Skip to main content

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 earlier days, China and Vietnam tried establishing a self-industrialized state. It was only a short time before reforms under Deng Xiaoping and Nguyen Duy Cong, aka Do Muoi, happened. Do Muoi established Doi Moi as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). 

The complaint is that Jollibee is buying businesses, killing competition. However, when asked about FDIs, I get the dumbest statements ever. I will requote something Porky said without revealing his identity. Some people by now would know who Porky is. 

To all the inattentive people who push for FDI (foreign direct investment), why are you relying on foreigners to have a better economy in the Philippines? 

Why don't we just strive to work to improve our economy? Don't keep complaining that the 1987 Constitution is already old and that we need FDI.

All you do is rely on foreigners. You are all rocks! Work and don't dilly dally in your jobs. You are not given mininum wage just to be inattentive. 

Does Porky even know what FDI is all about? The Investopedia gives its definition of FDI as:

Foreign investment involves capital flows from one country to another, granting the foreign investors extensive ownership stakes in domestic companies and assets. Foreign investment denotes that foreigners have an active role in management as a part of their investment or an equity stake large enough to enable the foreign investor to influence business strategy. A modern trend leans toward globalization, where multinational firms have investments in a variety of countries.

It would be time to face it that even Communist countries like China and Vietnam have been accepting FDIs. In this case, Vietnam is rising and becoming more attractive to FDI despite its status as a Communist country. However, Porky still believes that Filipinos should "strive to work to improve the economy" and that it's "not the fault of the constitution". How does he propose to do it anyway? Do everything ourselves? The person may even resent Singapore because of Flor Contemplacion sentimentalism (read about that here). Not all Filipinos are business-oriented. Lee Kuan Yew didn't even wait until all Singaporeans were better. But for Porky, he just falls on deaf ears, and would prefer Madame Whale's nonsense. Madame Whale even blames FDIs for certain unfavorable events in Singapore. I wouldn't be surprised if Madame Whale ends up like Amos Yee. 

FDI again isn't borrowing money from other countries, getting a foreign boyfriend for Filipino women (which Mukhang Adik calls FDI as foreign d*** insertion), selling the Philippines to foreigners, or whatever nonsense. The word investment has a different meaning from loan, dating, exploitation, and even invasion. How many times do I need to tell them that foreign investors aren't invading the Philippines? FDIs are still subject to the laws of whatever country they do business. Are they still expecting that Filipinos should just "do everything themselves"? Did they not learn from the disaster of the planned Great Leap Forward by Mao Zedong? Some want to exonerate Mao of the blame but survivors in China say otherwise. History has proven Mao's disastrous plans only caused China to crash. China never had the Great Leap Forward as Mao planned--proving that national self-industrialization is a lie. 

Do I need to mention Jollibee is now an MNC? Jollibee is my favorite proof that Filipinos can survive against MNCs (read here). However, a lack of competition in the Philippines caused the oligarchy to rise. The definition of oligarchy is power in the hands of a few. How can it be an oligarchy if there are FDIs? I want to challenge people who say that open FDI will "benefit only the oligarchs" to prove their claims (read here). Come on, I dare them to prove it and if they can prove it with empirical data from first-world countries, they should get a million pesos, tax-exempt. They should take their claims to schools like the Foreign Trade University (FTU) of Vietnam. If not, they don't deserve that money! Of course, they may want to lie about their victory to get the money. 

Going against open FDI will just encourage monopolization. Can Filipinos really just strive and create competition against the oligarchy? Tough luck! It's because if Filipinos should start "doing everything themselves"--they need to ditch Facebook for a start. That's what makes Porky and his pals hypocrites. They might want to say that they have "no choice" because the foreigners "unfairly own the means of producing equipment" (read here). However, some of them are even using Apple products, which makes me ask why buy Apple products when there are affordable alternatives they could use? Why get a MacPRO if an HP or Samsung laptop is more affordable? Why get an iPad if a Samsung tablet is more affordable? Again, the hypocrisy is glaring but do they even notice their self-contradiction? I believe this reveals that they're most likely lying for their own benefit. If FDIs are discouraged because of the lousy 60-40 equity scheme--why would local businesses want to do better? In the world of survival of the fittest, billionaires can just easily gobble up companies. A sari-sari store would be easily gobbled up by a mall owner. 

