Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Behind Asia I wrote a post on whether or not Behind Asia gets what causes a lack of FDI in the Philippines . Granted, Behind Asia could be composed of several people and not just one person running the entire page. Right now, this is a post that hopefully has Behind Asia getting the root cause: The 1987 Constitution contains a deeply emotional economic rule : The 60/40 provision. It dictates that critical public utilities (like telecom, water, and transport) must be at least 60% owned by Filipinos. It was written out of a genuine, historical trauma to protect us from foreign colonial exploitation. But look at the unintended macroeconomic consequence: It created the worst local monopolies in Asia . 🇵🇭📉 Because massive foreign telecommunications companies and global infrastructure firms were legally banned from owning majority stakes in the Philippines, they simply didn't invest here. Who benefited from this? The local Filipino billionaires . Because foreign competitors were lega...

I was following the Facebook page,  Behind Asia . Right now, I have to get into the argument s . It's not going to be easy to deal with a Facebook page that has at least 217K followers. I'm going to say that my purpose isn't to win the debate, but to spread the facts. I might just be a nobody, but that doesn't mean I should shut up and do nothing. I have my limited freedom of speech, which I can and should use. I'm going to go into Behind Asia's and try to refute some of its ridiculous ideals. I wouldn't take too much time refuting them all, but those I feel like need to be refuted, as soon as possible . Claim: 60-40 isn't an issue, and economic charter change is the "easy solution" This is one of Behind Asia's recent posts . I would like to share the claim before shooting it with common sense. The political elite is pushing aggressively for Economic Charter Change (Cha-Cha). The central argument is that the 1987 Constitution’s restrictive ...

Philippine Daily Inquirer After an exhausting night of refuting the IBON Foundation's wealth tax argumen t, I read news that Jollibee's acquisition of Shabu All Day has been approved by the South Korean government . This is a detail from the Philippine Star I would like to share: Jollibee Group International chief executive officer Richard Shin said the company is preparing for the closing of the deal and the integration of the brand into its operations in South Korea. The acquisition, to be carried out through Jollibee subsidiary Jolli-K, involves a 70% stake in All Day Fresh Co. Ltd. "Shabu All Day is a strong operational fit for our Korea platform, with a proven format and clear levers to support continued expansion—while maintaining the brand’s quality and guest experience," Shin said. Once completed, Shabu All Day is expected to account for about 2% of the group’s revenues and contribute around 8% to its global earnings before interest and taxes . Shabu All Day ...

Updated: April 21, 2026 Some time ago, I wrote about why I don't trust the IBON Foundation as an "economic think-tank" . I remember getting a lot of insults (and I've decided to block such people), telling me stuff like, "What have you done for the Philippines compared to IBON?" or "What about your mass base?" There's also that 88% survey result from Pulse Asia, which I heard has a very biased sampling size. Regardless, it's important to speak out facts and figures even if only one percent believes it and 99% doesn't! As I was looking to challenge myself in writing, I thought of challenging IBON's ongoing stance on the wealth tax. They had an article written in 2023. It's all about taxing the super wealthy . Is it good or bad? It's time to think about it.  Differentiating income from net worth Here's a sample of what IBON had written: A billionaire wealth tax can substitute for many consumption taxes that disproportionat...

It was sad when I went to Ayala Center Cebu to eat at Hussam Middle Eastern Cuisine. They had closed their office at Il Corso. They moved out of Ayala Center Cebu at the end of January . I remember talking to someone who said that the old location can be "very hard to find" when you enter the mall. Right now, I remember how trying to find Hussam in Ayala can be comparable to trying to find the magic lamp in Aladdin's  Cave of Wonders. That's what I felt back then, I ate at Hussam back in 2024 . Ayala Center Cebu probably had a low visibility problem. They had their soft opening on Black Saturday. They missed the Hari Raya Puasa date, a holiday for the Muslim population. This time, the use of glass walls makes it obvious to passersby that it's a Middle Eastern restaurant, that grilling is underway, and that it's certified halal .  The place still maintains the same pristine cleanliness I recall from Ayala Center Cebu. The place's transparent glass windows ...

ABS-CBN News I thought about what life was like in the late 1990s. It was a boomer vs. millennial clash . I remember how often I kept complaining about high school during the K+10 era. Even worse, the real problem why I hated school was that school cared more about grades for the sake of grades , instead of teaching students how to get good grades based on learning first. What may have compounded it is that we've had boomer parents who thought that fatigue is a badge of honor .  What I realized is the common problem of toxic positivity . We have the "good vibes only" or "everything will turn out right in the end". Sadly, life doesn't always turn out that way. You can tell a terminally ill cancer patient that, and the cancer patient would die anyway. No amount of toxic positivity ever fixes the problem. This time, I'd like to rant once more about how toxic positivity has been used to defend the outdated 1987 Constitutio of the Philippines.  The classic r...