal practicing his art and science of medicine on his mother who was going blind. The mother is rich. Not so the other patients of Rizal in Dapitan, Zamboanga, a thousand kilometers away from home in Calamba, Laguna. Gregorio F Zaide tells a story: Rizal practiced medicine in Dapitan. He had many patients, but most of them were poor, so that he even gave them free medicine. To his friend in Hongkong, Dr Marquez, he wrote: ‘Here the people are so poor that I have even to give medicine gratis.’ He had, however, some rich patients who paid him handsomely for his surgical skill.

Isn’t that robbing the rich to give to the poor? That gives me an idea: One way for the rich to give to the poor is for the rich to give more to their doctors and nurses, but especially their drivers, maids and servants, not to forget to pay their proper income taxes so that our poor government can give more to our teachers and public servants. And do you know who will be blessed? What goes around comes around.