They Love Receiving Imported Luxury Items Given By Their OFW Relatives While They're Going Against FDI

It's Christmas and there's always the bad culture of overspending, right? I remembered writing some time ago decided to write about why Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) families tend to remain poor. I was thinking about how the classic scenario of the OFW is - the nagpadala (sender) and the pinagdahlan (receiver). With Christmas in mind - I was thinking how a typical OFW family that's Okay Fine Whatever would have their desire to receive imported luxury items this Christmas. Be it the newly released Playstation 5, the latest iPhone 11, Gucci or Louie Vitton bags (or you NAME IT) - they're eager to receive it from the OFW Balikbayan Box which some may consider contains what they may consider as "the spoils of conquest" from other countries. They're so eager to receive those imported luxury items as they ignore Jack Ma's basic advice on budgeting. Just think that many luxury stuff are only bought for the NAME and NOT for the quality of the product. 

It's really the problem of loving imported luxury items while going against foreign direct investments (FDI). It's common to have people who want to make sure that their smartphones have to be the latest i-Phone model, that their bags have to be Louie Vittons, their wallets have to be Guccis BUT when you ask them about letting FDIs come in - they're against it. The common reasons are usually given out of ignorance such as only FDIs will get rich or the dumb reason of "invasion". The concept itself is still rooted in ignorance. Some of them come from OFW families who probably still think that their loved ones are doing it in the "name of conquest". Conquest? Since when did the Philippines conquer even ONE NATION by sending its workers there? China (especially during Mao Zedong's time) used to send Chinese workers (such as Chinese maids) around the world but did they conquer even one nation? Instead, China ended up "conquering the world" by being open to FDIs when Deng Xiaoping declared his totalitarian state was now open to world business. Now, China is "conquering the world" by accepting multinational corporations (MNCs) as many brands today are manufactured there.

Where do these family members of OFWs usually get their sources to go against FDI? Who can forget the idiocy of former Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Socrates Villegas going against foreign investment while he belongs to an MNC namely the Vatican? Other predominantly Catholic countries are FDI friendly so why NOT the Philippines? Who can forget the ongoing idiocy of Filipino communist fronts such as Bayad Muna, Migraine International, or Alliance of Complaining Teachers (ACT) against FDI? Ironically, Antonio Tinio reacted when President Rodrigo R. Duterte desired to pull the Philippines from the International Clown Court (ICC). I'm amazed at how such sources are rather short-sighted. What's even more stupid is that SOME economics teachers are opposed to FDI amendments. Aren't they supposedly economic teachers? Yet, they can't even provide ONE SINGLE PROOF that protectionism caused first world countries to develop. They even haven't tested the idea on ANY uncharted island. The irony is that they may be subscribing to such nonsense against FDIs on their i-Pads and iPhones that their OFW relatives brought to them. They may be also protesting against amendments to ease FDI restrictions all the while they were enjoying all the imported chocolates brought to them. I suspect they don't even want to enjoy Goya chocolate or any locally made Filipino chocolate because Hershey's or Cadbury's is more sosyal (classy). Yet, they don't want FDIs to invest because it's an invasion? They still want their balikbayan boxes because they're supposed "spoils of conquest" yet that country where it came from still retained its sovereignty. Those inside the balikbayan boxes were BOUGHT with money - not plundered by the OFWs in the name of conquest!

They don't really see the true benefit of having FDI in the Philippines. You can imagine if there were more jobs in the Philippines then it means MORE TAXES collected for the national treasury. Yes, FDIs will get rich doing business in the Philippines while they're still bound to several rules. FDIs who invest must employ locals first wherever they invest. FDIs that invest in China then the jobs must first go to the CHINESE seeking jobs. FDIs that invest in the Philippines then the jobs must first go to the FILIPINOS seeking jobs. It also means when FDI earns their money then they're automatically required to pay taxes. An MNC may not need a Filipino partner but it will still require a Filipino TENANT. They must pay rent to the Filipino tenant and taxes to the Filipino government. Failure to do so can result in eviction by the Filipino tenant and possible deportation for non-compliance with tax rules. The relationship between MNCs and the Philippines should be viewed as a tenant to a landlord. MNCs are the tenants and the Philippines as the space for lease. They never see that FDIs will reduce the need to go abroad and provide direct faster income taxes for the Philippine government. Taxes will be much easier to collect than collecting taxes from OFW families. Aren't OFW families paying taxes ABROAD where they work if they hit the minimum taxable income? So, OFWs are instead enriching foreign companies while MNCs will enrich the Philippines.

If they really want more access to imported goods (in general) then why not let them invest in the Philippines? Letting more of them invest in the Philippines means getting imported brands at an easier access. Allowing certain factories to operate (though it should have careful regulations) would mean that certain goods being made in the Philippines. It doesn't take a Ph.D. in economics to understand that!