Community Pantries In ECQ-Grounded NCR Could Be Better With Free-Market, Pro-FDI Economics

Community pantries aren't necessarily a bad thing when there's a crisis. When there's a crisis there's bound to be less fortunate ones to least fortunate ones. I'm not saying having a community pantry is a bad thing in ECQ-Grounded NCR (which we can thank the pasaways for their rallying). However, community pantries are meant to be short-term solutions, at least, until the crisis is over. What Filipinos really need right now are jobs and MORE JOBS. What better way to generate jobs than to have free-market economics where the local business environment is composed of both local players and imported players. Besides, what was even overseen is that free-market economics could've provided better pantries than what the community (or those Filipino commies) could provide. 

Who can remember the ECQ months during 2020? I could remember how Grab application provided a donation tool during the ECQ months to feed a frontline worker. Some restaurants, where I would eat before the ECQ, gave food and drink to soldiers, policemen, health workers (many of these were sent to the hospitals), and to the less fortunate before they opened. I was thinking how wonderful it was to have Filipino businessmen to have participated in sacrificing profits to help others during ECQ. Eventually, they were able to reopen when supply chains were stabilized. They decided to continue giving free food to those who needed it. It was not socialism but capitalism but provided heroes during that 2020 ECQ months. Now, the rest of the Philippines is out of the ECQ zone but not the National Capital Region (NCR). Community pantries have been formed because of reverting back to ECQ.

However, wouldn't it be better if the Philippines had more free-market economics? That means it's time to really remove the 60-40 rule and the negative list entirely. Accepting foreign direct investments (FDI) doesn't defeat the idea of improving the local business environment. FDIs themselves could've also taken part in the community pantry. After all, aren't community pantries ran by donation? For instance, any pantry runner could get both local and imported donations. FDIs can join in donating goods, services, money, and/or even form pantries themselves for the less fortunate people. The local pantries can benefit from foreign investors who can also donate in cash and/or in-kind for their cause to distribute to the less fortunate ones. 

Meanwhile, the free-market economics may have also reduced the need for pantries if more people had jobs. Jobs are jobs regardless if it's from a local investor or from a foreign investor. Deng Xiaoping had his famous statement, "It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice." In my case, I'd say, "It doesn't matter if the businessman is a Filipino or a foreigner. What matters is that they provide revenues and jobs to make the Philippines a better country." Deng took that matter to heart learning from Lee Kuan Yew. Lee, a democrat, and Deng, a communist, both embraced free-market economics. Vietnam is also a communist state yet it embraces FDI in its economics. Only if the Philippines just embraced such thinking years ago and we would had either better pantries or much less need for them eventually!