Skip to main content

Do Those Social Media Gossipers Complaining About Inflation Know ANYTHING About BASIC Supply Chain Management?

It's really funny (and frustrating) to see all the posts on Facebook concerning inflation. "Thought leader" page Silent No More Philippines is just one of them. I couldn't help but laugh (and cringe) when they started complaining about the prices of goods increasing. Unfortunately, that page is only known for complaining since the reign of former Philippine president, Rodrigo R. Duterte and the recent reign of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Once again, I'd like to state that I didn't vote for Marcos Jr. The problem with that page isn't their criticism. The problem is that the page hardly displays solutions. In fact, recent posts that they have complained about inflation and the increase in price of Jollibee fast food makes me ask, "Do they know a thing about supply chain management?" That's why I really refuse to take advice from social media gossipers, especially in matters about economics (read here).

ScienceDirect.com

I decided to revisit some old lessons way back in 2004-2007 during my business administration years. A simple analysis of the supply chain will tell you how pricing is done. People say that the government is just using the war in Ukraine (or any factor beyond the control of the Philippines) as an excuse to have expensive gasoline. Please, it's all about the law of supply and demand. A simple supply chain management will tell you that barrels of gasoline are still transported by gasoline. If the supply of gasoline in the world market is low then the demand in the world market is high--gasoline prices ought to rise up. Subsidizing gasoline or making gasoline companies sell at a lower price than their costs is just plain bad business and economics!

Yup, you can just expect it to backfire badly on your face.

This just reminds me of the classic demand by some protesters for higher salaries, lower prices of goods, and cash handouts for everyone. The three demands are very self-defeating (read why here). The supply chain will tell you that salaries are all parts of the means of production. If the company increases the salary rate of the workers--they ought to increase the prices for products and services. If farmers are going to get a raise then the cost of rice must increase to continue giving that rate. The prices can only drop when there's an economy of scale (which fills in the supply-demand gap). Otherwise, prices must normally increase if workers are to get a higher salary.

Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020

Once again, do I need to display basic accounting for why demanding higher salaries while lowering the prices of goods is stupid? The supply chain really has the cost of goods sold and other expenses. All these will end up adding up to how much must be sold in order to gain a profit. The revenue is deducted from the cost of goods sold  (COGS). Every direct expense such as materials purchased will affect the final price. 

Let's think about Jollibee's current increase in prices. There are many factors why the prices will increase. It all involves expenses. If the cost of gasoline is high then naturally the materials they need will have to be priced higher. Let's say gasoline prices increase due to the world market. Jollibee must have a shipment of supplies. Think about Jollibee having longer operating hours these days. If gasoline prices are high then the cost of electricity will be high as well. Longer operating hours equals higher operating costs. It might be a complex network but it doesn't take a genius to understand it. Jollibee is a very huge company. Therefore, operating expenses will be naturally expensive. If Jollibee is to sell their food at the same prices all the time--you can expect Jollibee to shut down soon!

The same can go for whipped cream which is a basic grocery item. If there's an increase in gasoline prices then do you think the costs of transportation and power will be lower? The cost of raw materials will be higher. The cost of production will be higher. If one part of the supply chain's cost increases then logic dictates that you need to sell higher to be able to survive. It makes sense for whipped cream to nearly double its price if one (or more) component of its supply chain has an increased its cost.

These people are just there to spread gossip. That's why I refuse to take pages like Silent No More PH seriously. Whoever the administrators are, I'd like to ask them if they even bothered to see the situation beyond blaming politicians they dislike. Besides, even if Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo won as the 17th president--the Philippines will still feel the shock. Meanwhile, if they do demand for more "economics magic"--we can guarantee that the Philippines will go from simple inflation to hyper-inflation like Venezuela. 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Wanting Wealth WITHOUT Financial Discipline

Many people want to be rich, but not so many people want the discipline on how to be rich. Isn't that the plain hard truth ? As I do this sideline blog , I contemplated whether I should write another post after writing several posts years back, or when I wrote about Venezuela as a cautionary tale . Back on topic, I thought about how financial discipline is something often overlooked. It's easy to talk about Christmas since that's probably the most wonderful time of the year to be spendthrift , only to find out that one's broke by the New Year . The cycle of reckless financial habits tends to restart in January, even when January becomes that time of reckoning between debtors and creditors! January 2026 will end, February 2026 comes, and then the cycle of financial recklessness continues. It's the same cycle over and over! Last Christmas, I remember how DTI Secretary Christina Roque spoke about the PHP 500.00 noche buena, for a family of four . I called it tactless b...
Read more

Venezuela as a Cautionary Tale on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, Nationalistic Pride, Welfare State Economics

The Sunday Guardian Years ago, I wrote about Venezuela's pride and protectionism , under a more "formal" style of writing compared to my latest posts. I decided to use an even "less formal" and "less academic" tone since I'm not writing a term paper. Instead, it's like how a professor and a student discuss the thesis using first person over third person, using contractions, etc., while the thesis doesn't use such tones. Back on track, I thought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro can spark debate. Was it a violation of sovereignty? I'm no expert on international law. However, Venezuelans can be seen celebrating Maduro's arrest. Right now, I'm using Gemini AI and Google search to help me find some sources for this blog. It's because I don't want my blog to become another gossip central, but a place to discuss facts with my own personal opinions (making sure they don't  derail the facts).  I used Venezuela ...
Read more

The Philippines will NEVER Get Richer by Blaming Its Richer Asian Neighbors

Gemini AI Updated: September 27, 2025 It would be nice to talk about the typical blame game in the Philippines. I could remember that, as a child and a teenager, I had this habit of blaming people I disliked for my failing an exam. The reasons are mostly imagined. What I remembered in my later college years was when I met a couple of super irresponsible students. They had this attitude to say something like, "My parents don't care if it'll take me 20 years to finish my bachelor's degree." Some people even say something like, "It's the fault of the rich that we are poor." It was a backfire when I told such people, "Isn't it any wonder why your finances are down? It's because your parents don't even value the money when they don't care if it'll take up to 20 years to finish college!"  Understanding the blame game and why it feels so good Psychology Today presents this on why some people will always blame others . These fin...
Read more

Communist Vietnam's Great Leap Forward in Agricultural Production

I remember reading through Third World to First by the late Lee Kuan Yew. It's very easy to use the book to badmouth the Marcoses but not to learn from the rest of it. The book also talks about Vietnam and LKY's encounter with the late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi. It's often said that Singapore only opened because of its lack of natural resources. On the contrary, Do Muoi decided to learn from Singapore how to turn the Communist Party of Vietnam into a powerhouse. Do Muoi, though a communist , was impressed by Singapore during his October 1993 state visit. Vietnam, unlike Singapore, is a country rich in natural resources. The third-world mentality said that MNCs are there to rape the resources .  A very huge misconception especially if you know Singapore's history Some Filipinos on social media even say that FDIs will destroy agriculture and nature. This is a meme by the Philippine Anti-Fascist League on Facebook. They say that FDIs equals environmental degradation. Yet...
Read more

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history  If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...
Read more