JT's Manukan Grille Opening in Singapore is PROOF That Filipino Businesses Can Survive in Economic Charter Change

Here's some news that I failed to catch up with. The news that Filipino actor Jole Torre is opening JT's Manukan in Singapore can be a source of Pinoy Pride. Yes, it's something that I, as a Filipino, can be proud of not myself as a Filipino, but of my fellow Filipino. Just as Jollibee made me jolly with furthering relations between Singapore and the Philippines, I believe Torre's business opening in Singapore should make me jolly too.

Harimanok Inc., franchise company of JT’s Manukan Grille, announced that it has finalized a joint venture agreement with food court operator Asian Food Mall for the opening of a new outlet in Singapore in May 2024.

The new international store will be located at Asian Food Mall in Lucky Plaza mall along Orchard Road. Lucky Plaza has proven to be one of the most successful shopping centers in Singapore.

Joel Torre, veteran Filipino actor and indie film producer/director and Harimanok, Inc. CEO said: “We are excited to represent the inasal in Singapore because the city-state is a significant socio-cultural and food hub. The move is in line with our vision to make JT’s a global brand, serving Filipino regional food to our kababayan expats and people of other nationalities as well.”

Wong Ban Ming, managing director of Asian Food Mall said: “We are excited for the arrival of JT’s Manukan Grille to the vibrant and diverse food scene in Singapore. Together with Joel Torre, we look forward to satisfying the taste buds of the locals and the Filipino community here, bringing the authentic taste of Bacolod Chicken Inasal to the Lion City.”

This is JT’s Manukan Grille’s second venture internationally. The restaurant opened a branch in Guam in 2019 but had to close shop at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Their Singapore store will be its first foray in Southeast Asia and the company sees it as a springboard for growth around the region.

Wong the managing director, instead, shares excitement with Torre working with him. It's because Asian Food Mall would serve as a blending pot for Asian cultures. Singapore has a Malaysian community, an Indian community, and a Chinese community. Wong's words don't bring nervousness about a Filipino investor. Instead, the way he said that he's actually excited to see Singaporeans try more Filipino food. Torre is there in Singapore as an investor and not as an invader.

If Kishore Mahbubani (read his lessons that Filipinos must learn here) were to make a statement about it, he would say, "Let the Filipino companies invest in Singapore. If Filipinos can give more jobs to Singaporeans, so be it." The late Lee Kuan Yew didn't want to remove OFWs because he saw their value. That's why it's better to listen to Mahbubani over Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. Davide Jr. only spoke nonsense about FDIs. Mahbubani saw their potential and I don't think he'd mind if his fellow faculty members ate at JT's Manukan Grill. Chances are that Mahbubani may even shake hands with Torre. Mahbubani might even whisper to Torre, "Tell Davide that Singapore progressed also from accepting FDIs."

Here's Migrante International's migraine of an argument on Facebook. I'm going to translate the words here for the sake of non-Tagalog speakers:

They say, If we further open up the Philippines to foreign direct investment (FDI), the jobs will multiply in the country. There will be no more OFWs.

Answer: Foreigners don't wish to give progress to the local economy. They are stopping the Philippine industries' progress because they don't want competition. If cha-cha continues, they will keep salaries low and anti-worker policies in the countries. That would mean there will be more Filipinos forced to become OFWs in other countries.

The logic is surely baffling. I wonder if this was made in response to Torre's plan to open up in Singapore? Every year, they still mourn for the late Flor Contemplacion, a woman convicted of murder (read here). This kind of talk is nothing more than pessimism. I shared quotes from LKY's book From Third World to First but they simply replied with articles from the IBON Foundation The IBON Foundation is highly biased in its fact-finding. When I asked them to cite a country that got rich through protectionism, I felt they just dropped their jaws and couldn't answer. They keep citing the IBON Foundation which I believe is purposely misrepresenting what FDIs are all about (read here), all the while Rosario Guzman shows off her MacPRO. I wonder if Migrante did this move on purpose because they can't imagine a Filipino business opening in the land that executed Flor for murder. Until now, some Filipinos still hate Singapore believing that Flor was a victim of injustice.

To go further, don't tell me JT's Manukan Grille was protected all its life. JT's Manukan Grille has to face off against the likes of Kenny Roger's Roasters, which is an FDI. Jollibee faced off against Wendy's and McDonald's, both are FDIs. Bo's Coffee Club still faces off against Starbucks, Chatime, and Tealive, all of which are FDIs. Jollibee is now an MNC. JT's Manukan Grille might become a fast-growing Filipino food brand in Southeast Asia. Torre's success against similar competitors proves it's innovate or perish. Any restrictions on FDI applied must be rules like the fair competition act, needing identification papers, paying their landlords, and paying taxes according to Philippine law. FDIs will still be bound to Philippine laws. Torre will be found to Singaporean laws. That's why I want to yell at Atty. Neri Colmenares that he's living with oudated ideals.

