[b]Manila[/b]

Carlos Cortez was the young and charismatic leader of the Philippine Social Democratic Party, born during the American Occupation, lived through the nationalist revolutions and the Chinese War, and now, in the ten years of Chinese Occupation, made a name for himself as a politician and party officer. Driven, determined, and above all, attractive, he can be a bit reckless and selfish, but that was more than eclipsed by the fact that, well, he genuinely wanted what was best for his nation. And, in this Election Debate, he can, and will, prove it. For Carlos was now facing the incumbent, President Ramon Cristobal, who, despite the taint of corruption, still held, in his corpulent, pale, form, an air of experience. And, so, Carlos had to be careful.

"Capitalism has failed us," Ramon Cristobal was now saying, "The American system of 'Free Enterprise' has only brought money and power to a few, an oligarchy," how ironic considering that Cristobal was born from the ranks of that same oligarchy, "who hoarded their wealth, built dynasty after dynasty of collaborators, and, furthermore, betrayed their own ideals of competition by the instiution of company monopolies and the gifting of entire corporations to cronies. And now, [i]ang bata na ito[/i] (this child here), wants to bring back that system? While at the same time plunging us to a future war? War has brought nothing but pain and suffering towards our people, everyone here must know that," there was actually some passion in that plea, and so it was Carlos' turn:

"And look what is happening now!" the brown-skinned, well-built, black-haired and brown-eyed man spoke, looking immaculate in his suit. "We may not be suffering anymore, but can we call this prosperity? We used to be happy, even under the system of exploitation that you decry. We used to meet life with a smile, with optimism. We used to dream that if we worked hard, we would be able to live a happy life, resting upon the fruit of our labors. The only thing wrong with that dream was that it was a lie, but it was a lie that could have been made into truth. Look at us! We have health and education, but we lack work! We have land and are free from the hand of the tyrannical landlord, but not the means to improve said land!" He then continued:

"Our State-Run Enterprises are, with few exceptions," Carlos meant the Mining Industry, "corrupt and inefficent, reliant on constant subsidies to keep running. Our currency is kept up by artificial means. Our trade is supposedly needs-based, yet we have no surplus to call our own! We are wasting money and resources that we can better use elsewhere!" He now had the initiative, and would press on:

"As for the coming war with Spain and the Comitern, Spain has learned nothing from her earlier failures, and is starting a war to destroy the very systems you hold dear. they despoil and demean the people of the world, denying them their basic rights. Let us not forget the fact that we were once theirs, the days of the Friars, of the Forced Labor, of the denial of positions based on skin color. A war on them is a war to save the world -" it was not Ramon's turn.

"Our State-Run enterprises have provided the Government with revenue that it uses for the benefit of the people, never forget that," Ramon was giving a somewhat angry rebuttal, "and as for War, you know nothing of it, and furthermore, it is obvious to everyone that you just want to send troops against Spain - eventually - so that our Chinese Protectors would look upon you and say: 'what a faithful member of the Internationale he is, let us support him! Such a cynical bid for power," he said with no small amount of irony; he himself had been among the first to collaborate with the occupiers. "That said, I will not deny that the situation needs improving, that we need more jobs, but said jobs can be provided by the State." He was now finished.

"Which in turn causes increased maintenance!" Carlos was now regaining the initiative, hitting back. "As for revenue, private corporations who pay their taxes and tolls can mix with the State-Run enterprises that [i]do[/i] work, in order to provide more revenue." This was the weakest point of his debating positions, due to the existence of 'deadweight loss'. "And, yes, I'm aware of the fact that private enterprise doesn't want to pay taxes, that taxation is inefficient and causes inefficiency except in cases of negative externalities. But, I say that as long as there is profit, as long as there are products that only the Philippines can offer, that there will always be people willing to pay the 'deadweight loss', because there are comparative advantages in the Islands." 

"But enough of that," he spoke, "the fact of the matter is that our economy is bleeding itself out, that our people need jobs and money in addition to health, and that we have forgotten, and are in the process of, forgetting our past as [i]both[/i] Eastern and Western. Our spirit, unique in all the world, is being lost in imitating others, our cities are losing their souls. We have forgotten our music, our literature, our art. Who knows now of Juan Luna's art, of Jose Rizal's novels?" An exaggeration as regards the latter; they were still well-known. "Who knows of our native dances and festivals? I do not oppose Chinese Culture, per se. What I oppose is the insistence of the ruling party in [i]replacing[/i] our own with it, instead of [i]mixing[/i] it with what we have now..."

"You claim to follow Chairman Hou, yet have forgotten his statements on other cultures! In your eagerness to repay your debt to our protectors, you forgot that our protectors outright stated:"

"China mustn't seek to eliminate all race and culture in it to make a mono-toned landscape. It must bridge the barriers like man bridges river, lake, and ocean to make connections. China should remain colorfull, by extent the world. But the people within need to look to their neighbor and not feel hate or fear, but love and compassion. This is my goal: to bridge those social and racial gaps and both preserve our identity and history, but create strong and everlasting love."

"People have forgotten this in their race to repay their debt, people have forgotten what our protectors have set out to do. And what is forgotten, must be remembered!"

And here was where Carlos Cortez held the audience. His love for Philippine Art and Culture was sincere, and that sincerity showed. It also helped that while Ramon Cristobal wore a western-style suit, Carlos wore a native Barong Tagalog. Either way, the fact was that Carlos, whenever he went on this tangent, won the debates.