Skip to main content

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 saying that Filipino First Policy works. One of the sources mentioned is the late Alejandro Lichauco, who died in 2015. The Bohol Provincial Library cites this of Lichauco and Garcia:

CPG adopted the “Filipino First” Policy to promote greater Filipino participation in business, and to put the Filipinos in control of the economy. After which, according to the economist Alejandro Lichauco’s book (1988) “Nationalist Economics,” during CPG’s time, the Philippines was the Tiger Economy in Asia. And by the end of his term, the Philippines was the only leading economy of Southeast Asia.

Where's the proof of Lichauco's claim in his book then? You can write a book all you want. However, if the data is faulty then the book is just a book. A thesis is just a thesis and it can be full of misinformation. Andrew J. Wakefield wrote several studies to cite vaccines cause autism. Wakefield's studies were refuted. There's a statement in English that says, "Words are like leaves. It's rare to find fruit among them." Take note that Lichauco was also part of IBON Foundation--the favorite source of many anti-reform people, aside from Hilario G. Davide Jr. and the Monsod couple. When I quote a foreigner, these people hypocritically say, "Why are you quoting a foreigner instead of a Filipino." However, they may be rejoicing when a foreigner arrives such as the incumbent Pope of Catholicism, a delegate from another country looking at the human rights situations, etc. Why would they oppose FDIs but welcome the ICC or EU delegate?  IBON is still used as a source by anti-reforms like Wakefield is used as a source by the anti-vaccine movement. They wouldn't accept any sources except from within their circle. 

The big problem with Lichauco's claims is the lacking evidence. When did the Philippines become a tiger economy thanks to protectionism? An irony when you think that Lichauco has Chinese ancestry. The one who helped Garcia's Filipino First Policy was a Chinese Filipino. One anti-FDI idiot I met on Facebook was surnamed Lao, admitting he was also Chinese by blood. In short, they have foreign blood. Today, the stupidity even goes further when you've got xenophobic Filipinos ranting stupidity on American-based platforms like Facebook. When I raised the issue, "Are all your stuff made in the Philippines?" They would mockingly answer, "Not that question again!" They may even say that they have no choice because foreigners "unfairly" own the means of producing equipment (read here). Even funnier is when they're ranting for Filipino First recording it with an iPhone or iPad. That's why I wrote asking if they were forced to buy the luxury products went they could buy non-luxury products.

The quest to prove Filipino First Policy works... but there's a catch!

I wrote an article where I dared people to prove that systems don't matter, only people do. Some people literally take pride that they could recite the preamble of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. What's the use of reciting it if one can't even understand that the constitution wasn't even meant to be set in stone? This time, the challenge is to prove that Filipino First Policy has a place in the rising Asian Century. It's getting evident that the Philippines is still left behind by the ASEAN. Sure, there was some economic improvement during the time of the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III. However, certain factors (such as term limits) prevented Noynoy from doing a better job. In short, systems shape behavior and will either be, do better or better off without that person.

I cited Lichauco earlier because he's the favorite source of such people. There's also the IBON Foundation. However, to have this challenge to prove that the Filipino First Policy works--one must have a wide range of sources. One must learn to think outside the box, get sources that are both Filipino and foreign. One can't rely on just, "Well IBON Foundation is a Filipino foundation, therefore it must know better than foreigners." If the late Lee Kuan Yew had that nonsense, he would've never hired the late Albert Winsemius to check what could be done for Singapore. LKY's ideals soon got copied even by two Communist countries--China and Vietnam. The late Nguyen Duy Cong established Doi Moi in the 1980s. Deng Xiaoping established Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the 1970s. The results were vastly different compared to the Filipino First Policy. Nguyen aka Do Moui studied foreign literature in remaking and reshaping the policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

These people should go beyond their circle of sources, such as Davide, the Monsods, Bayan Muna members (like Atty. Teodoro A. Casiño and Atty. Neri J. Colmenares) and the staff of the IBON Foundation. Instead, they should search for other sources, beyond their circle, that can help validate their sources. They need to cite economists from first-world countries. They could start off with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and look for its current dean or its former dean. That's why I even dared them to look for Kishore Mahbubani. Speaking of which, I wrote an article what a "bumbay" can teach Filipinos this Asian Century. 

This would involve them trying to prove their claims with evidence. Those holding a leftist ideology may want to present their studies to schools in Vietnam--like the University of Economics-Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) or the Foreign Trade University (FTU). Some people who still quote LKY on the Marcoses but not on economics, need to go to the NUS (or any related university) to prove that Filipino First Policy works. I wonder if Davide still has the strength to prove to Mahbubani his claims? Both Davide and Mahbubani are former UN diplomats too. They should show that Filipino First Policy works to the nations doing better than the Philippines.