For Torre's business, hopefully it will grow to be one of the fastest growing Filipino MNCs. Filipinos are capable of innovation and the like. The problem is that decades of Filipino First Policy had held Filipinos back. Pinoy Pride Economics has only held the Philippines back (read here). That's why I support econ cha-cha because I know Filipinos like Torre, can certainly show MNCs that they can survive competition.

Filipino First Policy Linked with Crab Mentality

Having sea crab yesterday or just eating crab, I always think of that old commercial in the 1990s. It was called, "Iwasan ang crab mentality." or "Avoid crab mentality." This makes me recall a scene when I was a child. I saw a pail full of mud crabs (called alimango in Filipino) and if one crab got out, the others pulled it down. The TV commercial showed how if the crabs got together, they could all escape their grizzly fate of becoming eaten for human consumption. Chefs are just lucky crabs pull each other down. However, it also shows that the crabs would rather all be cooked together than let that crab escape. Unfortunately, crab mentality is one of the biggest problems in the Philippines. It's not all that unique among Filipinos. However, it doesn't Filipinos should ever take comfort in engaging in a crab mentality, just because other people do it . Here's an interesting excerpt from Inquirer by Jerry Peres de Tagle PhD: Studies in human behavior ...

It's a Common, Broken New Year's Resolution Among Filipinos to Do Better with Their Finances and Economic Knowledge

Happy New Year, right? There's this statement in Cebuano that says, "Sa Disyembre nag lipay-lipay. Sa Enero, naglikay-likay." For non-Cebuano speakers, it means, "Enjoying all December. Fleeing in January." It's because of the bad habits that are common during the Christmas season. I wrote an entry talking about when a Merry Christmas leads to an Unhappy New Year . After Christmas vacation, it can be common to talk about New Year's Resolutions. Sadly, there are resolutions meant to be broken or resolutions on paper only. Several people finish high school, go to college, get a job, but never gain the necessary knowledge of economics and finances. Instead, they continue to live the same habits year after year. Even worse, the same foolish behavioral patterns get passed down f rom parent to child to grandchild. Still stuck with financial habits that put one in a financial dodo The New Year starts and it can get funny. I tend to hate December because of the ...

Rejoicing Over Filipino Businesses Getting 100% Ownership Abroad While Crying Over FDIs Getting Allowed to Own 100% Ownership

The Philippine senatorial elections are on, right? One of the many things candidates (regardless of party) need to hold is the need for economic reform. As I continue discussing economic charter change, several objections are held. One of the objections is allowing 100% FDI--a subject often subjected to mockery. These mockeries can range from promoting colonial mentality, selling the Filipino to foreigners, borrowing money from abroad (which is definitely not investment, read here ), or even the ridiculous notion that FDI includes Filipino women dating foreigners (read here ). This time, I would like to address another hypocrisy. This time, it's all about Filipinos who rejoice that Filipino businesses are investing with 100% FDI ownership. All the while, this is crying foul when there's a law passed that will allow foreigners to own 100% FDI ownership , in the Philippines. This is a meme to expose the hypocrisy. Jollibee has 158 branches in Vietnam, which I assume happened bec...

The Recent Microsoft Global Outage Should be a Wake-Up Call to the Philippines' Need to Fix the 1987 Constitution's Economic Flaws

The Express Tribune The recent Microsoft Global Outage was caused by Crowdstrike. Since I'm no IT or CS expert--it's better if I let them talk in the news. From BBC News , here's a detail from Crowdstrike that reveals the root cause of the problem has been systemic with an update: This is still a little unclear. CrowdStrike is known for producing antivirus software, intended to prevent hackers from causing this very type of disruption. According to CrowdStrike boss George Kurtz, the issues are only impacting Windows PCs and no other operating systems, and were caused by a defect in a recent update . "The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," he said. "This is not a security incident or cyber-attack." What exactly was wrong with the update is yet to be revealed, but as a potential fix involves deleting a single file, it is possible that just one rogue file could be at the root of all the mayhem. Thankfully, those who created th...

Is Vietnam Getting More FDI Inflows than the Philippines, Because of Its Supposedly Better Fight Against Corruption?

