Skip to main content

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 findings can help understand the study of the blame game:

Study 1 findings: Poor emotion regulators “made more false other-ascriptions of self-selected unattractive activities (FOAself) when experiencing negative affect.” This supports the view that individuals who have difficulty coping with negative emotions tend to blame other people for their own bad choices. Good emotion regulators, in contrast, were not affected in this way by negative emotions.

Study 2 findings: Poor emotion regulators “made more false other-ascriptions of self-selected unattractive items (FOAself) when reporting high compared to low subjective anger.” In contrast, good emotion regulators’ “FOAself rates for unattractive items were unaffected by their level of subjective anger.”

Study 3 findings: Negative feelings appeared to “lead poor emotion regulators to project their own poor choices onto someone else.” After recalling a negative (versus positive) event, only poor emotion regulators “made more false other-ascriptions of self-selected unattractive items (FOAself).” Not surprisingly, blaming others appeared to reduce negative feelings.

I would think of the number of times I blamed others for my failures back when I was in elementary to high school. It's stupid that I accused someone of "stealing my brain". How can my brain be stolen literally or even figuratively? I know it can't be done but it sure feels good to accuse someone no matter how absurd it is, right? The study at Psychology Today really speaks volumes and my experiences can testify to that. There was this placebo feeling that I had when I blamed someone for my failures. That's even if the said person was no longer studying in the school. It was pointed out that the person is no longer there so why am I still blaming the person? I cooked up a very foolish excuse that the person "cursed me" to justify my failures. I even got angrier when I was told that I should man up and stop blaming others. Yet, blaming others is the easy way out, isn't it?

Just looking into Facebook in the present, I'm not surprised at people who respond using insults to distract the topic. I remembered being told to just laugh off insults because it proves the insulter is insecure. Not surprisingly, a study shown by CNN Philippines proves that most Filipinos are among the most emotional in the world. That might explain a lot of stupidity on Facebook such as commenting without understanding, posting nonsense on their Facebook walls and pages, and they don't even bother to read without commenting. The Philippine Star even sadly pointed out how reading comprehension is that bad last 2019. 

A lot of anti-reform Filipinos tend to be overly emotional. The peak of their pyramid of learning goes from mere insults to actually fist-fighting. So much for claiming to be decent individuals. They would talk this and that. How can they prove a point by either insulting the opponent or even punching the opponent? Name-calling and fist-fighting don't prove a point at all! Their comments are built on emotional butthurtrather  than actual intellectualism. I wonder where their sources are, if ever. I even remembered asking something like, "Who in the world is Merkado CTTO?" CTTO doesn't make a good argument compared to having differing reliable sources.

Can anti-reform Filipinos blame richer ASEAN countries for leaving the Philippines behind?

After that lengthy discussion (sorry if you got bored) I felt the need to make some informal intellectual talk. I'm no big-time business scholar myself. However, I felt the need to make that diatribe. Can anti-economic reform Filipinos really blame richer Asian countries for their lack of development? That would be a very interesting question to ask. I did mention earlier that some people blame the rich that they're poor. Now, it's time to really do what I might call hard talking to such loser mentality.

If my memory serves me right, I talked to someone about why Singapore is rich and the Philippines is poor. The person just chose to use the cover your ears gesture to irritate me. What happened next was this person said, "It's the fault of Singapore that we are poor!" Apparently, such people think that you multiply wealth by getting from the rich to give to the poor. They probably still think that all rich people are establishing their wealth through exploitation. They probably also think that maybe, just maybe, the Marcos Wealth made Singapore rich when the late Lee Kuan Yew already disproved that statement. Reading From Third World to First by LKY has it that the late former Singaporean prime minister even refused to loan money to the Marcos regime. If they make that claim, that claim was already shot down as much as the claim that Singapore (or any richer Asian country) 

I did run into people who blamed South Korea for North Korea is poor. I always answered that the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea (how ironic) or North Korea has poor economic policies. Maybe, they might come up with a really dumb reason where South Korea has been wasting the natural resources of North Korea. It's almost like two business partners who have been working together. One business partner wastes his money. The other business partner uses the money wisely. The wasteful business partner blames the other for allegedly stealing from him. They might say tht South Korea's bright lights is the reason why North Korea is so dark at night. Maybe, they can also say that all the propaganda of South Korea encouraged better economic activity. When asked for solutions, they can come up with, "North Korea must invade South Korea to clai what is theirs!"

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more countries they will blame aside from Singapore. They might say that years of Communist China's claim over the West Philippine Sea caused the Philippines to be poor. They might say that Communist Vietnam got rich by stealing from the Philippines. They might say that Japan got richer from the Philippines because it stole all the wealth back in the Second World War. Please, Japan got so poor after the Second World War that it had to be rehabilitated by the United States of America (USA). I could really keep writing all the nonsensical blame that maybe, just maybe, I'd end up writing this post with one million words! Let's better stop there, right?

