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The Myth of "Invading" Other Countries Through Foreign Investors and Overseas Filipino Workers

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Years ago, I could remember how "Filipino pride" seems to be required by the DECS. Some songs in the Filipino subject (or called Tagalog) tend to glorify it. One of the songs was called "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" (or "I'm Pinoy") feels ironic since it was played on an imported music player. We had discussions for years about how Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are often the unsung heroes or the new heroes. The mentality kept going on with how people desired to take a particular course not because they wanted to--it's because they wanted to go abroad. Why I wanted to take Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) was not just to impress people but also to go abroad. However, more people shifted away from BSIT either because they were eliminated (common cause) or because it was too hard for them. Some of them flat out admitted that they took BSIT in hopes of going abroad. Some were taking nursing in hopes of again--going abroad. The whole point was going abroad had become their biggest aim. 

OFW remittances as a means to sustain the Philippines


I soon attended college at the University of San Carlos. I took my two-year Associate in Computer Science course (to see if I was qualified for BSIT, which I wasn't) before taking my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (which I immediately took summer school after finishing the two-year course). I remembered the film showing Anak (Child) which was shown during remedial Filipino class (which was a requirement, fortunately, it was easier than High School Filipino) and during the required retreat for graduating students. The film by ABS-CBN showed the estranged relationship of Vilma Santos-Recto to Claudine-Barreto Bausitsa as Josie the mother and Carla the daughter. Carla had grown estranged and bitter from her mother. At first, I thought she was an ungrateful brat. I didn't have my critical thinking glasses. However, I decided to rewatch the film all over again years after getting my diploma. It was some time while I was taking my Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in the same school where I got my bachelor's degree.

The film showed the sad reality of one thing--the tearing apart of OFWs is no drama. It's so callous how somebody I argued with on Facebook can say, "It's all drama! It's just drama!" It's not all drama. In fact, it can be seen that people are away from loved ones. It irritated me how some people can think that the OFW program is a means of conquest and that foreign direct investments are invaders. The thinking of such people like Teodoro Casino of Bayan Muna and former Chief Justice, Hilario Davide Jr. I'm really laughing at claims such as "it will become a colony of businessmen from abroad.", "that Filipino business will be crushed", and the like are laughable. Not especially after I finished reading From Third World to First by the great politician, the late Lee Kuan Yew. Why I decided to buy the book was because I felt another authoritative source beyond scholarly websites on the Internet. I bought the book on Shopee and I believe the book should be made easily accessible in the local universities of the Philippines. Lee Kuan Yew stated in his book that many Filipinos still had to leave their homes for abroad. Yet, some people still think it's an "act of conquest"? I find that absurd.

I guess people still have their minds set on feudalism or confusing federalism with feudalism. Either way, I guess all they think is a game of conquest in the game of business. They think that FDIs and MNCs mean Foreign Direct Invaders and Multinational Conquerors. They probably think OFW means Overseas Filipino Warriors. I could remember the mindset that went when a nurse known as Ed Mundsell Bello bragged that Filipinos will take over Singapore. However, Ed was thrown out of Singapore as a tenant who violates rules. Since when did OFWs even conquer a single country? All they do is work there, bring remittances, and the sad part is some of them have families who think their lives are so easy on the other side of the world. One person may be working as a nurse picking up human waste while the family wastes the remittances. I guess they think OFW means we conquer the other nations before they conquer us. They argue they conquer the other nations because they get the jobs. However, this isn't the case as when people get the jobs--it means they get a boss to rule over them. When you get a job--you are bound to follow your employer's rules. 

Yet, some OFWs will finally admit the stress and pain of being away from their loved ones. Going back to the movie Anak--I could now understand why Carla got estranged from her mother. Carla has no idea of the pain her mother is passing through in Hong Kong. Carla's father died and the mother was unfortunately caught with an abusive employer. Without a father now, Carla becomes wayward and gets pregnant with one of her many lovers. Before that, Carla had a miscarriage before she gets guilt-ridden with a backdoor abortion. Carla becomes the prodigal daughter. Josie gets stressed out. Carla just wants her mother but doesn't want to admit it. The ending has Josie back with a letter for her mother. Yet, the damage has been done. Carla may no longer be able to have children with her first marriage and back-alley abortion. The children may feel separation anxiety all over again. What is to become the youngest daughter if the mother keeps going back abroad? Will she end up following in the footsteps of the wayward sister? Those are questions that came into my head. 

