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 different from 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?'

Open FDI Equals CHINA?!

This is an interesting drawing I found on Facebook. It's often used to portray people who look at the removal of the unnecessarily restrictive 60-40 shares ownership policy as, "The current president's gift to China." The same was done during former Philippine president Atty. Rodrigo R. Duterte. The same was also done with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. It makes me think of stupid comments written by idiots on Facebook. It would be ironic if a lot of anti-FDI and anti-American rants were made not only on Facebook but also were typed using Apple gadgets of all things! They may be quick to use whatever irrational reasons. Some reasons can range from foreigners "unfairly" owning the means to produce equipment (read here ) and that they're simply forced to participate in the capitalist economy model to survive (read here ). However, I must ask if these guys were forced to use the luxury brands they're using (read here ). As the map shows, s

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics Will Ultimately Hurt the WORKING CLASS

Cartoonist Zach Some people claim to fight for the working class--while refusing to work themselves. Some people claim to fight for the working class--while supporting policies that will prove detrimental to the working class. One of these policies is #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba--meaning to raise salaries and lower prices. I wrote some time ago about why #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba doesn't work . However, I'lm still attacked by Ad Homimens and Nom Sequiturs. How's that even possible anyway? Economics isn't magic! If President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr.'s promise of PHP 20.00 kilo rice is absurd--so is the promise of #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics! Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020 I don't need a PhD in economics to understand cost accounting. The income statement would include salaries as part of the cost. The cost of goods sold includes salaries. Marketing and promotions include salaries. General and administrative would include salaries. Pa

Is Anybody Willing to Prove Filipino First Policy Has a Place in the Rising Asian Century for a Million Pesos, Tax Free?

Yesterday was the birthday of former president Carlos P. Garcia, who died in 1971. Garcia is often associated with the Filipino First Policy. Back in the 1990s, I remember how Filipino First Policy was taught in values education classes --never mind the glaring contradictions. The contradictions are that imported equipment was used, or that we can literally never escape the use of imported equipment. I wrote an article discussing why Garcia's Filipino First Policy has no place in the rising Asian Century . I haven't done academic work right now, having been disgruntled by the Filipino education system. Sadly, not even graduate school taught me the basics of stock market investment (such as equity funds) or how Cash 2 Go works. That's why some people say, "It's just a degree!" I often said, "Well your doctor went to college, your lawyer went to college, etc." However, it looks like a college degree may not be for everyone, under K+12! Some people are

Millions of Studies from the Trust Me Bro School of Economics Show #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Business Model Works

Happy Labor Day anyone? It's this time of the year when labor groups like Kilusang Mayo Uno (literally the May One Movement) would protest. They would raise banners demanding #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba. For those who don't speak Tagalog, it means raising salaries and lowering the prices of goods. However, basic cost accounting will tell you that salaries are part of the cost of production . People ignore facts and choose their feelings a lot . I tell them that salaries are part of the cost of production (no need for a Ph. D for that, which I no longer aim to get) but they just sneer at it . They think the government has absolute control over the economy like magic . Members of Filipino labor groups may even say that wage hikes aren't inflationary even when evidence shows otherwise. The Economics Help website presents why doing so can actually worsen inflation: Wage Push Inflation. If labour is able to push for higher wages, despite lower growth, then we could get a combi

What's the Use of Complaining About Jollibee Acquiring Companies BUT Not Accepting Open FDI to Bring in COMPETITION to the Philippines?

Anti-Snowflake Squad Facebook Page I was checking across Facebook and noticed some idiots complaining about Jollibee acquiring companies. The same idiots turned out to be anti-FDI--the same group that converses with Porky Madugo and Mukhang Adik. As usual, I will not directly link the idiots (or even reveal them directly, they will reveal themselves) to avoid giving them clout. Here's a statement by Porky that may make anyone wonder if (1) he knows he's lying (which I think he is for some self-serving reason ), or (2) he doesn't know what he's talking about: The monopolization of business ruins the business. It degrades the quality of the business of a product. If you think monopolization is good, that's stupidity. It kills the competition and it kills the business. Well, as old saying goes: "capitalists are the only one will destroy themselves." Since when did capitalism mean killing competition? Isn't Porky supposedly a die-hard Communist? In the

Forget About Open FDI, Let's Open #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Stores Instead

