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Removing 60-40 Equity Policy in Education Will Get More Filipinos Access to Mandarin Language Education

I just read from the Inquirer that House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan wants to encourage the learning of Mandarin. Sadly, the article also says the following regarding Libanan's aim of wanting to learn Mandarin:

“If we are going to continue to rely on the export of labor to help drive our economic growth, we might as well equip our future workers with Mandarin and other foreign language skills to further build up their competitiveness,” Libanan said on Sunday.

Libanan, the representative of Pagtibayin at Palaguin ang Pangkabuhayang Pilipino (4Ps) party list, noted: “In foreign labor markets, we already have the edge because our workers can speak English. We should now aspire to double that advantage by encouraging more Filipinos to learn Mandarin at an early age.”

This reminds me what we can't keep relying on what I call the labor export policy. I even wrote an article addressing the destructive obsession with OFW remittances. Sadly, the lawmaker may still be focused on teaching Mandarin to continue labor export of Filipinos to countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and China. I'm quite disgusted that while he cited a lack of learning materials--did it not occur to him that protectionism is the problem? 

A big hurdle to trying to get more foreign languages (such as Mandarin) in the Philippines is protectionism

I looked at the negative list of the Philippines and this is what I found:

The Philippines has updated a list of sectors restricting foreign ownership. Executive Order No. 175, s. 2022, issued on 27 June 2022, updates The 12th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List (RFINL).

The list forbids foreign equity in mass media, except recording and internet, and increases the capital minimum for foreign‑owned retail to US$25 million. Foreign investors are barred from professional practices, except if subject to reciprocity agreements; cooperatives, except investments by former Philippine‑born citizens; private detective or security services; small‑scale mining and water resources. Ownership, operation and management of cockpits; the weapons of mass destruction sector; and manufacturing pyrotechnics are also off‑limits.

The RFINL permits 40% foreign equity in utilities; education, except for religious groups; owning condominium units; private radio; deep‑sea fishing; procurement for infrastructure projects; and ownership of land. 40% foreign equity is also allowed in supplying materials, goods and commodities to government bodies; cultural activities; general production, processing and trading, except retailing rice and corn; and small startup businesses in advanced technology. Advertising is limited to 30% foreign equity, and private recruitment, or servicing construction of defence structures is limited to 25%.

I think issues of local mass media entities getting foreign funding should never be an issue. The cap of 40% only for foreign education (except for religious groups) can be a problem. Should people really, if ever, enroll in Chinese sectarian schools founded by Chinese missionaries to learn Chinese? There are local Chinese schools that also offer conversational classes. I heard from some teachers at Cebu Eastern College (CEC) that the school also offers conversational courses. CEC is a locally founded school. So, if a school has to be religious (ex. Catholic, Buddhist, Protestant, etc.) to be able to open a Chinese school then it's a real hurdle. There are local Chinese schools but do all of them offer conversational classes? The number of Chinese schools established by Chinese-Filipinos will not be enough to do the job. Why not invite Chinese language schools from the countries that Libanan mentioned to help teach Mandarin? I even feel major regret that I didn't look at Mandarin as an important thing back then.  

Instead, the best proposal is to remove the 60-40 equity policy on schools permanently. I know a lot of backlashes I'm going to get from economically ignorant social media gossipers. They are bound to say stuff like, "But only the foreigners will get rich if you let them invest here!" or "We'll be invaded and exploited by foreigners." Ironically, they're typing it on imported devices such as an iPhone and are probably typing it in Starbucks, a foreign investor. Some of these groups against the removal of unreasonable FDI restrictions such as Anakbayan even have branches in free market countries like Australia. "Thought leaders" such as Teodoro Acevedo Casiño and Neri Javier Colmenares (to name a few) continue to spread their brand of disinformation regarding FDI. 

How will removing the 60-40 equity limit on schools help provide more materials for Mandarin?

Let me remind people that 60-40 equity is not land ownership. It's just that an FDI will not need to look for a Filipino partner only to own 40% of the net profits. I call it overpriced rent. Nobody in their right mind would ever rent a space only to remit 60% of the net income to the tenant. I wrote an article which explained how the 60-40 policy is nothing more than overpriced rent. Instead, it's all about FDIs don't need to find a local partner to establish their business. Instead, they're allowed to own 100% of the equity. The only restrictions they have is having no land ownership (so find a tenant), they have to pay rent, they have to pay taxes, and other related fees. After that, the FDI can keep 100% of their net income which is money left after paying all expenses including taxes. They can keep the net income after taxes without having to share it. They can continue to get rich as long as they agree with the terms of the agreement. It's like a tenant-to-landowner relationship. A tenant can continue to make money on the rented space as long as they follow the contract. FDIs that don't follow the rules can face appropriate legal action like a tenant who doesn't follow rules.

