Rejoicing Over Jollibee's as the World's 2nd Fastest-Growing Restaurant Brand While Still Refusing Economic Charter Change?

What I should have noticed is that on February 16, 2024, Jollibee was named the second fasting restaurant. Yes, you read it right, and here's an excerpt from the Philippine Star:

Jollibee said its recent opening in Canada, the brand’s 100th store in North America, forms part of the group’s aggressive expansion plan for 2024.
“Being ranked as the second fastest growing brand in the world validates the effective work of all the leaders and teams of Jollibee – past and present – whose commitment to the brand and its customers has helped drive the brand’s sustained growth over the years,” Jollibee Group president and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said.
Brand Finance’s latest annual brand ranking report showed that Jollibee surged by 51 percent to $2.3 billion in brand value, rising to rank 17 from rank 20 in this year’s Global Restaurant Rankings.
It also landed fifth place in the strongest restaurant brand category, with its rating improving to AAA from AA-.
Further, Jollibee was the sole Philippine brand listed in the 2024 Top 25 Most Valuable Restaurant Brands and Top 10 Strongest Restaurant Brands.
“Jollibee is the second fastest-growing brand this year, with its brand value up 51 percent to $2.3 billion, while maintaining a strong brand position in its domestic market,” Brand Finance said.
Brand Finance said that with its expanding range of children-centric offerings, Jollibee is poised to maintain its hometown popularity.

This makes me think of people shouting with all their heart, "Pinoy Pride!" This may even come from people who have their idea of the Filipino master race (which is but a dream). I'm also reminded of how some of my classmates before would look down on ethnic Chinese people (though, it's easily understandable because we were all still children) while enjoying Jollibee. Some people didn't know better back then due to their age. However, some people still continue to grow in economic ignorance. It's probably because they would rather listen to Filipino economists who can't back up their studies than economists who would learn from people like the late Lee Kuan Yew.

Philippine Anti-Fascist League

I'd point people back to an article I wrote about viewing FDIs and OFWs as a game of invasion. One defunct Facebook page called the Philippine Anti-Fascist League created the myth above. Fortunately, their backup page isn't getting as much support as the first time. The meme suggests that its maker doesn't know the difference between investing and invading. I'd imagine that they're viewing OFWs and FDIs as a game of invaders. Invade the country before the other country can invade yours? Apparently, people rejoicing at Jollibee's growth rate worldwide are probably now shouting, "Pinoy pride! The Philippines is conquering the world!"

I'd say "Jollibee proves that the Philippines can survive opening to MNCs. (read here)" I can only expect more foolish answers like, "What? Are you going to let MNCs invade us? We're invading other countries through Jollibee and OFWs! We are now conquering before the foreigners can conquer us." However, my favorite rebuttal is that Jollibee has opened across many countries but none became Philippine territory. Instead, where OFWs and Jollibees choose to be, they must follow the rules of that country. Jollibee invests in Vietnam and it must follow the rules of the Communist state. Jollibee invests in the USA and it must follow American laws. Jollibee must still pay taxes, follow labor laws, and the like, if these branches expect to continue doing business in those countries.

The illustration of MNCs doing business in one's country is like leasing a space. A tenant continues to be able to do business in one's space if they pay properly. A lessor collects rent per month and failure to pay rent means eviction. If Jollibee refuses to pay rent and starts acting like it's invading the country--those branches will be subjected to closure. MNCs are required to follow international laws where they invest. They don't go planting their country's flags and claiming that country for their country. Instead, they pledge allegiance to that country for as long as they do business. If I'm in Singapore, I should still respect Singaporean laws and sing its National Anthem during flag ceremonies.

Jollibee did business in other countries without ownership restrictions of FDIs or countries that benefit from FDIs. No, FDIs don't include remittances from sugar daddies, marriage to foreigners, foreign debt, or selling the country to foreigners! I've been saying that repeatedly yet some people refuse to get it. Singapore let many MNCs in and I don't see any reason why Jollibee can't be allowed to enter Singapore. The late Lee Kuan Yew valued Filipino workers during the Asian crisis. Jollibee did business in Singapore because of the latter's FDI-friendly policies. Although Indian Singaporean professor Kishore Mahbubani may be a Hindu (and Hindus don't eat beef), he probably wouldn't mind Jollibee's presence if it creates jobs and brings capital to Singapore's economy.