The sacrifices are there. I thought, "One day the children will just understand." when I wrote my essay on the second Filipino remedial subject. True, sacrifices have to be made but not at a cost like this. I'm finding that the notion of "sacrifice" to be "frequently in a state of difficulty" is plain stupid. True, we need to make sacrifices but aren't there also rest periods? You need to skip some of your favorite unhealthy foods and do exercise to lose weight. However, eating yucky food and not having rest days will wear you out. If one only ate yucky food and doesn't have rest days to lose weight--it will end up with the person returning to self-destructive habits. Meanwhile, if one ate healthy delicious food and had rest days from exercise to lose weight--it becomes enjoyable. It reminds me of how eating delicious healthy food (which I tend to eat vegetarian foods as much as possible) and doing recreational exercises motivated my weight loss. Fat-shaming doesn't help like encouragement. True, children need to be chastised but proper motivation is also needed. 

One can say that the remittances are there. One can say that the sacrifices are worth it. Not all sacrifices are worth it. If you sacrificed your money for gambling then is it worth it? If you sacrificed some of your money to buy undervalued stocks now--it may be worth it. After all, the meaning of sacrifice is also to give up something of value for the greater good. Is it really worth it to sacrifice one's bond with the family for the sake of the nation? Families make up the nation too. If one sacrifices family time for money then it's not giving up something of value for greater value. It's like it's not even worth calling a proper sacrifice to tear families apart for the national economy. If you want to have a proper sacrifice--please read on to the next point!

Besides, I even heard how North Korea has been sending workers abroad. Yet, has North Korea even conquered a single country since the reign of the Kim Dynasty? In practice, North Korea is really more of a monarchy and Kim Jung Un may be best referred to as a king or emperor. One could say Kim Yo Jung can become the next empress if something happens to Jung Un. Do a Google search on "North Korean Migrant Workers" and you may find out it's also a reality. I heard of overseas North Korean workers (which I'll refer to as ONKWs) in China and other places. Yet, not one country has been integrated into the "Kingdom" of North Korea. Besides, North Korea's isolationist policies have failed to generate employment. North Korea should be a warning to the Philippines if ever such overly restrictive laws against FDI will continue to be implemented. 

How opening the Philippines to FDI will be better than relying on OFW remittances

Listen to him and those who think alike, not the naysayers!

Let's forget about the foolishness of believing that FDIs are invaders and OFWs are conquerors. It doesn't work that way. FDIs aren't warlords and conquerors sent to enslave people. Kishore Mahbubani, the former dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Economics, flatly said otherwise. Lee Kuan Yew stated in his book From Third World to First that MNCs aren't exploiters and that they became Singapore's best hope for generating employment. Lee Kuan Yew had to contend with the "development economists" of his day that said that MNCs are exploiters. It's best called a third-world mentality that hinders badly-needed progress. Instead, Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore proves that MNCs can help the country as long as there are proper restrictions. It's pretty much like the landlord-tenant relationship. Besides, any good FDI will say, "Let's use the local resources to start as soon as possible." My orders from Foodpanda (German) and Grab (Singaporean) are driven by Filipino drivers. If I'll order Grab from Singapore--I can expect a Singaporean driver of any ethnicity whether it'd be Indian, Malaysian, or Chinese. If I get a cup of milk tea from Chatime in India--I can expect an Indian service crew member to prepare and serve my order. 

Why would I listen to people who have held the nation backwards? I'm thankful that Andrew Masigan of the Philippine Star is pro-FDI. I may not agree with Masigan in some areas but I agree with his economic views. Masigan saw the flaws of the 1987 Constitution's overly restrictive measures against FDI. It's best to call the 60-40 arrangement of shares as overpriced rent. Who in the right mind will rent a space if their lessor demands 60% ownership of net income? Instead, 100% ownership of shares in FDI means the company keeps its net profit after taxes. The FDI is only considered to be wealthy in the Philippines when it's paid for all its expenses which include taxes. I don't care if the FDI gets rich because one's net income after taxes is the basis of their profits. The Philippine government had a share of taxes from FDIs. The local businesses that provided supplies and services for FDI all profited. Local businesses that know how to play the game will survive. FDIs, will after all, want to get what's readily available. I wouldn't be surprised if Tiger Sugar in Bacolod is using fresh sugar from the area to make its famous sugar syrup now. These FDIs are hiring locals first, promoting locals who do their job right, and will be buying from locals too. An FDI right now might be enjoying freshly baked bread from Julie's Bakeshop or getting a local restaurant to cater for their office parties. 

