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As hearing for charter change in the Philippines (which I prefer to call constitutional reform) goes on, you'll get a lot of social media gossipers. In Filipino, the word marites is used to describe such people. Such talk was already heard during the times of two former Philippine presidents. First, we had it when the late Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. Later, we had it with Rodrigo R. Duterte. Both presidents have had their hand in easing FDI restrictions. In Duterte's case, there was the Public Services Act of 2022. Social media gossipers (or mariteses). I could remember gossip like, "Foreign invasion!", "Duterte's gift to China!" or if I'm not wrong, Aquino III wasn't spared from such gossip either! Such comments can be very irritating to read. I'd like to write this post asking a question, "What wonderful economic plan for the Philippines do these social media gossipers have anyway?"
Boomers on social media may say the stupidest things!
I could remember arguing with some Boomers (born between 1946-1964) on social media. One of them is a guy I assume is in his 50s. Another one is a dancer who was 24 years old last 1986. Now, it's 2023 meaning that the dancer himself is now 61 years old. Yet, that dancer is still using insults in hopes of winning the argument. You know the typical loser (or talunan in Tagalog) mindset. The use of personal attacks such as insults puts their credibility further into question. You also have "thought leader" groups like the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Bayan Muna, IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist, and League of Filipino Students (LFS) spreading their gossip.
Just reading their arguments can be such a headache. I'd like to give some examples instead of screenshotting these several arguments:
- "But only FDIs will get rich if you let them invest here!"
- "Removing 60-40 means that we're selling the country to foreigners!"
- "The 1987 Constitution is the best in the world!"
- "FDIs will invade our country and Filipinos will be squatters in their own country!"
- "How many times do I have to tell you the Philippines isn't Singapore, isn't China, isn't Vietnam! The Philippines can't follow them because we're too unique!"
I'm now even having a headache trying to recall as many idiotic arguments as possible. At the same time, I'm laughing at the ignorance. The late Lee Kuan Yew's book, From Third World to First, should never only be used to talk about the Marcoses. Instead, one should learn how China and Vietnam came out of their lower status by following Singapore's economic model. It's a shame that the Philippines, a democratic country, has partly practiced economic protectionism to a certain extent. Instead, so many people still subscribe to the idea of "Filipino First". I even wrote about how Filipino First is taught in schools. Later on, I followed up with a post writing about why Filipino First has no place in the Asian Century.
Okay, I get it some people already started getting into business at a young age. The question is did they establish businesses as strong as the late John Gokongwei Jr. and the late Henry Sy Sr.? I'm afraid some boomers are overly relying on stuff like, "But I'm a summa cumlaude!" or "I was a consistent honor student and you're not!" to further defy change. Though, some of them aren't even honor-role students but are still just as arrogant (if not more arrogant). What binds them together, however, is their foolishness.
What wonderful plan do they have anyway?
When asked for their plan, I really get the same nonsense It's really a headache to read them. Let's say I never got my MBA title, something I'm now starting to question if I should be proud of it or not while writing this blog post. I'm now going to think about basic high school and college economics to think why their wonderful economic plan if ever, will never work.
One of my blog posts in the past was talking about the threefold "wonderful plan" for the economy. The three-point agenda is (1) raise salaries, (2) lower the prices of goods, and (3) give handouts for everyone. Those are the points frequently raised by those brats. However, basic accounting will tell us that raising salaries will result in an increase in the costs of goods and services. The salaries for direct labor add up to the cost of goods manufactured. The cost of indirect labor will add up to other fees. Selling of products or rendering of services must sell higher when need be to continue paying higher salaries. Printing more money is rather inflationary. If everyone was to get PHP 10,000.00 (or even higher) then there has to be more money printed. I'm mentioning it because some people tend to believe that printing more money is the solution. It's also their answer when I give this simple question, "How will you fund the cash handouts for everyone?"
Another agenda they might want to say is "We must have protectionism mixed with nationalization of utilities!" I wrote an article as to why I'm not in favor of that. These fools even say crazy stuff like that competition ruins quality and monopoly fixes quality. They keep getting mad because of how privatization of certain services was done frequently during the reign of the late Maria Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino and the late Fidel V. Ramos. They want the government to provide everything and have protectionism. It's to "protect the interest of Filipino businesses". However, the basic law of supply and demand says if supply is low and demand is high--prices must increase. If the government starts to provide gasoline for all under a subsidy or sell lower than cost, how can the government recover from the expenses of providing gasoline for all? The same go for other utilities if they were provided cheaply at the cost of necessary profits. The only reason why privatized utilities are expensive is again, supply and demand. The cost of operations will get higher and higher when the company needs to cater to more people. Give competition any day to the private firms owned by oligarchs and they'll soon be forced by economic law, to sooner or later, lower their prices.
This also reminds me that I even wrote an article about Venezuela's pride and protectionism. These fools may want to blame the USA for the poverty of Venezuela. I believe that Venezuela's onions will be more expensive than what the Filipinos are encountering right now. Venezuela has money for all but their money is nearly worthless. Some Venezuelans even leave the country. If protectionism was so good then why did so many Chinese leave during the reign of Mao Zedong as well? If FDI is so bad then why did the late Deng Xiaoping's blueprint for a stronger Communist China work? Why did the late Nguyen Duy Cong's Doi Moi work wonders? The proof is in the pudding. Countries that practice free trade fill in the supply and demand gap better. The USA suffered (at times) whenever protectionism or America first hit. If Filipino First Policy is so good then why was the Philippines left behind for a very long time? Why was it that inflation was so bad during the reign of the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.?
There's this proverb to close it all. It's believed that Plato said that the emptiest vessel makes the loudest noise. Today, some enlightened Filipinos have said it in Tagalog. They say it, "Mas maingay ang lata na walang laman." It means, "The empty can is noisier." All the social media gossipers just make noise. They really can't provide solutions. Besides, what are their best sources anyway? Just trust me? Trust me, bro? Personal insults? Well, sorry to say but I'd rather gather the writings of people who helped make nations great than social media gossipers!