Skip to main content

Using Controversial Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo as a Reason to Say #NoToEconChaCha is Logically Fallacious

I can't be sure if Alice Leal Guo (if that's ever her real name) is either a spy for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or a criminal hiding from Chinese justice. As much as I'm now wary of the Philippines doing business with the CCP--I believe that the POGO operations are actually run by Chinese criminals hiding from the CCP. The CCP isn't just notorious for its brutal policies on its citizens but also for crime. Do drug dealing in China and you may face the same fate as the three Filipino drug mules last 2011. In my own speculation, Alice is actually an illegal migrant hiding from the long arms of the CCP. Either way, she's getting very suspicious. My stand will always be if a Filipino does wrong abroad--the law of that country will deal with that Filipino. The same applies to any foreigner who breaks the law in the Philippines--the Philippine law will deal with that foreigner. 

However, it's no surprise some people take advantage of the Alice Leal Guo issue. These people use her or the issue to justify going against economic charter change. I wouldn't be surprised if the CBCP's former president Archbishop Socrates Villegas would raise this up to go against economic charter change. I wouldn't be surprised if Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. would raise this up to go against economic charter change. There's some high pride in several framers of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines and the CBCP. The CBCP would take pride in their participation in the EDSA 1986  Revolution. I'm not going to ignore any good EDSA 1986 did. The problem I still have is how people refused to focus on fixing EDSA and keep talking about the Marcos Years' damage rather than repairing it. I can compare the Marcos Years to a hurricane. People should focus on how to fix the damage done by the hurricane than cry over the aftermath of the hurricane while doing nothing. 

The issue is that any talks for economic charter change end up with much foolishness. The foolish argument can go something like, "If charter change is implemented with foreign investment, it will mean that China will control the Philippine economy." I won't name the person or the ones commenting. Do they even understand the meaning of FDI? Calling FDIs as invaders (read here) is what the late Lee Kuan Yew would call a third-world mentality. Investment is investment and invasion is invasion. It's not like. It's not as if the Philippines can't pass economic regulations through legislation. These regulations can include basic pay laws, employee welfare laws, taxation laws, and the like to make sure that the Philippines gets taxes from FDIs. 

A good example is how Israel uses strict budgetary discipline. Singapore may accept FDIs but it practices the Green Singapore Policy. Restrictions like environmental laws, labor laws, and the like, are pretty much like laws that govern tenants if they wish to continue doing business on a space for rent. 

Now, to look through logical fallacies with the arguments using Alice herself as a reason to say #NotoEconChaCha

Using Alice herself is a complete non sequitur. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as:

1

: an inference (see INFERENCE sense 1) that does not follow from the premises (see PREMISE entry 1 sense 1)

specifically : a fallacy resulting from a simple conversion of a universal affirmative (see AFFIRMATIVE entry 1 sense 3) proposition or from the transposition of a condition and its consequent (see CONSEQUENT entry 1 sense 1)

2

: a statement (such as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said

We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.

An example of a non-sequitur policy is saying because the Philippines has been open to FDI (to a certain extent) that an illegal Chinese (and I think Alice is one) became the mayor of that said place. It's not as if allowing a certain degree of FDIs automatically means illegal aliens are allowed to run for office. FDIs must still register their businesses, follow employment laws, get their permits to invest as foreigners, and pay taxes. The problem is Alice can become mayor despite her really questionable background. This is not the same as an FDI investing in the Philippines with proper documentation.

Another logical fallacy is the slippery slope argument. It's defined by Texas State University as:

In a slippery slope argument, a course of action is rejected because, with little or no evidence, one insists that it will lead to a chain reaction resulting in an undesirable end or ends. The slippery slope involves an acceptance of a succession of events without direct evidence that this course of events will happen.

It's like saying that the Philippines will become a colony for the Chinese, with Alice as the "only evidence" that it would. They may fail to present examples of countries with better FDI policies that allowed them to deal with illegal Chinese better. They may fail to see that Vietnam may no longer have good working relations with China. They may fail to see that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dumped Chinese projects. Who says that accepting FDI means letting the Chinese do what they want, letting China take over it, and let illegal Chinese sit for office and legalize them? Again, that's a very slippery slope.

With the Alice Leal Guo controversy in mind, it's really not a good argument to use her to go against economic charter change. I'd want them to try and take their arguments to the ASEAN countries, such as Singapore or Malaysia, first. Maybe, they'd be asked, "Do you think you can only get investments from China?' 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragic Windfall of the Late Flor Contemplacion's Family

PEH.ph Last year, I wrote an article talking about Flor Contemplacion crybabies spreading fake news for 30 years . I noticed that the movie could be watched for free on YouTube (which is one hour and 52 minutes long), and the one that you had to pay for via rent or personal soft copy ( which is two hours and two minutes long). I was looking into the film and realized the "for free" version lacks the exaggerated water dunking and electrocution torture scene, which I believe is available, which is a ten-minute difference. I remember seeing the old version where Flor was tortured by Singaporean police via water dunking and electrocution, to get an answer out of her. The famous line by the late Nora Aunor was, "I did not kill anybody!" It's 31 years, and I don't expect the fake news about Flor to stop just because  it's past 30. No, fake news is that hard to kill even in the digital age. It reminds me of the fate of Flor's sons , where one of them, Sandr...
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

Helping Others is Good But Not to One's Own Expense

I advocate for helping others. I believe in helping others but there were times I overdid it. One time, I gave up so much that I had to be stopped. I was told, "If you gave everything now, how can you help others later?" I would donate some sums here and there, without thinking much. I'm not going to write them all. Some of them left me good while others left a bad taste (and a bad record) for me to endure. Sure, I want to help people but I tend to overlook the consequences. Some of the bad habits I had in the name of helping others are like: Being too generous with buying with credit. Eventually, I lost a lot of money which was never recovered . Some seasoned entrepreneurs may admit their own falls including the credit trap pitfall. Being too willing to give a discount without thinking about how it'd affect profits. Sure, a cheap price can draw people near. However, there are times when the prices of goods and services need to be raised to keep a business running. I ...
Read more

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...
Read more

Sentimentalism Over Adobe Could've Killed My Finances

Why did I drop Adobe? It's because the subscription rate is rather ridiculous (read here ). That's why I'd recommend shifting to Affinity Photo for a one-time purchase (that's probably until a super new version comes out). I looked into this video, thinking about how Adobe was once my get-go. I remember recommending Adobe Photoshop to people--whenever I saw people using Microsoft Paint. Adobe Photoshop was the get-go. I often called it "MS Paint but much better."  Eventually, I Googled for "Adobe Photoshop substitutes" and discovered Affinity Photo . True, Affinity Photo can't do animated GIFs . However, one could still draw several frames and get some other program, or an online service to create animated GIFs. I tried Affinity Photo and got convinced that buying it at USD 25.30 (price may increase any time soon). Affinity Photo was learning all over again. However, it was worth relearning since I'm not a professional graphic artist. I just ...
Read more