Discussing international marketing or world economics with boomer Filipinos can be painful. Some people still believe in the Filipino First Policy. I cite Vietnam as an example of why economic charter change (called econ cha cha) should be done. Some people cite that Vietnam's increase in FDI is because of the fight against corruption. I don't deny Vietnam has a crackdown on corruption. I don't deny that fighting against corruption helps the economy. However, fighting corruption without the proper tools and not having economic development, is useless. Fighting corruption isn't a panacea or cure-all either. Spanking is part of child discipline, not the whole of child discipline. People who only spank but never teach right and wrong, render spanking ineffective . Instead, look at Vietnam's economic policy vs. the Philippines' economic policy. Some people blame the following for the Philippines' lack of foreign investments, some things Vietnam also suffers fr...

Trying to Plan Out What to Do as a Bull Market Starts

I was laughing just thinking about ignorance about the bear and bull markets. Yes, we know about social media gossipers (seldom called a marites in Filipino) tend to spread gossip. I ran into several people panicking when the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) was mostly red. Others would panic but Warren Edward Buffett recommends, "Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." That's the best market timing. Some people do cost averaging because it's practically less risky in contrast to lump sum investing. Buffett recommends that non-technical people should periodically invest in a low-cost index fund over a period of ten years. Now, the Philippine Star has an article by Wilson Sy, where the first paragraph talks about the Philippines' entry towards the bull market : Most stock markets have undergone a dramatic shift to start the year, transitioning from a bear market to a bull market. Peak inflation, a slower pace of interest rate h...

When the Education Cares TOO MUCH About Grades, Schools Produce Idiots Instead of Intellectuals

During the pandemic, I was left in limbo thinking about my poor performance under K+10. It was something to think about that a classmate of mine who was both a summa cum laude and an honor student, ended up posting on his wall, "Students cheat because the education system cares more about grades instead of learning." The class salutatorian of our batch even commented about the good old days. I always had that feeling of insecurity and envy towards people better than me. But as Warren Edward Buffet would say, "Don't hate successful people. Learn from them instead." One of them is currently a teacher and the other is in Canada. I thought about my insecurities especially when I used to believe I was descended from a fine scholar and my family was a family of scholars. I remembered the time I was taking MBA and got conned. I was asked, "Is that what MBA taught you?" I got touchy and ended up admitting, eventually, that I was only taking MBA for the presti...

My Personal Opinion on the Recent Universal Robina Incident

I was doing some news readings and I found out about the death of a certain Stephen Corilla. The incident happened in the Universal Robina Corporation's factory in Mandaue a few days ago. It really chilled my bones to read these details which I'll share from Sunstar : POLICE are set to investigate a food and beverage plant in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City after one of its workers was killed on duty while cleaning a pulverizer machine Thursday afternoon, June 2, 2022. Cpl. Glenn Bordalba of the Mandaue City Police Office Station 3 in Barangay Basak who is leading the investigation told SunStar Cebu Monday, June 6, that they will visit the Universal Robina Corp. (URC) Mandaue City plant in Tabok on Tuesday, June 7, to investigate the matter. Bordalba added that they have not started the investigation yet as they were not allowed entry to the site by the URC management after the incident was reported to them. An approval from the corporation’s consultant is needed for the police to...

My Experience with Tealive Cebu at the Ayala Central Bloc

I have tasted several foreign-owned tea shops. My first experience with tea shops was with Chatime (read here ). Now, I heard of this new coffee shop (or tea shop, take your pick) called Tealive. At first, I thought it was Taiwanese but when I Googled it--it was Malaysian. It made sense that the company uses only Halal-approved ingredients since Malaysia has a huge Muslim population. The founder is Malaysian-Chinese businessman Bryan Loo of Loob Holdings. Loob here also means inside as the Tagalog language also derives from the Malay language. Tealive would later head to the Philippines. It would be like getting Filipinos closer to their Malaysian heritage after all. The branches in Cebu include SM City, SM Seaside, and Ayala Central Bloc. The one I ate was at Ayala Central Bloc. Someone gave me a taste of their sandwich and their signature coffee. I was pretty much impressed that I decided to dine in there. I went to try their lychee tea and chees burger. For a note, their ...

Getting Stingy at the Cost of Fire Safety?

March is fire prevention month, right? If there are people who are too extravagant then I'd like to talk again about stingy people (read the article here ). I've tried growing up with the stingy vs. extravagant extremes. Some people become stingy even with the necessities. It's one thing to deny a child a children's party since it's a want . It's another thing to deny a child stuff they need all in the name of saving money . Even worse, some people may be more than stingy enough to ignore fire safety. A stingy person just wants to save. It's almost like the story of the Miser and His Gold or The Rich Miser . I really find these stories entertaining at the same time, irritating. The first story has the miser who hid his gold under the ground. Some people today are too distrustful of banks and investments. The second story has a rich man who even dresses in rags, denies his son's shoes, had his wife cook some cake only for him, and was so greedy he had it ...

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