FDIs can operate in different ways. Some FDIs are always interested in looking for local partners to navigate the foreign area. There are some that operate via multinational franchises like coffee shops and tea shops. However, some want to operate in another country without a local partner. Some countries open to FDI don't sell land to foreigners like mall owners don't sell their spaces. I go to SM or Ayala and find out some tenants have stayed for decades. Not a single space is sold to the tenant. Instead, the mall owners reap profit from rentals. That's a reason why I oppose selling land to foreigners. I also refuse to own land in a country where I'm no citizen out of respect for property rights. Regardless, FDIs can own beyond 40%. Some may be having a more or less equal arrangement such as if three investors (two foreigners, one Filipino) may opt to have a third for each. Regardless, FDIs will be bound to the laws of the Philippines like tenants are to a mall. 

How will FDIs generate jobs? As mentioned earlier, FDIs will want to use what's directly available to begin a business. An FDI will find a commercial space owned by a Filipino. The Filipino lessor will arrange the terms such as proper documentation and registration to get the space rented. The FDI gets the commercial space. Now, the FDI will get some Filipino workers to prepare that space. Meanwhile, the FDI may go to a local manpower service to get Filipino workers for his crew. The FDI may be going around town looking for the best suppliers for one's needs. FDIs may be getting the Filipino construction workers to build the area, a Filipino service crew, and Filipino suppliers. I believe it's best to buy local where you go when you can. Buy local raw materials and you get it fresher. FDIs producing pastries may want the best of Filipino flour, the best of Filipino sugar, the best of Filipino labor, etc. so they can begin production as soon as possible. They will be hiring locals and may be helping local businesses expand. Local businesses may have no choice but to expand and hire more people so they can give in to the demand. It's pretty much a win-win scenario. 

In turn, family members will all have better employment opportunities. I have a feeling that Deng Xiaoping wanted his own version of Communism to be "equal opportunities" than "equal pay". Deng decided to put a no-work, no-pay policy. Deng didn't want to pay lazy moochers and may have sent them to concentration camps. Do Muoi exposed Vietnam more to the outside world and created more job opportunities. Both China and Vietnam rose up when they adopted free markets in their otherwise Communist or Socialist countries. Just imagine if Filipinos have had equal opportunities to the right to be employed. If there were more investors (local or foreign) then Filipinos can begin developing their own capabilities regardless. They work in a local company or foreign company--it doesn't matter. What matters is that Filipino gets a job and contributes to the development of Philippine society. In turn, family members will start to learn to make their own money. Family members wouldn't need to go abroad to make a living. It's because investors from abroad will also fill in the gap that the Filipino investors wouldn't be able to. 

Closing words

Besides, history has proven that the Philippines, before it was named the Philippines, had traded with other countries. Did the Chinese Empire conquer the Philippines via trading? Did the Arabs conquer the Philippines via trading? Did the Indians conquer the Philippines via trading? The Spanish came in th name of conquest. The Chinese traders didn't assimilate the Philippines into submission to the Chinese emperor. The Arabs didn't assimilate the Philippines into an Islamic empire such as the Ottoman Empire. The Indians didn't the Philippines a state of India. The Americans eventually released both Japan and the Philippines after their temporary takeover. The Spanish conquered to expand political territory. The Chinese traded to expand economic territory. The foreign traders had to bow down to chieftains before they could trade with the natives. In short, foreign trading always involved yielding to the authority of local governments. Meanwhile, invasions like Adolf Hitler's conquest of Europe were to fuel their own selfish desires. Besides, Hitler was a protectionist and his policies helped fuel the Second World War. Germany became prosperous not just by breaking down the Berlin Wall decades later (where Foodpanda comes from) but also by accepting foreign investments.

These days, the game of trade is about expanding economic territory. However, one can only truly expand economic territory by yielding to the authority of host countries. People rent spaces when they expand their business to expand their economic territory. However, businesses must also yield to the authority of their lessors. FDIs are to yield to the authority of the host country. FDIs are still required to follow labor laws and to pay taxes. OFWs have been subjected to yield to the authority of the host country too. In short, neither is conquering the other. However, what we need are FDIs that will help hire Filipino workers and to give Filipino businesses better chances at growth by filling in the badly-widened supply and demand gap. 

References

Books

"From Third World to First--The Singapore Story: 1965-2000) by Lee Kuan Yew
Harpers Collins Publishers

Websites

"Economic Conditions That Helped Cause World War II" by Matthew Johnston, reviewed by Robert C. Kelly, fact-checked by Pete Ratburn

"‘Edz Ello’ gets 4 months’ jail for seditious posts" by Kelly Ng (Published: September 21, 2015, Updated: September 22, 2015)


"Long overdue laws finally passed" by Andrew J. Masigan (April 06, 2022)

"The silver bullet for our weakened economy" by Andrew J. Masigan (December 22, 2021)

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