I did remember when some of my classmates told me, "Who told you not to listen and not to study?" I did get defensive, but they had a point. In my adult years, I could fire back at people who blame richer Asian countries for the Philippines' lack of development, saying, "Did the richer Asian countries encourage us to become protectionist? Did the richer Asian countries tell us to create that silly 60-40 equity rule? Did the richer Asian countries tell us to be hostile to FDI, treating it like an invader?" I guess they'll become even more immature than I was as an angry high school student. They might say, "That's just your excuse! You're now defending thieves like (insert names)." I can only expect more red herrings and Ad Hominem arguments from such people.

I wouldn't be surprised if some people would blame Starlink for Globe and PLDT had some downtime. Downtime is very normal, especially if only two telecommunication companies are providing for an entire archipelago. It wouldn't be surprising if some blame FDIs for any deterioration by local Filipino investors who refuse to take social and corporate responsibility. I even remembered someone saying that FDI caused Egypt to become a desert. I'm really laughing at how preposterous the blame game can become.

The reality of the blame game is that nobody gets better by doing it. The blame game is nothing but the easy way out. It's like blaming the muscular person you're overweight. If you want to stop being overweight then start engaging in healthy habits like healthy eating and exercise. The Philippines will never get its economy better by always blaming other countries. It can go ahead and keep blaming China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, South Korea, India, etc., but the economy will never get better. All the blaming will not make the Filipino First Policy effective, plus I did write why it has no place in the Asian century. 

No, the Philippines will not get richer by the blame game. If blaming made one wealthy, those lazy moochers rallying down the street would've been richer than the rich people they hate. Instead, they are still poor because they are moochers. Rich people who used to be poor never got rich by the blame game. Instead, they worked hard and they worked smart. The Philippines needs to adopt economic policies from the richer countries and learn from them. As Warren Edward Buffett says and I'll paraphrase it, "Surround yourself with better people instead of hating them." In this case, the Philippines should surround itself with better countries and learn from them instead of hating them. 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

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

External Validations, like Masters and Doctorate, Mean NOTHING with a LOUSY Education System

I have the tendency to use my MBA as a license to avoid criticism. It's a real problem that some people use their credentials and/or academic achievements to try and win an argument. One incident I wrote about was Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel flexing his "smarts" by using his cum laude degree to win the argument . It was all about how I would often say, "You're the moron because I have the MBA and you don't." There are times I felt like taking an MBA would make up for my "moral shortcomings" during high school when I was barely passing (and the passing rate was 80% , which is rather high), that I wasn't having honors, and that there was this saying, " Thou grades shalt determine thy future! " That, of course, has led to the reality where cheating is prevalent .  I wanted to make a review. I took my MBA in 2011 and graduated in 2014. I always felt that the MBA program was what I needed to become "invincible". It was also at ...
Read more

No Hard-to-Earn Economics Degree is Required to Know That a Welfare, Anti-FDI Philippines is Destined to FAIL

GMA News When it comes to constitutional reform, I'm afraid one of the worst sources quoted would come from the Makabayan Bloc. Some people I face who are so against FDI also want to end the OFW program. The solution comes out rather absurd, as the Philippines must have its own state where it's all beg and beg . It would be like: "Free education for all! No to FDI for schools!"  "Free lunch in school!" "No to open FDI! The government must fund our local production!"  " Increase the salaries, lower the prices of goods! " (which is just plain bad accounting ) That's just a few of the crazy demands that have been given! My favorite question has always been, "Where will you get the funding?" The usual answers can be: " Print more money! " "The government should just make it a law!" "Tax the rich all the more!" which can often be accompanied by, " After all, it's the fault of the rich that p...
Read more

Having the BADLY NEEDED Tenacity to Hold My PSEi Related Investments During INEVITABLE Paper Losses

I decided to do a portfolio review, especially because Christmas to New Year is around the corner . I thought about checking my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund. For the sake of confidentiality , I wouldn't give out the exact loss. I was tempted to sell my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund (which was at a paper loss , not an actual loss) and go for cryptocurrency . However, after looking at the ghost of Quadriga-CX Crypto Scam  made I said, "I need to stick to what Warren Buffett said about the stock market." Buffett's advice doesn't require an MBA or even a PhD in business administration to understand them. Instead, I was looking at these lessons that Buffett such as: If I'm not willing to open to own a stock for 10 minutes, I shouldn't think of owning it for ten years! Definitely no day trading for me! The stock market is a device that transfers money from impatient people to patient people. I have to be more patient as the stock market inevitably corrects itself, unless t...
Read more

How Foreign Direct Investments Can Also Help in Local Philippine Agriculture

I must admit that I'm getting tired of all the misrepresentations of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Facebook. Such misrepresentations can come from "think-tanks" such as IBON Foundation, Bayan Muna, and the Philippine Anti-Fascist League. That's why I wrote a couple of posts such as (1) how we need to focus on environmentally-friendly business practices (read here ), (2) that FDIs don't always lead to environmental degradation (read here ), and (3) asking the question if you're willing to support local businesses that destroy the environment (read here ). Besides, economic protectionism isn't a guarantee that environment will be friendly. Both North Korea and Venezuela are known to have very bad environmental practices. Just reading about them can make you dizzy. Protectionism ended up destroying agriculture than protecting it Mao Zedong's "great leap forward" was evidence In contrast to what those "think tanks" want us to belie...
Read more