A Matter of Life and Death

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening.” —Alexander Woollcott

IT seems some Filipinos think there are only two “easy” ways to wiggle out from poverty or become instant millionaire: get elected in a public office and engage in trafficking of illegal drugs.

These two “income-generating schemes” have become a matter of life and death for some of those involved in politics and narcotrafficking.

This explains why politicians kill each other during elections while drug syndicates murder people in horrifying degree and spend billions of pesos to bribe and “silence” police scalawags and high-ranking government officials.

Corrupt politicians holding executive and legislative positions in government are sometimes equivalent to drug lords in terms of the volumes of money they siphon from the taxpayers and contractors to their pockets.

Drug lords, of course, amass unimaginable amount of wealth from the sale of illegal drugs.

For instance, approximately US$374 million or P21.43 billion worth of illegal drugs were reportedly seized by the Philippine government in 2024, representing a 32 percent increase compared to seizures in 2023.

The illegal drugs industry isn’t peanuts, and the figure reflects only the drugs seized and not the total value of the trade.

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On the other hand, elective positions in Philippine government for 2025 and their corresponding salary, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

National: Senator–SG 31 (starts at P285,813); Senate President–SG 32 (starts at P339,921); House of Representatives Member–SG 31 (starts at P285,813); House Speaker–SG 32 (starts at P339,921)

Local: Provincial Governor–SG 30 (starts at P196,199); Provincial Vice Governor–SG 28 (starts at P154,320); Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member–SG 27 (starts at P136,893); City Mayor–SG 30 (starts at P196,199); Municipal Mayor II–SG 28 (starts at P154,320); Municipal Mayor I–SG 27 (starts at P136,893); Municipal Vice Mayor II – SG 26 (starts at P121,146).

Municipal Vice Mayor I–SG 25 (starts at P107,208); Vice Mayor II – SG 28 (starts at P154,320); Vice Mayor I – SG 26 (starts at P121,146); Sangguniang Panlungsod Member II – SG 27 (starts at P136,893); Sangguniang Panlungsod Member I – SG 25 (starts at P107,208); Sangguniang Bayan Member II – SG 25 (starts at P107, 208); Sangguniang Bayan Member I – SG 24 (starts at P94,132)

Compared to higher-level government positions, serving as a barangay official may not be as financially rewarding.

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Their compensation primarily consists of honoraria, with the punong barangay receiving P1,000 per month and the sangguniang barangay members, barangay secretary, barangay treasurer, and Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman earning P600 per month each.

These minimum rates may be increased to a maximum rate equivalent to the first step of the following SGs being implemented by the city or municipality where the barangay belongs:

Punong Barangay–SG 14 (P35,434); Sangguniang Barangay Members, Barangay Secretary, Barangay Treasurer, SK Chairman–SG 10 (P24,381).

The midterm elections were held on May 12, 2025. Overseas Filipinos voted from April 13 to May 12, while local absentees—AFP, the Philippine National Police, and media practitioners—voted from April 28 to 30.

There will be a total of 18,272 national and local political positions in the 2025 elections, which is an increase of 200 positions compared to the 2022 polls, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

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I received a second email this month from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, which she also sent to other New Yorkers: Alex, What do you do when families are hurting, bills are piling up, and groceries seem to cost more every single week? 

If you’re the Governor of New York, you fight like hell to put money back in people’s pockets. 

That’s exactly what I’ve done in my budget. I cut taxes for the middle class, expanded New York’s child tax credit, made school meals free for every student, and created New York’s first-ever Inflation Refund.

Every day, I hear from New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet — a young family stretching every dollar for groceries, a senior making the impossible choice between paying for medicine or the heating bill, a teacher working nights just to make the rent. 

This is personal to me. I grew up watching my mom make spam sandwiches to feed our family of eight. And as a young mom, I remember sitting at my kitchen table looking at the growing stack of bills, driving to discount warehouses, and hoping one cart of groceries would last a month. Those memories stay with you. So when I say your family is my fight, I mean it. I’ve lived it and know what you’re going through.

That’s why I made affordability the cornerstone of my new State Budget. I vowed to pass a sweeping affordability agenda with one simple goal: Putting money back in your pockets. 

I proposed something no New York Governor has ever done before: An Inflation Refund. Up to $400 for families and up to $200 for individuals. And we got it done.

Thanks to our budget, 8.2 million New York households will get Inflation Refunds this fall — including 3.5 million in New York City.

Beginning in October, checks will be mailed directly to eligible New Yorkers. There’s no application or signing up – if you qualify, you’ll get your check automatically. No red tape, no hoops to jump through, just money directly back in your pocket.

This is for the people who make New York work. We see you. We value you. And we’re putting money back in your pocket. 

Our Inflation Refund is just one piece of my comprehensive affordability agenda. I’m cutting taxes for the middle class to their lowest level in 70 years. I’m expanding New York’s child tax credit to up to $1,000 per child. I’m making school meals free for every student in New York, saving families around $1,600 per year. 

And it doesn’t stop there. Because I’ll never stop fighting to make New York safer and more affordable. Ever Upward, Gov. Kathy Hochul

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of local leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)