Accepting Foreign Direct Investment Doesn't Defeat The Idea Of Improving The Local Filipino Business Environment

Is spreading of misinformation anything new about foreign direct investors (FDI) already new? Not at all. The CoRRECT Movement (and other simiar movements) has been advocating for the chance for Filipinos to evolve even during the Noynoying Years. FDI has been smeared with such lies like the famous "FDIs are invaders" or the "But only foreign investors will get rich!". Then, of course, there's the fantasy notion of Carlos "Heneral Lunatic" Zarate where he believes that first-world countries self-industrialized yet he's yet to test his theory on an uncharted island. Now, the COVID-19 has proven one lie to be a blatant lie - that's the lie by Hilarious Davide that the 1987 is the best constitution in the world. Yet, there are still some who believe that the only hope for the Philippines to recover from the COVID-19 debts is to... SELF-INDUSTRIALIZE? It's because (according to those neanderthals) is that FDIs will supposedly be selling the Philippines to China, that Filipinos will become slaves in their own nation, and BLAH BLAH BLAH do I need to evaluate all their stupidity? I'm no economist myself but as a commerce graduate - I really just can't buy the stupid leftist notions which really I can just dismiss as BLAH BLAH BLAH. Whatever. Those leftists can keep ranting but I'm not going to stop ranting against their stupidity either.

Instead of a "unilateral surrender" then why isn't accepting FDI against the idea of improving the local business environment? 

If you're a businessmen then you know you'll have competition. Every real businessman views everything at a four point analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats or SWOT. A real businessman views that FDIs are threats but also opportunities. FDIs will serve as a threat IF local businesses refuse to evolve. One just needs to think that your suppliers' competitors, your service providers' competitors, and your customers' competitors are all potentials to expand your business. If your customers have competitors than doesn't that mean you have more room to expand your revenues? Sadly, that's not how the protectionist lover looks at it. The protectionist lover only sees the Weaknesses and the Threats but never the Strengths and the Opportunities. It wouldn't be a marketing study if all that was handled are weaknesses and threats. 

Do you know that the small and medium local businesses can expand via FDI? I have nothing against buy local but it's not enough to spring back the Philippines. How can people buy local if there's not enough customers? The solution of having more to buy local is through FDI. FDIs would want the readily-sourced materials. An FDI company would want to buy raw materials from local Filipino businessmen. An FDI would need to find a space to rent since some landlords refuse to sell their lands. An FDI would have to start to be resourceful to get as many Filipino-sourced materials and manpower in the Philippines to sustain themselves. FDIs are still required to pay for their raw materials and manpower. FDIs are still bound to Filipino taxation laws like they're bound to their Filipino lessors by contractual agreement. Filipino landlords can benefit more by accepting both foreign and local tenants than just be a snob and only accept local tenants. Meanwhile, they can lose their privileges to do business in the Philippines if they don't follow laws such as paying taxes, paying their lessors, or when they do immoral activities. In short, accepting FDIs is basically LEASING the Philippines and NOT selling the Philippines. Then again even if foreigners could register land under their name - they can still forfeit it if they don't pay their land tax.

What about OFW remittance? 

I decided to address the issue just in case someone might keep talking about the OFW phenomenon. Once again, it's really an issue that some people want to believe that OFWs means that Filipinos are taking over the world. The question worth asking is if OFWs are indeed "conquering the world" then why isn't the Philippines the richest nation in the world? It's because OFWs are NOT conquering the world. They aren't separated from their families in the name of conquest. Instead, the economic protectionist program with the OFW programs means sustaining the Philippines at the cost of families. 

Another moment worth thinking about is that how often the anti-Marcos crowd shoots themselves at the foot. They hate Marcos but they love many of his faulty policies such as economic protectionism. Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. is also among the people who really pioneered the OFW program. Marcos' policies really tore Filipino families apart while enriching himself, his wife's shoe collection, and his cronies. The Marcos Years weren't the golden years and that we can agree. If the Philippines was doing so well then why are Filipinos sent ABROAD to work rather than work in their own country? Marcos fell down but the OFW program still CONTINUED because of rampant economic protectionism. 

