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Migrante International: Still Mourning for the Late Flor Contemplacion While Sticking to Third-World Development Economics


Unsurprisingly, The Flor Contemplacion Story was uploaded a month ago. I wrote that there's a possible political motive behind the film getting uploaded on YouTube. That's why I even wrote a review against the film after I rewatched it in HD. It's no surprise that Migrante International is inducing its own migraines. The evidence against Flor was already overwhelming, as presented by the Singaporean court. Do these people act as if there was no injustice in the Philippines? What about how the Vizconde Massacre was handled where, until now, the real perpetrators have not been found? Two years after Flor's execution, the Chiong Sisters case arrested the wrong people, and a doubtful Supreme Court of the Philippines' decision was released. Yes, a murder happened in all three cases. Singapore convicted the real killer of the slayings of Delia Maga and Nicholas Huang. Meanwhile, the Philippines had wrongly convicted Hubert Jeffry P. Webb (whose 15 years were wasted) and Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga. How can there be justice when the wrong people are punished? How can people demand the blood of the wrongfully arrested and justice for a woman who was rightfully convicted?

Every March 17 seems to become National Flor Contemplacion Day or National Migrants' Day. The film featured Gabriela and Migrante among the groups. The twin sons of Flor, Jon Jon, and Joel, both starred as themselves. The twins wouldn't star in a movie that would prove their mother's guilt. The movie won many awards because of the presence of Nora Aunor. That's why I want to say that people who say that the documentary Give Up Tomorrow can't be believed because it was made by the brother of Paco's brother-in-law (some even wrote him as a relative when the law wouldn't count them as in-laws) when the movie was directly connected to Efren Contemplacion and her twin sons. Right now, Jon Jon and Joel are still in jail while their older brother Sandrex died in jail last 2012. In the case of Give Up Tomorrow, documentation was done with many interviews, until the film was released in 2011. 

 
From Migrante USA, the claim above is simply what the late Lee Kuan Yew would describe as third-world economics. LKY mentions on page 58 of his famous book From Third World to First a very accurate way to describe Migrante's way of thinking:
The accepted wisdom of development economists at the time was that MNCs were exploiters of cheap land, labor, and raw materials. This "dependency school" of economists argued that MNCs continued the colonial pattern of exploitation that left the developing countries selling raw materials to and buying consumer goods from the advanced countries. MNCs controlled technology and consumer preferences and formed alliances with their host governments to exploit the people and keep them down. Third World leaders believed this theory of neocolonialist exploitation, but Keng Swee and I were not impressed. We had a real-life problem to solve and could not afford to be conscribed by any theory or dogma. Anyway, Singapore had no natural resources for MNCs to exploit. All it had were hard-working people, good basic infrastructure, and a government that was determined to be honest and competent. Our duty was to create a livelihood for 2 million Singaporeans. If MNCs could give our workers employment and teach them technical and engineering skills and management know-how, we should bring in the MNCs. 
I must ask, "Can they provide studies that show that FDIs will do what they claim they'll do?" It's not like as if legislation such as fair wages, environmental laws, competition act, etc. can't be done to regulate FDIs. Do they think FDIs aren't regulated by local laws in the countries where they operate? FDIs will still be controlled by the local host country, not the FDI take over the local host country. How can the prices of goods be raised based on a supply and demand angle? How can local businesses be destroyed if that local business is competent enough to survive? Migrante may still be fond of using the same old boogeymen for whatever reasons they have. Right now, FDIs in the Philippines are still regulated by Philippine laws. Removing the excessive restrictions doesn't mean FDIs can operate without any constraints. Singapore still uses strict environmental laws and certain reasonable financial restrictions to prevent abuses. 

Listen to him and those who think alike, not the social media gossipers!

LKY was faced with development economists who viewed MNCs as exploiters. One person I admire and I say is smarter than Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. is Kishore Mahbubani. Mahbubani explained in The Singapore Economic Model - VPRO documentary - 2009 that people talked bad about FDIs. Then he threw down his famous statement as written above. Sure, Davide Jr. was a UN diplomat. Mahbubani is also a UN diplomat and attended the World Economic Forum. Mahbubani also established the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). It's best to ask who in the world from another country, in the right mind, would go to Davide Jr. for advice? Instead, people have gone to either LKY or later Mahbubani. That's why I believe that pro-reform advocates should invite Mahbubani over to the Philippine Senate hearings, to discuss how the Philippines can succeed. If possible, invite Davide Jr. over to debate with his fellow former UN diplomat. 


The irony is that the statement came from Migrante USA. I heard some people blame capitalism for why the city is now in shambles. In reality, it was the defund the police movement. Defunding the police, rather than reforming the police, is stupid. Do we get rid of healthcare because of a doctor guilty of malpractice? Do we get rid of schools because a teacher violated the rules? Law enforcement is just as necessary as education and medicine. The system needs to be upgraded occasionally, not just a change in people. I wonder if Migrante USA has most of its members in San Francisco or in California? America didn't become a powerful nation by protectionism. In contrast, protectionism helped cause the worldwide Great Depression (read here).

Migrante may oppose FDIs not because it's FDI. Instead, it may be because they don't want the Philippines to learn from Singapore. Possibly, these people think Singapore is an evil state that must be opposed. It may also be because of how a Filipino nurse got jailed for four months for seditious posts. Maybe, every time talks about how the Philippines can improve will always bring up Singapore. Why should Singapore not be brought up? Singapore used to be poorer than the Philippines. The memoir of LKY in From Third World to First paints a picture worse than Tondo, Manila. They're allergic to Singapore and don't want anything Singapore does. If so, they've only been spreading fake news about Singapore, out of hatred for Singapore. 

I guess no amount of Tylenol or any medications for migraine can help. Migrante continues to show its utter ignorance of economics. All the while, they hypocritically enjoy using imported products. If I'm not wrong, some of their members even use MacPROs and iPhones. All the more that their actions can give one a real migraine that Tylenol can't relieve. 
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