With Jollibee in mind--it's a reason to open up the economy further. Jollibee is getting rich in other countries too. However, Jollibee (like any MNC) only keeps what's left after taxes (read here). Jollibee wouldn't be able to invest worldwide if it wasn't for countries that willingly accepted it. When Jollibee invested here and there, they didn't bring tanks and planes to conquer the country. Instead, Jollibee's staff bowed down to that country and followed the by-rules of that country. In fact, these countries were Jollibee benefited never became a colony of foreign businessmen. Instead, these countries have progressed because they're more FDI friendly and the economic restrictions not hard-coded into the constitution.

Get Stuck with EDSA, End Up Like Nokia

Yes, we should never forget what history teaches us. A classmate of mine, back in high school, wrote a simple and blunt essay called "History: A Teacher". I doubt he still has a soft copy, given it was already more than 20 years ago. I'd like to quote Duterte critic Andrew James Masigan wrote this in Philippine Star --something that should remain relevant: I would never undervalue the 1987 Constitution. It dismantled the legal framework of a repressive regime and established the democratic institutions we enjoy today. For this, I am grateful. The 1987 Constitution was crafted with the best of intentions. It sought to put the Filipino first in all aspects of governance and to level the playing field amongst sectors and peoples. But it is far from perfect. It failed to consider the importance of foreign capital and technologies and the stiff competition we would have to face to obtain them. In short, its economic provisions were short-sighted . So despite the Constitut...

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics' Bad Accounting

I would like to apologize in advance to my readers. The picture I'm presenting is in Tagalog, and not all my readers speak Tagalog. I would translate the picture's text into English for convenience. It says: "Ano ang bumubuo sa mga presyo?" means "What comprises the price?" "Gastos ng materyales" means materials expense "Gastos sa kasangkapan" means depreciation expense ""Gaston sa pasahod" means salary expense "Kapitalista" means capitalist Renta is well, rent "Kayang pababain ang presyo" means "Prices can be lowered". It says that capitalists (industrialists, landlords, bankers) and elitist governments are part in the gross profit. Get rid of excise taxes (either permanently or temporarily) for the prices of goods and services. In the times of crisis, in the burden of sacrifices, we need to be watchful for capacity. Whatever savings for times of difficulty by the workers and countrymen, the...

Past Chinese School Education in the Philippines was Based on "Sǐ Jì Yìng Bèi"

Chinoys of my age (and older) may remember these textbooks. I called them as the "symbol of trauma". It was memorizing something without understanding it . One would just memorize (without understanding it) because it was typical. Not being able to memorize what was assigned? Get a bad grade? One can expect physical punishment like hitting the hand with a ruler or chili in the mouth. Chinese language teachers are stereotypically strict . The language textbooks (above) are what were used during the 1990s to the early 2000s. As I wrote it, the Sinjiang textbooks aren't effective in teaching Mandarin , in a world where Mandarin has over a billion speakers! There's a Chinese proverb that says, "死記硬背 sǐ jì yìng bèi" or "Memorize to the point of death". That's exactly what those textbooks are. Memorize to the point of death! Okay, it may sound exaggerated. However, that's how Chinese language teachers in the Philippines were made to teach the ...

Migrante International's Really Bad Economic Literacy

March 17 (which is tomorrow) seems to be an unofficial holiday for some people, right? I'm sickened that the late Flor Contemplacion has been treated like she's some national heroine (and thankfully, tomorrow isn't a holiday) even after Singapore had proven her guilt. A movie was made by Joel Lamangan called The Flor Contemplacion Story . The call for Migrante (Migrant) International has been to remember Flor even after several years. What's not too surprising was to learn that Flor's sons were all arrested for drug-related charges. Even her eldest son died while in prison. You have Migrante International wanting to end the labor export policy. However, a post by Migrante really shows how this group fails basic economics. I will not post the whole press statement but one part that made my eyes roll. >> Further opening the country’s economy to foreign ownership and control will worsen the exploitation of our people and the environment without creating a susta...

"Filipino First Policy" Has NO PLACE in the Rising Asian 21st Century

I guess nobody saw the Asian 21st Century coming, right? China was once a poor nation but look at it now. Vietnam was once a poor nation but look at it now. Singapore was once a poor nation but look at it now. The late great Lee Kuan Yew wrote his book From Third World to First . I'm afraid some people have been using it to go against the presidency of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. while ignoring what else Lee Kuan Yew had to say. Lee Kuan Yew described the Filipino press to be rambunctious on pages 304-305 which I agree. I'm afraid that the Filipino press may have had a hand in getting rid of any economic or political reforms that could help the Philippines. Yet, one policy has been holding back the Philippines for decades and yes, it's the Filipino First Policy . Reviewing the Filipino First Policy and why it has no place in the rising Asian 21st century I remembered how the values education subject taught Carlos P. Garcia's stupid Filipino First Policy as a Filipino value...

