Dear Editor,

The government's focus should be on production, not importation.

We are thrilled to bits helping other economies grow by collapsing ours. Foreign countries don't need to invade the Philippines if Filipinos purchase just about everything from them.

If there is a compelling "need" for us to buy cement from other countries, much less the basic necessities of life like rice, sugar, salt, fish, vegetables, fruits, onion, garlic, cereal, meat products, mineral fuels, etc. — not to mention all the other imported products that flood the Philippine market (from apparels, gadgets, canned goods to accessories), dominating our own local produce, then there must be something seriously, terribly and insanely wrong with the way the country is being run.

Let science and technology be among the top priorities (side by side with beating corruption) of the "frustrated scientist" who happens to be the president now of 109.6 million Filipinos.

To our officials: "Why be life and death concerned about losing revenues for the government if you do right like banning all gambling and reducing taxes on oil and other essential commodities to ease the effects of inflation on our people? Yet, on the one hand, you seem hammer and tongs without concern about losing unbelievably huge revenues due to corruption and a bloated budget fraught with dubious allocations (in several billions of pesos) which, heaven knows, are easy sources of massive government robbery."

Is crookedness already an accepted norm in "public service" and our society? Why can't fighting corruption be included in the agenda of our economic managers? They are bent on "solving" the economy, but without the people in mind, so it seems. What economy are they trying to solve?

With life remaining unchanged, even getting worse every day for our people, I wonder what change of leadership we need, one election after another. Or is it a change of heart that we need to make things happen before any progress will happen?

Jeremiah 24:7 — If "changed heart" is not the key to national transformation and progress for us, Filipinos, what could it be?

Rotten hearts don't only breed corruption. They breed madness. Gee whiz, our leaders carry the madness in governing and "serving" the country. God help us!

Reni M. Valenzuela
renivalenzuelaletters@yahoo.com