What's the Use of Filipino Athletes Scoring Medals in the 2024 Olympics When Economic Charter Change isn't Prioritized?

Tatler Asia

In elementary, I remember how the Sibika at Kultura (Civics and Culture) subject talked about Filipino achievements abroad. Some great Filipinos mentioned in our classes are the late Lydia De Vega, Lea Salonga-Chien, the late architect Leandro Locsin, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Raphael "Paeng" Nepomuceno, and Eugene Torre. It's effortless to gloat about Filipinos achieving this and that. One may even notice that these names get mentioned in a Buwan Ng Wika program. By the way, I think Buwan Ng Wika feels more like it should be renamed as Buwan Ng Filipino instead. I mean, the programs tend to raise awareness of one's Filipino heritage and history, more than the Filipino language!

The recent wins of athlete Carlos Yulo should be something to be proud of. I see it on my Facebook feed and I feel happy for Carlos, even if I don't know him personally. These days, I've already accepted that I'm a Filipino. Sadly, some Filipino "natives" still think I'd naturally side with China, all the while they're probably still shouting "Pinoy pride!" for Jollibee. I have nothing against Filipinos winning and I can feel pride for it, even if most of my grandparents were Chinese immigrants. I've been assimilated into the Philippines. Who are those racists to say that I'm not "truly Filipino"? For Carlos himself, it's my first time to hear of him. I'm no sports enthusiast. I prefer to do basic exercises for maintenance. It's not wrong to be happy with Carlos' achievements in sports. After all, the contestants represent their respective countries. Carlos' win is a win for the Philippines in the sports arena.

However, here's my problem. It's already 2024 and why isn't economic charter change even done yet? It doesn't matter if Filipinos will even win all the gold medals in a sports event. Why am I saying that? This isn't to drag down my fellow Filipinos or say, "Well, you don't deserve it." Instead, what I'm addressing is the uselessness of Filipinos winning gold medals, if the Philippines still suffers from a jobless problem. What's the use of rejoicing at Filipinos winning competitions abroad if these wins don't translate into wins? A Filipino woman can win the Miss Universe but can that crown produce jobs that Filipinos need? Can the medals, trophies, and crowns produce local jobs so more Filipinos don't have to become OFWs? The answer is really no. It can be a source of pride but not a source of job production.

Several Filipinos still misunderstand what allowing 100% FDI share ownership means (read here). Some people even confuse FDI with borrowing money from abroad (read rebuttal here). Even worse, when I talk about the late Lee Kuan Yew on Facebook, someone is prone to say, "Why don't you follow him to the grave?" or "Never forget Flor Contemplacion." arguments. I bet Joel Torre's business might get boycotted by anti-Singapore Filipinos, for simply opening in Singapore! It's full of logical fallacies such as Ad Hominem, Guilt by Association, Red Herring, and Non-Sequitur arguments just to make a point. They have done it to Senator Robin Padilla more than once. I didn't vote for Senator Padilla but he's doing better in pushing badly-needed reforms. They probably think that Jollibee's opening in other countries means conquering other countries. For the nth time, we seriously need to abandon the concept of FDIs and OFWs as invaders (read here)! Even worse, some even operate with the Filipino vs. foreigner dichotomy or false dilemma (read here). What's more hypocritical is that I read such stupidity on my Facebook feed!

The Philippines has become a venue for foreign events more than once. Did the countries where the foreign events get rid of sovereignty? Why wasn't a 60-40 rule applied in any Miss Universe events held in the Philippines when it came to the judges? When a non-Filipino won in the Philippines, did it shake the national sovereignty? The same goes for FDIs in the Philippines, which aren't restricted by ridiculous equity limits. These foreign businesses are hiring Filipino workers. Grab and FoodPanda in the Philippines, are hiring Filipino drivers. Has the presence of foreign companies stolen jobs away from Filipinos or given them more job opportunities? The Philippines is open to FDI but it's not as open as its other ASEAN countries.

Filipinos can go ahead and join foreign competitions. They can go ahead and win in these events. However, what must be kept in mind is that, as said earlier, their wins don't translate into badly needed work for Filipinos. What will produce jobs are businesses. It's not enough to rely on Filipino business owners alone. People say that the restrictions are for "security reasons" (read rebuttal here). However, it's not as if the Philippines can legislate or amend the constitution in things like national security, fair competition acts, or any laws to protect institutions doing business in the Philippines. When the Philippines opens more of its doors to FDI like Vietnam did, it can expect to have a huge demand for jobs. In turn, a huge demand for jobs will fill the supply-demand gap, which in turn will cause salaries to increase in the process (read job market discussion here).

What Filipinos need is real economics, not Pinoy Pride Economics. Pinoy Pride Economics is a term I made to describe viewing economic activities only through the lens of Pinoy Pride. The Filipino First Policy should be viewed as the foundation of Pinoy Pride Economics. In real economics, it doesn't matter if the source is local or foreign, what matters is that it helps build economic foundations.

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