Skip to main content

FDI Inflows Don't Include Money That Filipino Women Get From Dating (or Even Marrying) Male Foreigners


Today is Valentine's Day and also Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday doesn't have a fixed date since the Lenten season depends on the Jewish calendar's cycle. Back on topic, I wrote about Filipinas marrying foreigners to escape the hardships of life. Eventually, I followed it up by writing about how the IBON Foundation possibly views FDI followed up by how Migrante Internation possibly views FDI. With those two organizations in mind, I wonder if their statements state that the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. allegedly opened up the economy to foreign investments all the more (which is a lie) may have also included Filipinas dating foreign males of different kinds. Sure, the correct word for the English is Filipino woman but I prefer to use Filipina because of my status as a Filipino citizen. 

I have nothing against Filipinas dating foreign men if it's done out of love. However, I can't help but notice the crude jokes that are written against FDI. Some economically ignorant people even call it foreign direct insertion. It means Filipinas have sexual relations with foreign men. Since when did foreign investment ever include Filipinas having sexual relationships with foreign men? It's already bad enough that some people think FDI equals foreign loans (read here). If the likes of the IBON Foundation and Migrante International are counting Marcos Sr.'s loans as FDI--they really fail at basic concepts of economics!

As defined, FDI is defined by the Investopedia as:
Foreign investment involves capital flows from one country to another, granting the foreign investors extensive ownership stakes in domestic companies and assets. Foreign investment denotes that foreigners have an active role in management as a part of their investment or an equity stake large enough to enable the foreign investor to influence business strategy. A modern trend leans toward globalization, where multinational firms have investments in a variety of countries.

Since when did Filipinas having sexual relations with foreigners ever become a capital inflow for the Philippines? Not at all! FDI means that foreigners invest in a country that's not theirs. With how it works, I don't see any examples of Filipinas dating foreigners as a means to do FDI:

How Foreign Investment Works

Foreign investment is largely seen as a catalyst for economic growth in the future. Foreign investments can be made by individuals, but are most often endeavors pursued by companies and corporations with substantial assets looking to expand their reach.

As globalization increases, more and more companies have branches in countries around the world. For some multinational corporations, opening new manufacturing and production plants in a different country is attractive because of the opportunities for cheaper production and labor costs.

Additionally, these large corporations frequently look to do business with those countries where they will pay the least amount of taxes. They may do this by relocating their home office or parts of their business to a country that is a tax haven or has favorable tax laws aimed at attracting foreign investors.

Male foreigners having any kind of sexual relations (moral or immoral) doesn't fit into the picture of foreign investment. Investment and insertion (sorry in advance to readers offended by the language here) are two different activities. Even the meanings greatly differ from a basic dictionary to a business dictionary. Foreigners who invest aren't necessarily looking for a Filipina girlfriend or wife. A foreigner dating or marrying a Filipina isn't investing in the Philippines. A Filipina who's into a sexual relationship with a foreigner, moral or immoral, doesn't contribute to the FDI inflow. That's unless if that Filipina was married to one of the people running an MNC, and therefore that counts!

The economic ignorance of those crude jokes is there. Besides, I blame the Filipino First Policy as to why more Filipinas desire foreigners than their own men. The Filipino First Policy caused the Philippines to fail in so many ways. Joblessness happens because of the desire that Filipinos should be the majority of economic participants. Never mind that Marina Bay Sands in Singapore was built mostly on FDI. Filipinas who are decent may be better off marrying foreign partners. Maybe, any decent Mainland Chinese guy is better off marrying a Filipina (of Malay descent) and moving to either Singapore or Malaysia, or even any of the Nordic countries. 

