The amnesty, which is for a certain period only that escapes me at the moment, covers almost every kind of tax liability you can think of: income, excise, inheritance, etc. that was not paid or was not properly paid for the year 2006 and earlier.

I am hoping many take advantage of this offer.

Then a thought struck me: If the government can give a tax amnesty, why can’t the people give a corruption amnesty? This idea gained even more value – at least in my mind – after I heard Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago grill "man of the hour" Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada about imported goats and Lozada in turn reply that the imported goats are nothing compared to US$130 million "commission" in the ZTE Broadband deal.

It gained further logic in my mind after Lozada, again responding to Senator Miriam, admitted his "sins" but added that whatever was remaining of his sense of self-respect was now motivating him to come clean on the NBN ZTE deal.

With those thoughts of Lozada in mind, why not provide anyone and everyone in government wishing to come clean with the opportunity to do so, free forever of legal repercussions?

If Lozada, for example, was ready to confess about insurance policies taken out through his wife as agent, and a number of other similar cases, why can’t we encourage everyone else – mayors an d governors, congressmen and senators, the Vice President and even the President – to take part in a national day of "mea culpa"? Heck, the timing is perfect: it is the Year of the Rat – and in the Chinese Zodiac this is the first year in the cycle and is always a great time to start all over.

After Lozada, perhaps Senator Santiago can follow. She was the one pressing him anyway about his "sins". Senator Santiago’s confessions may be a short one, or it may be kilometric; only she would know. Then she could be followed by every senator, then every congressman (now wouldn’t that be real long?) then the vice president, and finally we will allow the President another "I am sorry" speech.

Maybe in between, for spice, we can insert governors and mayors, ex-senators, ex-presidents, ex-congressmen, and, yes, ex-Comelec chairmen. Maybe even ex- Judges and Justices of the various courts, right? We can also have a "challenge hour" where one politician can challenge another about his confession. Again, this variation is only for spicing up the proceedings which, believe me, will already be exciting enough.

And while all of the confessions are being made we will have auditors and their counting machines adding up all the numbers so that by the end of the day we can come up with whatever that whopping figure is that will be the total amount of the "sins" we the Filipino people have agreed to forgive.

Again, let me be clear: the rule is simple – once a public official confesses about a "sin" – money pocketed here, there and everywhere, then that official is forgiven for that offense and, yes, he or she could keep the proceeds of his crime. Now isn’t that a great come-on? However, the other side of the coin is this: should an official omit something – some bribe taken or given, for example, – and we discover it later, there will be no "I am Sorry" broadcasts that can save that official’s neck from the hangman’s noose.

So the choice is simple: come clean and keep the loot and forever sin no more; or omit one offense and lose your life forever.