The Foolishness of Wanting (or Even Demanding) for Better, More Affordable Public Services While Rejecting FDIs That Can Provide Better Public Services

I could remember the time when former Philippine president, Rodrigo R. Duterte, signed the Public Services Act of 2022 (read my reaction here). I would say we totally need to remove the negative list entirely. 

However, there will always be foolish people who would make their objections. Among them were "thought leaders" like Carwyn Candila of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Sarah Jane I. Elago of Kabataan (Youth) Partylist. I wasn't too surprised at the Facebook posts. Both Candila and Elago spoke against the Public Services Act of 2022 as an act of imperialism. Ironically, such foolishness was done on American platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. I'm not even surprised that some of them are using iPhones and MAC Pros (most likely manufactured in China and Vietnam) to write them down. Just reading what they wrote gave me a serious headache. I got that headache after reading the late Lee Kuan Yew's famous book, From Third World to First. Neither Tynenol nor Biogesic can easily relieve that headache. The irony is that they want (or even demand) better public services) while rejecting the idea that foreign direct investments (FDIs) should include public services. 

When these "thought leaders" aren't worth taking seriously with their claims

Below is just an example of what these "thought leaders" have to say that gives me a heavy migraine:

It's really hard for me to take this congresswoman seriously. It's not because she's still a youth (and right now, Sandro A. Marcos, son of Philippine president, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., is even younger) but because of what she said. For the sake of non-Filipino readers, I'd like to translate what she said in Tagalog as follows:

The suffering of the countrymen is too much. Enough of following the dictates of foreigners. Kabataan (the name of the partylist, emphasis mine) objects to allowing foreigners to handle the critical services of the Filipino, because the future of the countrymen and the countrymen are at stake.

Services for the people, don't turn it into a business.

I was reminded of why I can't take lawmakers from Bayan Muna seriously. It's a good thing that Neri Colmenares lost the senatorial race again. Though, I'd also like to talk about how Teodoro "Teddy" A. Casino's service as a senator was anything but splendid. The "solution" that the likes of Colmenares and Casino of Bayan Muna would go like this such as this taken some time ago from Casino's Facebook page:

At the moment, his main advocacy is the lowering of prices of electricity, oil and water as well as regulation in the price of education, healthcare, mobile communications, toll fees and other basic utilities and services.Toward this end, he has filed bills on the removal of VAT on power (HB 2719), oil (HB 1630) and toll fees (HB 5303) as well as the regulation of oil prices (HB 4355), mobile phone services (HB 5653), tuition fees (HB 1961) and interest rates (HB 4917). He has consistently opposed the budget cuts in our state colleges and universities as well as the privatization of our public hospitals and water districts.

This is where foolishness strikes lawmakers like Casino and Colmenares. How can you lower the prices of electricity, oil, and water (as well as other services) when the supply is low and the demand is high? It's all about basic economics taught even in high school. Sure, it took me until college to understand how economics is part of life. However, I don't need a doctorate in economics to understand that Casino's solutions are really ridiculous. If we removed the VAT on services then how can the country have more money? If we remove certain toll fees then how can the company pay for maintenance? These are proposals that are asking the pigs to fly or the fish to breathe on land. In short, we're talking about absurd demands. It's as absurd as asking for lower prices, higher salaries, and handouts for everyone (read why here).

This is where I also wrote about the scare tactics last Halloween (read here). Their "best sources" are probably nothing more than social media gossip. Maybe, their "best source" is simply summarized, as, "Just trust me." It's almost like a swindler who says, "This isn't a scam." when it's really a scam. It's not like as if there aren't any rules that any country can set such as environmental laws and information protection laws. If you bought a SIM card or availed of services--companies are required to follow the information protection law. What makes them think foreign investors are "exempt" from following such rules and regulations? Singapore still has its green policy enforced for all people in the country. Foreigners are never exempted from following the rules of the country. It's like there's a policy for visitors. 

Besides, the very idea of nationalizing all utilities in government hands is just stupid (read here). This is why even some Communist countries (such as China and Vietnam) have opened their doors to FDIs. Right now, Vietnam has overtaken the democratic Philippines economically. Vietnam has become a new powerhouse that may even overtake China. Meanwhile, one can look at how "efficient" and "effective" it has been for North Korea and Venezuela. Those two countries suffer from so much inflation. Trying to blame South Korea and the United States of America (USA) is just like blaming your rich classmate for your parents' irresponsible money habits. 

How then can FDI also help in bridging the supply and demand gap?

It's not about being foreign or Filipino but the quality of the service. This is what the "thought leaders" fail to see in regard to public services. Instead, we should listen to the likes of Lee and Kishore Mahbubani. Lee praised Deng as a great man. Mahbubani cited in the VRPO documentary called The Singapore Economic Model a statement that would make his fellow former UN diplomat, Hilario Davide Jr. cringe. As a lawmaker, Mahbubani knew what he was saying, Mahbubani said that FDIs help develop the country. Lee rightfully called the "development economists" who believed that as stuck with third world mentality. That's how "thought leaders" who still reject FDIs that provide better public services are--third-world mentality. 

The supply and demand gap can be filled in this way. The basic premise that controls prices is supply and demand. Asking companies to sell at a loss will soon get rid of services. Asking the government to be the one to provide the public services will soon need more taxes (and we know, they'll complain). Instead, the solution has been competition. Privatization of some public companies isn't enough. Sure, we had privatization under the regime of two late former Philippine presidents, Maria Corazon S. Cojuangco-Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. The privatization was objected by people who I believe are leftists or have a commie mindset. However, privatization encourages one thing needed for competitiveness--competition. No competition means there will be no competitiveness. Remove competition and we will no longer be able to eat delicious affordable food. Instead, delicious food becomes a luxury instead of something even lower-class people can access to.

It would be a no-brainer to understand the supply and demand gap. Why are public services usually so bad and expensive? It's because there are too many customers and too few public service providers. Just rethinking about Ruping during the 1990s and last year's Odette (which canceled Christmas for some for that year) made me think of the problem. Can the providers of electricity work faster when there's so much clearing to be done? The electricity providers have to follow several safety guidelines. There's so much damage that the other areas (such as Consolacion in Cebu) weren't easily reached. Reliving Ruping during Odette was a terrible thing. If there were more public service providers--I think it'd be easy to reach out the far-fetched areas. I'd say that if FDIs providing electricity were in far-flung areas--I think the bottleneck would be reduced. We see that the high demand and too little supply contribute to why costs are high and services aren't as good. 

Meanwhile, the acceptance of FDI in relation to public services will bridge that huge supply and demand gap. For one, far-flung areas may soon start to avail of a new FDI providing public services. Local public service utility providers will be forced to upgrade their services while having less demand load. The supply and demand gap for public services will be brought closer. If the supply is higher than the demand then prices will naturally go lower. That means the local providers will be able to (and in turn be obliged to) provide better services at lower prices. If anything, both FDIs and local providers are still bound by consumer protection laws, the fair competition act, and information protection laws. FDIs are, after all, still required to follow such rules and pay their income taxes. That would provide better services at lower costs while providing the government more revenue. 

This is where we need to get serious. Get the facts about economics straight. I'm not here to be popular. I'm here to write awareness of the need of economic reforms in our constitution.