More and more, things are becoming crooked here. While hundreds of thousands are fighting and dying all over the world, some here are enriching themselves while posing as saints. The Post Office printed 40,000 two-peso stamps for sale to the public, who can't seem to find them. A certain Japanese dealer has plenty of them for sale — at P15. A doctor received 5,000 tablets of Fenosa (like Aspirin) by his firm, free on the understanding that it was for Cabanatuan. He sold them at 20-centavos a tablet.

Madrigal is one who plays both sides skillfully. As president and largest stockholder of the Jai Alai, he's really raking it in. I heard today that he gave P30,000 to charity. His anonymous donations always manage to come out in the press at opportune times. To his intimate friends he is pro-Filipino and pro-American, but to the Japanese he's practically Tojo's cousin. He just sent business cohorts to the provinces with P100,000 to buy up anything that the Japanese are paying fantastic prices for over here — he'll earn another million from that. Funny how the Filipinos dislike him. He seems to mistrust them too.

The other day I asked a friend if he knew the current price of a bike tire. Without hesitation, he asked: "Have you got some? How much do you want for them?" In a flash, he was thinking of making a sucker out of me — a good friend — and he's not lacking in money at all. Before the war he wouldn't have dreamed of acting that way. Me, I've decided to stick to stockbroking even if I don't make a single deal — it's legal and ethical.