The truth is OFW program is a reflection of how jobs are scarce in the Philippines. Sure, Filipinos abroad do get the jobs but they conquer the country. If you get a job then you get a boss along with that job. OFWs have been in many countries but not one single country they're in is under the control of the Philippines. Hong Kong didn't become an extension of the Philippines, Singapore didn't become the new Filipino state, and Malaysia hasn't been invaded at all. Sure, they remit lots of money but what about their families? Their families have been torn apart in contrast to if they worked for a foreign form in their own country, get an eight-hour job, and return home at the end of the day.

Instead, history has proven that FDIs have indeed built other nations' local economies

I'm amazed at how the pasaways love to do their virtue signals about other countries' better progress in fighting COVID-19 BUT they still refuse to open up the economy or do constitutional reform. Some of them are probably still too fixated with the "martyrdom" Santa Flora Contemplacion or the Tres venerables mulas de narcotraficantes mártires en China as a reason to hate both Singapore and China. Yet, both Singapore and China are beating the Philippines while they bitch over the "wrongful" execution of both sides. One was really guilty of murdering a child and her fellow worker. The other three were guilty of smuggling shabu into China. Yet, the local media tried to make them look innocent. Isn't it really ironic that Filipino commies love communism but HATE the Chinese Communist Party? Shouldn't they be welcoming the Chinese military in the West Philippine Sea instead? 

For a start, Deng Xiaoping managed to redefine socialism from Karl Marx's ideology. Instead, Deng Xiaoping said, "Poverty is not socialism. To be rich is glorious." Though, I prefer to state it as, "Poverty is not communism. To be rich is glorious." That totally gives a blow to Maoist and Marxist ideologies. Deng decided to tell the world, "Communist China is now open for business." The foundations of Deng's communism or Dengism created a communist China more progressive than North Korea or Venezuela. Vietnam managed to create its own glorious communist state by throwing away Marxist and Maoist ideologies for Dengism. I guess that's why the Filipino communists raise a placard with Mao Zedong's portrait but not with Deng. Mao was a great military strategist (like Sun Tzu) but he failed China with poor economic plans. Deng truly established the Great Leap Forward by accepting FDI. Mao's Great Leap Forward only was a great leap forward to disaster because of protectionism. 

One should read economics related to the history of Taiwan and the history of South Korea aside from Singapore and China. Taiwan got richer than Maoist China because they were welcoming of FDI. True, Taiwan was once poorer than the Philippines but now it's way richer than the Philippines. South Korea struggled after the schism with North Korea. Yet, South Korea today now has a culture of excellence in sciences which they learned from Japanese technology. Maybe one should also consider that both Germany and Japan suffered disasters greater than the Marcos plunder. Did you know Adolf Hitler was also a protectionist freak? Did you know the bombing of Hiroshima left Japan in even worse shape? Yet, both Germany and Japan have become top leaders. That's why using the Marcos Years as an excuse for the current state of the Philippines is plain INEXCUSABLE. The fixation should be on how to fix the Marcos Years rather than what if it never happened.

The introduction of competition boosted their local economies. For instance, think about why do we enjoy world-class products from first-world countries? It's because their local businessmen are subjected to competition. I can now enjoy food products from these countries because of competition. Filipino delicacies are making it worldwide because certain sectors (such as food) aren't subjected to the excessive restrictions. We can see why South Korea is now a world leader - it's because they accept FDI and competition brings forth innovation. Just think that the technology used by Samsung are mostly Japanese innovations such as smartphones, DVD and Blu-Ray technology, and the ever-handy rice cooker. Do you think Samsung will have its edge if South Korea were sheltered? Instead, it was because South Korea accepted FDI that allowed such a rise. The Philippines should do the same so any great invention by a Filipino can be recognized worldwide. Otherwise, a lot of great discoveries will just end up in the dump. 

If the countries that were once poorer than the Philippines can do it - I don't see any reason why the Philippines can't do it!