Happy National Heroes' Day: How Charitable Business Establishments Provided the Heroes and Heroines During the COVID-19 Pandemic

It's National Heroes Day, right? Three years ago, my life almost came to a halt and it was worsened by Odette. It was a good thing that I was already vaccinated twice before Odette came in 2021. I remembered how some business establishments in Cebu City, Philippines, helped in the COVID-19 relief operation. One of those I remembered was Cherry's the Spice on the way to Talamban, Cebu City. Cherry's the Spice was among those who participated in the frontline when they gave food to the military and medical personnel. ABACA Group also gave some food to the health workers. Little India Healthy Cuisine also gave some vegetarian food to hospital workers. It was a difficult time and I had to learn to ration food at that time. I would eat whatever was available. There were also foreign food companies that helped in the pandemic. We also can't discount the employees who helped distribute the food. Without employees, a company can never move forward and employers owe them their salaries depending on the value of their labor.

During the pandemic, there were issues with what to do about rentals when everything came to a standstill. Mobilization was very hard to do to avoid the fast spread of disease. Businesses got slow during the first stages of the pandemic in 2020. It was in 2021 when the Delta Variant of the COVID-19 came. People were forced to wear facemasks and face shields. It's because the Delta Variant is a deadly variant, unlike the current Omicron variant. Omicron is but a flu now. The Delta Variant led to several complications. There was an urgent need for a COVID-19 vaccine which was doled out in 2021. I knew some people who died due to the Delta Variant. I was vaccinated in late 2021. Fortunately, anti-vaxxer propaganda became nothing more than a few mosquitos. More and more people knew why they needed to be vaccinated. Eventually, I had my third vaccine shot though I didn't get a fourth shot due to my low priority.

How business establishments provided the heroes and heroines

Some people have their anti-business mindset. They believe that the government should provide all their needs - not some big businessmen they all say is "evil". Some people even have the mentality that the rich should be punished for simply being rich. They want to imagine where the poor and the working class seize the means of production - never mind that's not sustainable as proven by Adolf Hitler's anti-Jewish campaign or Mao Zedong's Grea Leap Forward. What they don't realize is that businesses are more important than they think. What generates employment for citizens and revenues for the government? It's all about businesses. Who provided food for community pantries? Where did the community pantries buy the stuff to give away to the less fortunate? It wasn't magically provided. They bought it from stores like groceries and boutiques. Then some businesses also gave some donations to help fight against COVID-19.

Some people say, "Being a businessman is the easiest task! Those in the higher-ups do nothing but sit in an air-conditioned office all day." What these whiners don't realize is that inside the office--the entrepreneur and the executives must think of what can benefit the workforce better. They have to think about how to keep employees happy and productive. They have to think of cost-cutting measures, equipment upgrades, system upgrades, and everything related to operations management. They would need to think about increasing the costs of the products and services in order to serve the customer better. That's why I wrote about businesspeople who look down on menial workers and make bad business partners.

The government needs revenues and where do they get revenues? If not from businesses. Businesses are required to pay taxes and follow regulations. Every month, businesses will end up paying for Value Added Tax (which is reflected on the cost of the final product), they will have to pay quarterly taxes, and the Annual Tax Return. Businesses are required to follow safety requirements to create a safe and secure business environment. Businesses are required to treat their employees as human beings such as providing them a safe and happy environment to work in. If businesses do well because happy employees are more profitable in the long run--there will be more taxable income. The government can only provide if it gets money from businesses. That's why any talk to suspend rent, mortgage, or debt entirely will be very bad. The government can't do COVID-19 operations such as sanitation drives and vaccination drives without tax collection. 

The businesses would have their structure. The entrepreneurs and executives direct the company. Other employees follow the direction of the higher-ups. Good businesses have good systems that create good leaders. A good entrepreneur will make sure that the company and the employees are well-maintained. During the pandemic, the entrepreneur may be sitting all day in the office. However, the entrepreneur is required to take care of every report and meet with his fellow co-owners. The entrepreneur must make sure that all the protective equipment used by the workforce is well-supplied and well-maintained. The entrepreneur must make sure all related operations in the chain of command are done. For all we know, the entrepreneur has to go on-site with all the protective equipment if there is any mishap. Sure, entry-level employees do the physical work. However, entrepreneurs can't just stay in the office and do nonsense all day. The entrepreneur must direct the overall direction of the company. The entrepreneur is to be held accountable if anything bad happens to his employees regardless of their position. 

If the businesses involved in community relief weren't giving direct goods and services--one can consider their donations. I remembered Grab had a donation drive for front liners. The government can't always provide everything for the frontline workers. Private institutions that hold donation drives are helping the government ease their difficulty. I donated some money to Grab to be able to help frontliners. I passed it on. Eventually, there were some businesses that still ordered food when dine-in wasn't allowed but take-out was allowed. I ordered from certain establishments (that were giving relief goods) via Foodpanda or Grab. It would be fundraising. Businesses would be able to give huge amounts of donations if they can't provide the relief goods. It's a buyer-to-end-user chain. 

