Get Real Philippines Shows How It's Still CLUELESS ABOUT ECONOMICS This COVID-19 Outbreak

CoRRECT Movement

I remembered years ago when Orion Perez Dumdum wrote an eye-opener that Benign0 of GRP is just as clueless as Benigno of Hacienda Luisita. The article itself points out that Benign0 of GRP is clueless. Wait, I thought he called his site Get Real Philippines? Yes, Philippines needs to GET REAL about the system and not just politics. Just looking at GRP - they are too focused on weeding out the Dilawans than solving the problem that caused the Dilawans to rise up in the first place.

In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic - once again the webmaster of GRP has revealed his cluelessness once more in his most recent article. Right now, I'd like to put an excerpt here to you to read showing how clueless Benign0 can get:

The Philippines, a Third World country then as it is now, remains one such country encouraged to “open its markets”. But open up the market to foreign capital and foreign goods in a society that inherently lacks a track record of innovation and suffers a deficit of entrepreneurial inclination to begin with, and you get an addiction to all things foreign (foreign capital, foreign incomes, foreign substance) and a vision for developing an indigenous capability to create these things atrophied beyond all hope of recovery. Not all societies are created equal just as not all people are destined to be wealthy.

Whatever the case and whatever the excuses of the past, the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented economic crisis it is creating brings back home a clear message. Third World countries like the Philippines need to work at becoming truly independent. Specifically, the Philippines needs to learn to sustain its population primarily through domestic production and investment. Can’t do that they say? Well that just means there are too many Filipinos than can be sustained by their domestic product. Tough luck, right?

Indeed, the enormous population of the Philippines itself is a product of foreign capital. It is sustained by imported food, imported medical technology, and imported incomes. It is sustained by money merely passing through the country and not money generated by wealth created within its shores through productivity gains brought about by innovation and its conversion into capital that is employed in producing things domestically.

As much as I do read GRP for inspiration (like I do with Rigoberto Tiglao's site) but man both of them are freaking clueless about ECONOMICS. I may be no economist but I don't need a degree in AB Economics to understand they're wrong. Yes, I'm talking about economics.

Now, I'd like to address Benign0's "solutions" which are as follows with common sense arguments:

• Proposing that the Philippines needs to be "truly independent". Independent from what? Is he suggesting the "self-industrialization" theory of Heneral Lunatic otherwise known as Carlos Zarate of Bayad Muna? If that's so then Benign0 needs to observe the fact that undeveloped islands prove that self-industrialization is just a myth.
• Sustenance through domestic production and investment in favor of imported capital. He even says that opening the market to the Philippines to free markets will just get people addicted to foreign capital. Oh boy, where do I even begin? How can domestic production and investment even do better if there is HARDLY any competition, to begin with? The Philippines lacks innovation and suffers from entrepreneurial decline because of a LACK OF COMPETITION. Are there enough businessmen in the Philippines to give jobs to Filipinos? Is he implying that the protectionist clause is good? Foreign investors will drive businesses to be more competitive. It's all about competition. Foreign investors themselves are not only competition but also opportunities for domestic production and investment to GROW UP. 
• I wonder if he also realizes that no competition means no competitiveness. No competition also means a lack of expansion with your amount of customers. Not to mention countries that are successfully curbing the COVID-19 are friendly to foreign investment and they are receiving foreign aid in the process. Did Taiwan become a strong country by mainly focusing on domestic production and investment? If he thinks so then he's no better than Jover Laurio who he criticizes A LOT. I wonder who's even dumber between him and JC Punongbayan of Rappler? Close down the Philippines to imports and exports of even ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS during COVID-19 and you can expect the economy to die from hunger. I mean, can the local businesses in the Philippines feed all Filipinos during the pandemic?
• His wife Ilda also writes about three things that hold back the Philippines from becoming another Singapore. She dares to mention discipline, politics, and intellectualism are absent but does she realize what made Singapore economically progressive? Maybe, she ended up buying the Yellowtard-endorsed and CBCP-endorsed lie that countries like Singapore didn't progress through foreign investment? Heck, how can discipline even be done if many Filipinos are JOBLESS, to begin with? How can the crime rate be reduced if too many Filipinos can't even feed themselves and their families? 
• Since both Benign0 and Ilda are in Australia - are they just spending time in their ivory tower over there? Did they bother to study Australia's history and system? Did they bother to study Australia's economic success? 
• Need I mention that they also let that idiot known with the pen name as "Aeta" (of the now empty Fliptards blog) become part of GRP? The Fliptards blog used to contain a lot of social justice stupidity such as demonizing businesses, saying that malls need to close down to protect cottage industries, and how tourism is always bad. 