This Valentine's Day, it's more than time to send this message. I'm afraid economic literacy in the Philippines hasn't been built well in schools. Even worse, some Filipino economists still believe in the same nonsense given by the economists of the late Lee Kuan Yew's day. One can always make a claim but not back it up. Results speak louder than words. Singapore's great people not only spoke but showed the results. All the 1987 Constitution framers can do is talk and talk without much evidence to back their words up. 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics' Understanding of How Gasoline Prices Work

International State College of the Philippines Today is Flor Contempacion Day , and rallies are expected. However, whether it's Flor's death anniversary or not, rallies are expected for the wrongest of reasons. I would like to address this photo from the International State College of the Philippines' Facebook page. The demands here are rather clunky and stupid. We have the following demands that would naturally clash with each other, such as: No to the oil deregulation law while demanding lower oil prices. This is simply ignoring the basic fundamentals of economics, namely the law of supply and demand . They say that oil companies are greedy for gain. These rallyists probably don't really understand the difference between revenues and profits . Let's understand the Oil Deregulation Law  The Oil Deregulation Law, or the Republic Act No. 8479 , passed on February 10, 1998, under the late Fidel Valdez Ramos. Here's how the liberalization works: CHAPTER II  LIBERAL...
Read more

"Will #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics Lower Philippine Gas Prices?

Inquirer Gasoline prices have increased again, haven't they?  A few days ago, I wrote  why #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba's view of gas prices is questionable . Today, I feel like writing this after several complaints on Facebook. I would like to create a follow-up post. People are complaining too much without understanding the real reason why some countries have lower prices of gasoline. Real talk. We need to talk about economic policies,  and  of course, please do a study on supply-demand analysis  on supply chain management . Let's examine the complaints made by Bulatlat Bulatlat Here's a chart from Bulatlat that compares the increase in prices of gasoline between the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. It's always problematic when people ignore simple economics. It's funny, but Bulatlat mentions this on their website: Note also how expensive our diesel and gasoline products are compared to those of our ASEAN neighbors. The estimated common price today of diesel in...
Read more

Does the Grades-Over-Learning Approach Contribute to Students Hating Mathematics?

Schoolessons Some time ago, I wrote about why I used to hate school . The big problem has to be that the education system cares more about grades than learning . A good grade is indeed a sign of good character. A good grade is only good if it is achieved without cheating. However, for a grade to be really good--I believe that it must spring out from learning . However, the education system has been so focused on grades over learning that students end up cheating as a result (read here ). It affects every subject since a faulty system is a faulty school of thought. I'm going to really point out that I hated school because of the grades over learning approach. It's always all about grade shaming and even the best teachers end up indirectly or inadvertently participating in it. I still remember two of my best strictest teachers. One was as stern as the late Miriam Defensor Santiago. Another was the reason why I never dropped out.  This time, I'd like to focus again on mathemat...
Read more

Is Jollibee "Invading" South Korea Now as It's About to Acquire 70% of Shabu All Day?

I must confess that I find this new rather hilarious . It's because the word shabu is often associated with drugs. All the while, shabu shabu is a Korean delicacy! Well, I'm going to say that Jollibee Foods Corporation has now become a multinational buyer . Jollibee acquired 70% of Compost Coffee back in 2024 . This year, Jollibee as a multinational corporation is now acquiring Shabu All Day for PHP 5.1 billion pesos. Is Jollibee checkmating South Korea or is the Philippines conquering South Korea not just by OFWs but als through Jollibee? The answer is still no. From GMA News , we can read this article by Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas: Under the deal, Shabu All Day will be consolidated into Jollibee Foods Corp.’s (JFC) financial statements immediately upon completion of the acquisition for a total consideration equivalent to KRW127 billion. Completion of the transaction is subject to closing and financing conditions. The acquisition is expected to lead to a 2% jump in revenues, incre...
Read more

Are We Teaching Math in School... Wrong?

Schoolessons I could remember hating math while growing up. I actually and frequently had a vicious cycle that went like this--(1) I hate math, (2) I don't study math because I hate it, (3) I'd rather play video games or watch TV than study and practice math because I hate it, (4) I fail math exam because I didn't study, (5) it's always I hate math because I believe I'll never get it. In fact, I even felt like I wanted to quit school altogether and get into a fight with my parents because of math. It was a vicious cycle hard to break from, especially during our K+10 days. I remember being enrolled in Kumon classes for the summer when I was approaching Grade 6 (graduating year), I almost didn't graduate because of mathematics, and I had to have tutorials. I always felt math sucked, I'll never get good at it, and I'll never get better. I just kept thinking how "I hate math!" was my mantra and hating people who were better in the subject than I am...
Read more