A Fil-Chinese merchant, the sort who moves decent volume and keeps a modest cushion in the family safe, found himself in the middle of a medical nightmare.

A close friend of his, not even 40, went down hard with an aneurysm. Comatose somewhere in Mindanao. The family, shaken but not without means, made the first call: air ambulance to Manila. That opening move cost them a cool P1.6 million before the patient even touched Metro Manila asphalt.

The receiving hospital, a well-known medical center along a historically Chinese commercial street in Binondo, quoted P100,000 a day for Intensive Care Unit accommodations. The family ran the math. A realistic recovery timeline put the bill north of P20 million.

This, mind you, is a family with a running business.

Panic pivoted to pragmatism. Someone in the circle said the quiet part out loud — bring him to China. Another air ambulance was called. Philippine operators quoted P6 million for the hop across the sea. Then someone smarter dialed a mainland contact. A Chinese air ambulance came in at 550,000 yuan — roughly P4.2 million at current rates — and with presumably superior equipment and destination.

By Monday afternoon, the patient was wheels-up toward a healthcare system that, whatever its other reputation, does not eat families alive for the privilege of keeping their loved ones breathing.

The businessman’s parting thought, which Tarsee reproduces with minimal editorializing: “Wow, Philippines talaga.”

The Chinese in the story had a choice. The question left hanging, which Tarsee will not answer but will absolutely whisper to anybody who cares is: what choice does the ordinary Filipino have?

Tarsee is told the family is cautiously optimistic. The P1.6-M, however, is not coming back.