A really disastrous decision! Before the Buwan ng Wika ends, I want to write about those who have been demanding "Sahod itaas! Presyo ibaba!" (Raise salaries, lower prices). Back in 2022, I wrote an article discussing why the demands for higher salaries, lower prices of goods, and handouts for all are a recipe for disaster . I could laugh at people who believed in the promise of PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice promise of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Before that, people had been demanding #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba during the reigns of the late former president Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and former president Rodrigo R. Duterte. Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020 I did explain why the model doesn't work. In the cost of production, you need to account for everything that happens including salaries . Raising salaries during inflation can actually worsen the situation . It's because sticky inflation happens with cost-push factors (ex. cost of gasoline, co

A Fun Song to Start Learning the New Pinyin Sequence

I was looking for a song in relation to the BoPoMoFo. In my case, I'm prone to calling Pinyin "BoPoMoFo" until today (read here ). It's because Pinyin basically serves the same purpose as Zhuyin--teaching one how to read Chinese. I'd like to say that I got too comfortable with this old sequence: I may hate memorizing Zhuyin but I like treating Pinyin in the same sequence. The new table which uses the 23 initials-24 finals method (read here ) can be confusing. Some old-timers may have an easier time transliterating the Zhuyin into Pinyin. However, I still find the new sequence confusing. I may no longer remember Zhuyin (and I kept failing at it and kept memorizing sentences without understanding) but I can remember Pinyin. Except my memorization of the Pinyin was in the BoPoMoFo sequence. With more than a billion Chinese speakers worldwide--can we keep using the old books to teach Mandarin? That's why I wrote about why the old Chinese textbooks can't be us

"But the Philippines Isn't Taiwan!" is Just Another Lame Excuse to Justify Filipino First Policy

Atlas Institute for Internal Affairs Happy Double 10 to Taiwan! Chinese Filipino schools would take part in what's often called the Double 10 celebrations. October is the 10th month and it's the 10th day. I remember talking about how Taiwan succeeded by accepting FDIs and how the Filipino First Policy caused us to fail . The typical response I would get on American-made social media (of all places), such as Facebook, would be, "How many times do I need to stress that the Philippines isn't Taiwan. We are the Philippines! We are unique!" If those fools did a study, they may realize that there's a link between the Taiwanese aborigines and the Filipino aborigines (read here ). The Philippines should've learned from Taiwan during COVID-19 One of the best models for fighting COVID-19 was Taiwan. Sure, I'm more in favor of shifting to a parliamentary system and Taiwan is still a presidential country (with parliamentary features). Former Taiwanese president

The Pinaskohan Mentality is Keeping Poor Filipinos, POOR

Philippine Star Is it me or is the Christmas Season really that toxic in the Philippines? I wrote an article about the irony of early Christmas season with late Christmas shopping . I didn't think about writing this but is it me or do people like to ask for impunity during the Christmas season? Think about that toxic former friend or former romantic partner. You cut off that person because of the toxic behavior he or she shows. However, you meet at a public place during the -ber months. The person says, "Let's reconcile! It's Christmas!" I can be open to reconciliation with classmates with who I had a childish quarrel back in high school. So far, one of the people I had a childish grudge wasn't a toxic person. The reason why I feel I can reconcile with that person is because he's productive . The same can't be said for people who have a toxic attitude. What do several Filipinos look forward to during Christmas? Would it be just the spiritual signific

Vietnam May Become More Than a Rising Tiger Faster than the Philippines

Taiwan News If China had the late Deng Xiaoping then Vietnam had the late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi . Reading the book From Third World to First had given details of the late Lee Kuan Yew's meetings with Do Muoi and other Vietnamese officers. Doi Moi was a movement that started Vietnam's economic recovery from once a poor Communist state into a glorious Communist state. It's because Do Muoi decided that it was time for a change in Vietnam's communist ways. The movement would defy what traditional communism taught. Deng defied Mao Zedong's protectionism. Now, Do Muoi would be an important part of Vietnam's development. It was interesting to know how Do Muoi was a man ahead of his time. Do Muoi's instructions were to learn from Singapore . It's a very far cry from the anti-reform fools who say it out on social media. Some say that the Philippines can't learn anything from Singapore because of this and that. Vietnam is bigger than Singapore. Vietnam i

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