The employees are also the heroes 

Without entrepreneurs, there will be no executives and other forms of employees. I could treat the employees like soldiers and the higher-ups as military officers. A good military officer treats his or her platoon well. Without the employees, the establishments that mobilize the relief goods can't mobilize. That's why the higher-ups must make sure who they know can handle fieldwork and who can't. Some bigger establishments even provided proper shelter for their employees. It's because going home to their families without the proper vaccine is risky, especially for their children and the elderly in their homes. Loved ones had to be isolated for their own safety. The entrepreneurs needed to sacrifice certain profits if they expected to build better revenues in the long run. To think only of profits alone can make disastrous decisions. All profits must be thought of based on long-term sustainability and not profit for the sake of it. That's why I wrote about the difference between capitalism and commercialism. 

During the pandemic, the establishments that gave the goods mobilized a certain number of employees. The owners of the business may feel safe but they're not. They will need to keep making sure that their employees are safe and sanitized. The owners of the business have the biggest burden. The employees become the arms and legs of the company. Restaurants had the production value chain going on. The chefs do the cooking. Other kitchen staff are in charge of packing the relief goods. Others are in charge of distribution. A good entrepreneur would know how to delegate the task among the employees. He or she would also know how to keep them motivated especially when they're away from loved ones. 

A good company always treats its employees with respect and dignity. Sure, the employees may end up not getting monuments. However, they are all part of the company. That's why it's best to say that a community was done by a company, not the owner of the company. The owner of the company can't carry out the community project if he or she doesn't have employees. The owner may own the means of production. However, the means of production are going to remain stale if there are no people entrusted to it. The employees then end up owning the fruits of their labor which should be a justifiable salary for their work. They can't say they own the means of production. They, however, can complain if they aren't paid properly if they also work properly. It's pretty much like a boss who treats his or her workers properly and can expect them to do their work properly.

Employment could also produce the donations needed if they weren't delivering relief goods. Sure, these lower-ranked to medium-ranked employees may not be able to donate much. However, think if every employee donated some money for the frontliners who risk their jobs. It would create a chain reaction that money given by their employers add up to their employers' donations. For example, a minimum of PHP 100.00/ health worker can be done maybe for a week. A good employee texts his or her friends to help out. Let's say that the company has 100+ employees. You can imagine 100+ more health workers getting help. It might even surprise a charitable entrepreneur how infectious it can be. 

What help did anti-business mindset people do to help ease COVID-19 anyway?

That would be a very good question that I'd like to ask those anti-business mindset people. They have done nothing but worsen the spread of COVID-19. Several events such as mass protests during the COVID-19 pandemic were something. Even worse, they kept demanding more handouts, provisions, etc. while they actively opposed badly-needed constitutional reform. How can they expect COVID-19 to be alleviated if we don't change the faulty relief system in the first place? A hospital can't operate with the mindset that it must wait for all its patients to recover before it does something about its faulty system. That's why I wrote if these anti-business clowns can even generate employment.

They complain about the rise of COVID-19 but they weren't following guidelines either. How can we be sure that they practiced proper social distancing during all their rallies? Sure, they were wearing facemasks but can we be sure that they weren't infected? They even left a lot of litter behind after each and every protest. Can you be sure these guys properly sanitized themselves before going on and going to the rallies? With a lot of people, how can we be sure that they didn't cause the spread of COVID-19? Some people say that the government alone should bear the burden. Sure, it's important to criticize the government for officials who break the protocols. However, that doesn't mean they get a free pass when they break the rules that are meant to help ease the pandemic's ill effects.

They tend to act like business is so easy. I believe it's because they're too used to begging. I even laughed at how Gen-Z people tend to act like they just want to do nothing all day. That's why some of often are so attracted to the false promises of having a welfare state. I wonder if they're aware that Communist China and Communist Vietnam would demand them to work or they might to the concentration camps. Even Vladimir Lenin raised a poster saying, "Those who don't work, don't eat." How sure are they that if ever they seize the means of production they could put the resources to good use? It's very easy to seize the wealth of businesses. It's not easy to perpetuate the cycle that allowed all the years of accumulated wealth they just seized from the rich, if ever they succeed.

They might be operating community pantries but how safe are their pantries? For all we know, they operated relief goods operations either with ulterior motives or not following safety guidelines. That can't be considered help compared to the business establishments that carried out relief operations in charity and followed safety guidelines. They demanded groceries to give goods for free. However, if groceries gave everything for free, the community pantries would collapse. The groceries will need money to buy supplies of groceries that pantries need. Sure, the pantry may be an act of charity but it's not for everyone. The pantries still need donations so they can continue giving for free to people who are below the poverty line. I wonder if the anti-business people really gave genuine help to people below the poverty line. 

Worse, they're also very much against economic liberalization. If the Philippines' degree of protectionism reached the levels of North Korea or Venezuela--it could've been worse. It's a good thing that there are still FDIs in the Philippines. However, the Philippines still needs to ease equity restrictions for FDIs. If more FDIs were allowed to invest without needing a local partner--there would be more revenues and even help in the long run. I wonder if these anti-business-minded people thought of that. Then again, I doubt it since they're so anti-business that they don't realize that businesses are necessary establishments to keep a community running. The only businesses that should be closed down are those that break the law. Otherwise, businesses are needed and should be allowed to operate as long as they continue to contribute to employment and government revenues. 

The challenge that these anti-business mindset people have is to carry out what they want. Maybe, they can start selling rice at PHP 20.00. Maybe, they can start opening businesses that offer the Sahod Itaas Presyo Ibaba (Increase Salairies, Lower Down Prices) model. They can start offering PHP 750.00 salaries while selling rice at PHP 20.00 per kilo. Let's see if they can really carry it out because it's not feasible to begin with.