Remembering the Late Jesse Robredo's Quote on Systems That Force People to be Good

It's been some time since Jesse M. Robredo died too soon. Hopefully, his wife Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo is true to her word, in her willingness to amend the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, for the sake of foreign investments. It's a shame I never wrote about the late great man. The CoRRECT Movement on Facebook gave this important note on Robredo's life. Robredo said, "It's not enough for an official to be good. There has to be a system that forces them to be good." Whether or not Robredo was for charter change or a few constitutional amendments, I can't tell. For some racists, let me remind them that Robredo's real surname is Lim and his paternal grandfather is the late Lim Pay Co. In terms of Robredo's credentials (and I tend to sometimes brag about the credentials of those I quote), here's what the City Government of Naga website says: He is an Edward Mason Fellow and a graduate of Masters in Public Administration at the John...

Filipino First Education Created the Fixed Mindset Over Growth Mindset Mentality

Tomorrow is Bonifacio Day. It's effortless to say that Filipino First Policy works. I wouldn't be surprised if Andres Bonifacio gets used as a poster boy. However, Bonifacio worked for British and German investors . I'd like to talk about how decades of Filipino First Policy compromised our education system. Some idiot on Facebook said which I'll paraphrase to avoid getting personal. The idiot said, "If you let foreigners invest here, can Filipinos afford it?" The same idiot also scorns the law of supply and demand (read my post discussing why that's plain silly here ). People who believe in #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba must first prove it works by opening such stores nationwide, to show that the Philippines doesn't need FDI to succeed (read here ). Of course, I can expect them to say "It's the government's responsibility to raise salaries without raising the prices of goods." That's just plain bad accounting and finance too! Andrew Ja...

Refuse to Do Business with a Person Who Looks Down on Menial Work

If there's any reason why some people are angry with the rich--it's because of rich people who look down on the poor. Some people are born rich without knowing the struggles of the one who originally acquired the wealth. Some rich parents make the fatal mistake of making their children feel entitled. Meanwhile, some rich parents make their children do the right thing by not waiting until things get too far. Some rich parents end up making their children attend middle-class schools, do summer jobs, work as employees in their own businesses, and teach them the value of wealth, especially by narrating the struggles before they got wealthy. In looking for a business partner, I feel it's very important to look at the attitude of these people. How do they treat people who do menial work? I could imagine looking forward to a business contract. However, it turns out that the potential business partner is a spoiled brat . Maybe, it's already a red alarm if I'm invited to an ...

Dayang Daya: The Case of Five-Six Lending Services Roaming to Collect Christmas/New Year Debts by January

I remember during the late 1990s when the song "Dayang Dayang" (Princess of the First Degree) was played on the radio. The origins are often debated whether or not it was from Muslim Mindanao or from the other neighboring countries. The Philippines has had settlers also from Malaysia and Indonesia. A parody cover by the late Yoyoy Villame was called Dayang Daya or Cheating Cheating. It was probably making fun of the Indian five-six lending business. Indians tend to be called Bombay because of the location known as Mumbai. I even made the mistake of referring to Indians as "Bombays" more than once. The song "Dayang Daya" does talk about the five-six lending services. It does target a lot of gullible people. I even became nearly distrustful of Indians in college for quite some time. I wrote how a Merry Christmas may lead to an Unhappy New Year due to debt burden (read here ). I tend to say to myself, "Somebody hasn't paid their debt!" every ti...

Will Opening the Philippines to 100% FDI Lead to Foreign Monopoly?

Monopoly - Hasbro I was looking at the CoRRECT Movement Moderated Public Forum on Facebook. I found more illogical arguments by a certain troll in the forum named Juan Dalisay Jr.--the writer of the Superphysics One website. However, this isn't the first argument I ran into as I've seen arguments from Kabataan Partylist and the League of Filipino Students on Facebook. They have claimed that foreign direct investments (FDIs) will lead to exploitation, only they will get rich, that they will rape resources, and an even funnier claim is that they will lead to monopolies . Some people, even fools, should be allowed to defend themselves at CoRRECT Moderated Public Forum than just live in their echo chamber of Facebook pages. However, Kishore Mahbubani and the late Lee Kuan Yew had long disproven that . The testimony is in the book From Third World to First by Lee himself. Mahbubani said foreign investors create jobs, bring capital, and teach new skills. I wonder if protectionist adv...

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