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Why Filipino Entrepreneurs Saying "Only FDIs Will Get Rich!" May Actually Translate Into "I Hate Competition!"

I remembered the 2016 elections and I was talking about the need to abolish 60-40 ownership for businesses. Somebody foolishly told me, "Why will you let them invest here! Only foreign investors will get rich! (Read my answer here)" There are many reasons people say such foolishness. I blame a lot of stuff such as economic illiteracy, the person being just plain stupid (then again, some stupid people may be better than me financially), or they're just plain dishonest. If there's one thing that some people forget about swindlers--it's that swindlers know they're lying. I bet Charles Ponzi, from long ago, knew his plans were too good to be true. I feel the late Bernard Madoff knew he was lying. I feel that people behind the cryptocurrency scam know they're lying. I feel some people posting anti-FDI sentiments on Facebook also know they're lying. They know that FDI helps a country but there are some selfish interests on the part of those who say it.

It's laughably stupid and frustrating, at the same time when business groups are the ones saying it. I feel that groups like Bayan Muna, IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist, and League of Filipino Students, know that they're lying. I feel that the likes of Teodoro A. Casiño and Neri Colmenares really know they're lying. I guess they just want to look good by the way they talk and move. Why are there Filipino entrepreneurs, of all people, who are now saying that only FDIs will get rich if you let them invest in the Philippines? It's expected to see the likes of Bayan Muna, IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist, and League of Filipino Students make such statements. Filipino enterpreneurs saying that? I feel there's nothing but selfish interest in saying it. 

Here's a cartoon that I found on Facebook by Tipid Racing. We can say that the person who got a new promotion and a car is the FDI or an MNC. The bitter person is the bitter Filipino entrepreneur. The person inspired by the successful person is the Filipino entrepreneur who sees an inspiration. Maybe, you can compare him to Tony Tancaktiong who sees McDonald's as an inspiration. Jollibee was never built on Tancaktiong hating McDonald's, Wendy's, or the like. Instead, Tancaktiong took inspiration to compete against FDIs of his time. Maybe, we can also think of a lesson that the late John Gokongwei Jr. learned from his maternal grandfather. That lesson Gokongwei Jr. learned was that "Never fear the giants. They were once small companies." Jollibee was a company of humble beginnings. Reading about several MNCs you may realize how they were just small-time before that. Maybe, one can read about Bill Gates or the late Steve Jobs. Maybe, one can read about Kentucky Fried Chicken. Those major international food chains weren't giants. Jollibee was once a small company, facing competition, and now it's facing competition worldwide. 

Now, we can think that the two owners of the Filipino businesses have two different views. The sore loser says, "See! I told you only MNCs will get rich if you let them invest here!" The sore loser, for all we know, has a lot of imported luxury items at home. The sore loser may be buried in debt trying to impress everyone that he's rich. Meanwhile, the winner mindset businessman says, "Why not take it as an inspiration for success?" The winner mentality person lives a modest life, has plenty of money, and remains humble. The sore loser may be blaming FDIs that nobody wants to go to his business. Who would want to go to his business if he's giving low payments, overcharging people for lousy services, and he's probably a xenophobe who hypocritically uses an iPhone or iPad to write anti-FDI sentiments. The winner mindset guy, on the other hand, sees the FDIs not just as a competition but as a network of newer service providers, suppliers, and more importantly, newer customers. 

One could say that the sore loser businessman was used to having very little competition. He thinks that he's entitled because he's the only one providing it. He hates the idea that FDIs, in a similar industry, will compete against him. He's so used to receiving money even if the products and/or services he provides are of poor quality. In short, that loser mindset businessman is so used to easy money. When he says that only FDIs will get rich--he's actually saying, "I hate competition! My easy money is gone!" The loser mindset businessman is angry at the MNCs who are "stealing away" his customers. If the loser mindset businessman wasn't exploiting his customers--the MNCs wouldn't be leaving him.

The winner mindset businessman sees the potential. Slowly, he sees that they must upgrade or perish. He may have competition but he tries to see, "What can I learn from them?" Maybe, he sees that with newer technology, he can upgrade his services. He looks at his customers now having new competitors. He sees that his old customer has been facing FDIs as competitors. What he sees instead is, "Okay! I got to serve them." Think about the local general merchandise selling everyday food items. A new MNC enters and he sees it that, "Well, they'd want to get what's readily available." He would start to approach these MNCs and sell quality goods. It might be that a company needs sacks of rice for their company canteen or for the households of the executives. If your customer has a competitor then why not take that competitor as a new customer? 

The same old lie has been propagated. Filipino First Policy has only caused the Philippines to fail. That's why I can no longer take Hilario G. Davide Jr. seriously. Instead, I can take Kishore Mahbubani more seriously when he said that FDIs teach new skills, bring in capital, and provide jobs (read here). Singapore has become a model country to follow. Even Communist China and Communist Vietnam learned from it. The late Lee Kuan Yew's book From Third World to First should remain an inspiration. LKY himself should not just be used to quote against the Marcoses (read here). Instead, learn more about LKY's economic polices that brought Singapore from a third-world country into a first-world country. 

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