There's always going to be several opponents of free trade for really stupid reasons. While there are healthy opposition who simply offer advice on what to do and not what to do (ex. they would discourage companies of bad reputation from entering the Philippines) but others are so antagonistic towards free trade. It's time to do this simple summary of stuff that the opponents of free trade are ignoring.
Foreign investors are bound to Philippine laws and not the Philippines to the laws of the countries where the foreign investors come from
The accusation that foreign investors in the Philippines is equivalent to colonization is bogus. What these economic neanderthals may be ignoring is that foreign investors bow down to whatever country they're on. If they do research the foreign investors are bound to the laws to where they do business. That means they can continue to do business if they obey labor laws and tax laws of whatever land they land on. If they don't pay taxes and obey labor laws then they can consider deportation. In short, there's no lost in sovereignty when there are foreign investors.
Foreign investors in the Philippines means more taxes to collect for the Philippine government
The myth that only foreign investors will get rich through economic liberalization is a huge lie. In reality, foreign investors are under the umbrella of the Philippine government. Aside from labor laws they are bound to tax laws. If a foreign investor reaches a certain bracket then they must pay the tax required from their revenue. They must pay the taxes of their employees whenever it's applicable. Failure to comply can result to them getting shut down and deported from the Philippines. They may get rich in the Philippines but they are still required to pay all required taxes if they want to continue their legitimacy.
Foreign investors provide job opportunities for Filipinos while they're still bound to Philippine labor laws
If a foreign investor opens in the Philippines then they are required to hire Filipinos. This means Filipinos have more job opportunities than just choosing among a few local businesses. It's really stupid to complain about a lack of job opportunities while loving protectionism. If you send OFWs abroad don't think for a second that the foreign governments will adjust to Philippine laws. You follow the law of whatever country you land on. OFWs aren't claiming countries for the Philippines. Instead, they're begging countries to give them jobs because they can't find them in the Philippines. It would be easier to intervene with a foreigner boss who's abusive within your territory than OFWs getting abused outside Philippine territory.
Foreign investors provide competition for local businesses which in turn forces people to do their businesses better
It's stupid to whine about a lack of quality services while hating foreign direct investors. If there's no competition then there's going to be no motivation to do better. If there's no competition then what's the use of being competitive. Many Filipino services suck because there's no real competition to force them to improve. If there was some competition then they will be forced to find ways to catch up with the competition. Either you must become competitive or your competition could destroy your business.
Foreign investors can also provide Filipino businessmen the opportunity to improve and expand on one's business
Many people tend to view the threats more than the opportunities. I've given some examples for the nth time how one can take advantage of foreign investors. You may have the threat of competition but at the same time you have the opportunity to gain new customers and service providers. If your customers have a lot of competition then you certainly could use it to gain more customers. If you get more service providers to help your business then you may end up rising up from small business to medium scale and perhaps reach large scale through foreign investors. If you are incompetent then expect to be squashed but if you take opportunities then expect to survive and expand.
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