If they can do it, they deserve a million pesos, tax free. However if not, they don't deserve that money! 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

"Will #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics Lower Philippine Gas Prices?

Inquirer Gasoline prices have increased again, haven't they?  A few days ago, I wrote  why #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba's view of gas prices is questionable . Today, I feel like writing this after several complaints on Facebook. I would like to create a follow-up post. People are complaining too much without understanding the real reason why some countries have lower prices of gasoline. Real talk. We need to talk about economic policies,  and  of course, please do a study on supply-demand analysis  on supply chain management . Let's examine the complaints made by Bulatlat Bulatlat Here's a chart from Bulatlat that compares the increase in prices of gasoline between the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. It's always problematic when people ignore simple economics. It's funny, but Bulatlat mentions this on their website: Note also how expensive our diesel and gasoline products are compared to those of our ASEAN neighbors. The estimated common price today of diesel in...
Read more

The Good Old Days when Gasoline was Cheaper Under the Late Noynoy Aquino

Millennials' Voice I would like to clarify first and foremost that this post isn't an attempt to say that the late Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III's legacy was all bad. Some good things happened. However, let me be clear that it's stupid to say, " We don't need economic cha-cha because of the late Noynoy. " However, let me clear that I decided to write this because of a Facebook post called Millennials' Voice , which wrote this: Did you know that during President Noynoy Aquino's time, the price of oil in the world market was high, between $100 and $110 per barrel. But even with those high prices, gasoline and diesel at local pumps in the country were still relatively affordable.  Under President Duterte, world oil prices went up and down, from a low of $41 to a high of $101 per barrel. The big jump to $101 in 2022 happened because of the war between Russia and Ukraine.   Now, under the current president, world oil prices have gone up again to around $...
Read more

The Myth of "Invading" Other Countries Through Foreign Investors and Overseas Filipino Workers

BoardGameGeek Years ago, I could remember how "Filipino pride" seems to be required by the DECS. Some songs in the Filipino subject (or called Tagalog) tend to glorify it. One of the songs was called "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" (or "I'm Pinoy") feels ironic since it was played on an imported music player. We had discussions for years about how Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are often the unsung heroes or the new heroes. The mentality kept going on with how people desired to take a particular course not because they wanted to--it's because they wanted to go abroad. Why I wanted to take Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) was not just to impress people but also to go abroad . However, more people shifted away from BSIT either because they were eliminated (common cause) or because it was too hard for them. Some of them flat out admitted that they took BSIT in hopes of going abroad. Some were taking nursing in hopes of again-- going abro...
Read more

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics' Understanding of How Gasoline Prices Work

International State College of the Philippines Today is Flor Contempacion Day , and rallies are expected. However, whether it's Flor's death anniversary or not, rallies are expected for the wrongest of reasons. I would like to address this photo from the International State College of the Philippines' Facebook page. The demands here are rather clunky and stupid. We have the following demands that would naturally clash with each other, such as: No to the oil deregulation law while demanding lower oil prices. This is simply ignoring the basic fundamentals of economics, namely the law of supply and demand . They say that oil companies are greedy for gain. These rallyists probably don't really understand the difference between revenues and profits . Let's understand the Oil Deregulation Law  The Oil Deregulation Law, or the Republic Act No. 8479 , passed on February 10, 1998, under the late Fidel Valdez Ramos. Here's how the liberalization works: CHAPTER II  LIBERAL...
Read more

Learning from the Late Lee Kuan Yew's Proving Protectionist-Driven Economists Wrong About Multinational Corporations

Reading the book From Third World to First is really a must. The late Lee Kuan Yew was faced with the mentality of the development economists of his day. Here's an excerpt from "Chapter 4--Surviving Without a Hinterland" which I'd like to share from Pages 57-58: After several years of disheartening trial and error, we concluded that Singapore's best hope lay with the American multinational corporations (MNCs). When the Taiwanese and Hong Kong entrepreneurs came in the 1960s, they brought low technology such as textile and toy manufacturing, labor-intensive but not large-scale. American MNCs brought higher technology in large-scale operations, creating many jobs. They had weight and confidence. They believed that their government was going to stay in Southeast Asia and their businesses were safe from confiscation or war loss. I gradually crystallized my thoughts and settled on a two-pronged strategy to overcome our disadvantages. The first was to leapfrog the reg...
Read more