Araw ng mga Vat-ay

Happy Halloween everybody! November 1 is known here in the Philippines as Araw ng mga Patay (which directly translates to Day of the Dead although the better sounding term is All Souls' Day).

November 1 is likewise the first day of the implementation of the E-VAT or expanded VAT. There is no escaping it. As they say, only two things in life are certain: death and taxes and in our case, the two just creepily merged together.

Arnold Clavio of DZBB says that we should all be ready for Araw ng mga Vatay -- a play on Araw ng Patay and the VAT. People are worried that prices will increase further and poor Juan who is already hard-pressed to earn the money that he needs will be harder-pressed. Jimmy Gil says it will be Araw ng mga Patay Kang Bata Ka.

We live in interesting times. Sometimes don't you get the feeling that God really trusts the Pinoy so much? Sabi nga nila, hindi tayo bibigyan ng Diyos ng pagsubok na hindi natin kaya. Grabe ang bilib sa atin!

Kidding aside -- VAT or no VAT -- have a good break this Halloween.