Removing the 60-40 equity with schools will not make it dependent on religious schools. Why rely too much on schools like Sacred Heart School-Ateneo, Sacred Heart School Ihas De Jesus, and Samantabhadra Institute to teach Chinese? Would we have to rely on missionaries such as Catholic and Buddhist missionaries to establish Chinese schools? Do we have to rely on Catholic missions from Mandarin-speaking countries or Buddhist missions from Mandarin-speaking countries? Even so, I doubt it that Chinese sectarian schools will be enough to fill the need for Mandarin learning. Instead, removing the limit by allowing more schools to open without having a limit of 40% or being a religious group can indeed fill the gap. 

I really believe the Chinese education system got outdated for too long. Too much focus was done on rote memorization over learning to read and write. I also remembered how zhuyin was still taught, a subject I still dislike until today. Fortunately, the newer generation is taught pinyin over zhuyin. I even wrote how I believe pinyin, not zhuyin, should be taught instead. I think it only makes sense to memorize sentences and fill in the blanks if the people knew how to read and write first. Instead, even Grades 1-3 back then focused on too much rote memorization. There was even a Language 2 subject which was eventually removed for what's now known as 华语 (huá yǔ) or termed hua gu in Hokkien. However, I can now point out the problem (again) of too much focus on memorization. Some people even moved to the next level without learning to speak much or read much, much to the teachers' rightful displeasure. I believe that a lack of exposure to new teaching techniques has left Chinese education in the Philippines, in the dust, for too long. 

What do I blame for the outdated Chinese education for too long? Once again, I blame protectionism the more I look back at my high school days. I always wondered why Singapore was so rich while the Philippines wasn't. I even remembered my essay where I wrote about disciplining the Philippines into progress. I could even remember having an economics teacher who was pretty much like the late Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago. The teacher had Mrs. Santiago's brilliance and fierceness. However, the same teacher was bound by a lousy system. I knew a couple of teachers who knew how to teach but were bound again, by a lousy system. That teacher of mine with Mrs. Santiago's brilliance was forced ot rush things. How could I even expect to learn economics in such a short amount of time? I believe I failed under her during the first grading as a result of my hyperactivity. True, the same teacher helped me but I only learned how economics was applied in commerce. I'm really thinking the same reason might be why some people even graduate Chinese in K+10 back then forget almost everything. Some may have admitted, "My Chinese skills are close to zero." In my case, I had a change of mindset when I realized how beautiful modern Chinese can be. 

If the Philippines can get more schools from the countries that Libanan mentioned--we can bridge the cap than rely too much on Chinese-Filipinos. A lot of Chinese-Filipinos today may not even know how to speak fluent Mandarin. Most of them are probably speaking Amoy at home. Some may even be married to non-Chinese spouses. The objective of Mandarin is to teach a foreign language also to non-Chinese people. It's like American English is spoken worldwide. Mandarin may be becoming more and more common as we think. Yet, protectionism may be holding the Philippines back from bridging that gap while Mandarin is already the second most spoken language in the world. 

Mandarin is getting more and more important. It's not enough to emphasize students need to study it. We need to fix the teaching methods. We can learn how to teach Mandarin (in different ways) from countries where it's spoken, True, Taiwanese are still learning zhuyin as part of their culture, However, Taiwan has adopted pinyin for foreign students for quite some time. Learning how foreign students learn Mandarin may be what the Philippines need. I think it can also be done not just in the elementary, middle school, or high school setting. I believe it can be done with over-the-weekend classes (which will give more focus in a three-hour class) or through the establishment of Chinese language centers. this way, even people with zero background can start to learn in different ways. 

Why learn Mandarin? Don't focus on labor export. Instead, think of the potential of learning new technologies and inviting investors from Mandarin-speaking countries. The Philippines can have Mandarin proficiency without otherwise becoming a Chinese country. English proficiency doesn't mean a country gives up its culture. Rather, culture is something that can be modified and evolve. It's like typical Filipino bad habits can be removed while maintaining the good in Filipino culture. As said, who says culture can't evolve? Filipinos can still learn Mandarin, eat using chopsticks, and then still enjoy Filipino food, Filipino music, and celebrate August as Filipino Cultural Month. Besides, Chinese influence has reached Filipinos such as how some foods use Chinese ingredients, some Filipino words are taken from Hokkien and Mandarin, and Filipinized versions of Chinese foods. 

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