I wonder if Benign0 is infected with Noy-COVID-19 since he's displaying symptoms of going against badly-needed constitutional reform? Does he even want to blame capitalism for the COVID-19? If so, he needs to get hospitalized as soon as possible. I wonder if he hasn't seen that an FDI-friendly Philippines can help mitigate the effects of COVID-19? If there were more stuff like hospitals and food companies in the Philippines then countering COVID-19 wouldn't be that much of a problem. The ongoing successes of South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan in dealing with COVID-19 is not only because of the people but also they're FDI-friendly. 

CoRRECT Philippines has further blasted Benign0's lack of understanding of how foreign investment works. Here's a real bummer when you realize how STUPID Benign0 can get when he chooses not to talk about employment:

As you all know, Benign0‘s premise about not wanting the Philippines to rely on FDI is based on his idea that the Philippines should not be allowed to use FDI as a means of creating employment because he essentially says that Filipinos will “misuse” the money they earn.

That flawed premise is also based on his mistaken assumption that Filipinos must learn to become frugal and investment-savvy BEFORE Filipinos get employed by MNC’s coming into the Philippines. It’s flawed because Benign0 doesn’t realize that it is perfectly possible for Filipinos to learn to become frugal and investment-savvy WHILE they are employed by MNC’s. Who says that culture is static?

A real bummer, right? How can Filipinos be frugal and investment savvy if they have NO EMPLOYMENT to start with? Can OFW families relying on OFW remittances learn to be investment-savvy? Teach Filipino OFW families to manage the remittance properly? What about getting family members with an OFW EMPLOYED? If almost everyone in the family gets employed then more Filipinos will learn to be frugal and investment savvy. If the children start working in either locally-owned or foreign-owned companies then don't you think they will soon start to manage their own money? True, misusing the money you earn happens but letting them suffer the consequence is part of growing up. But their employed status has them thinking, "Ouch! It's still a long day until payday!" Then they will realize that they are paid based on their attendance. They will realize if they don't work well that they can get FIRED for it. Won't foreign companies train Filipinos on how to work before they become fully employed? Having more job applications means Filipinos can have better opportunities to learn and invest.

I do agree that Filipinos need to save money for a rainy day BUT Benign0 fails to account for some things. How can Filipinos have savings if many of them don't have good-paying jobs in their own countries? How can Filipinos invest if they don't even have savings? His desire to sustain the Philippines primarily through domestic production and investment is really stupid. How many Filipinos are even business-minded to start with? Not all Filipino-Chinese are business-minded and some are even jobless losers like other Filipinos who are jobless losers. How long will it take? Carlos P. Garcia's "Filipino First policy" didn't produce badly-needed jobs. The Marcos Years didn't produce them either. The post-Marcos years continued the OFW program. Why? It's because of a lack of jobs as a result of the Filipino first policy. How did first world countries where OFWs are sent to get jobs for its people? Through a combination of foreign investment and domestic investment!

Just because the country is in a lockdown doesn't mean it's isolated. Non-essentials right now are locked down such as tourism. Just because tourism is currently under lockdown doesn't mean foreigners aren't welcome. Foreign help to help the Philippines COVID-19 is very much welcome. International and domestic flights and shipments should focus on bringing food and services to Filipinos as of right now. Foreigners who are here to help are welcome. The Philippines may need to cut ties away from China as a POLITICAL entity but the Chinese willing to help Filipinos should be just as welcome.

So really, great real about economics and constitutional reform, Get Real Philippines!