It would be time to ask, "What's the use of hating oligarchs if you support policies that caused the oligarchy?" The oligarchy exists for one good reason--the lack of competition caused by the Filipino First Policy. Yes, Carlos P. Garcia's aim was to make sure that Filipinos would be the major participants in the Philippine environment. However, the cost was rather high as only a few Filipinos could ever provide for the needs of many Filipinos. As a result, the oligarchy is there and Jollibee, by default, is part of the oligarchy. Any Filipino big business becomes a part of the oligarchy by default, due to the lack of competition. The lousy Filipino First Policy only caused the Philippines to fail. It's because it failed to account not all Filipinos are fit to be entrepreneurs. If everyone were "fit to be entrepreneurs" then there would be no workers!  

Popular posts from this blog

The Insanity of Quoting the Late Lee Kuan Yew About the Marcoses While Ignorning the Rest of His Helpful Advice for the Philippines

It may not be Singapore day yet, it's still July and that event is in August. However, some people are now raising placards all over again because the 17th Philippine president is none other than Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Som people tend to quote from the book  From Third World to First . I did buy the book last year and started reading it slowly. I did get a slow read when it came to the late Lee Kuan Yew meeting the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. The description of Marcos was anything but flattering. I read the book and LKY mentioned that he was not confident that Marcos Sr. could pay back the money. The Philippines wasn't in the "golden years" as some would like to make it out. Yet, it seems that the only time LKY is ever mentioned is whenenver it's about the Marcoses and tends to be ignored when it's about how the Philippines can improve. Parliamentary system is often viewed in the wrong way Whenever Singapore is mentioned, I tend to talk about the parliamenta

The Economic Ignorance of Saying Landlords and Stock Traders Contribute Nothing to Society

Finding anti-capitalist (or better said, anti-business) wokes on Facebook (of all places) is just plain funny. Maybe, the term socialist isn't so negative since the late Lee Kuan Yew considered himself a socialist, the late Deng Xiaoping is the author of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and Vietnam still considers itself as a socialist country. The picture above this paragraph says that landlords and stock traders allegedly "contribute absolutely nothing to society". I feel compelled to write a bit of a post since, as a business graduate, I do feel insulted. Then again even if I didn't get an MBA--I do still feel insulted myself! How good landlords contribute to society   Landlords are often said to be a blight. Some say that it's the "easiest job in the world". However, managing real estate (especially rentals ) isn't as easy as some think. I wrote an essay as to why being a landowner isn't as easy as some people think . I would like to d

The Problem with the Philippine Education System is That It Inadvertently Tends to Make One Stroke One's Ego

What happens is that the traditional Philippine education system focuses too much on  monuments of fame rather  than learning milestones . It reminds me of the incident where Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel stressed out he was a cum laude, and that he's not stupid. I feel this is a microcosm of a much bigger problem that happens with the education system. I'm not going to deny that going to the University of the Philippines and graduating summa cum laude isn't an easy feat. However, I wrote an article on what's the use of being a summa cum laude when one opposes badly needed reforms . It's because whether we want to admit it or not, schools focus too much on the ability to memorize without also focusing on the ability to understand . Memory is also the least reliable tool.  It would be time to continuously attack the problems of the education system. I felt shamed back then because students were often told, "Your grades will determine your future!" In college, I

Pinoy Pride Economics' Filipino vs. Foreigner False Dichotomy

Two years ago, I wrote about the socio-economic cost of Pinoy Pride Economics . It might be better to call it Pinoy Fried Economics because such mentalities have caused the Philippines to fail. Pinoy Pride Economics  has  fried  up any potential for the Philippines to improve. As it's August, the month is commonly called Buwan Ng Wika (month of the language), the celebrations tend to focus more on the celebration of Filipino Culture instead of Tagalog. I remember Buwan Ng Wika programs tend to showcase how cultural exchange evolved the Filipino Culture--such as showing the Chinese traders and Americans in their interaction with Filipinos. On this very first day of August, I'll discuss the problem of the Filipino vs. Foreigner dichotomy. Last I re-studied Filipino History, I never saw it as once free from foreign influence. The Chinese traded with the Philippines--way before the Chinese Communist of China (CCP) caused trouble because of their country's terrible leadership .

Can Diehard 1987 Constitution Defenders Prove Their Claims to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy?

It's not enough to say something. The question is, "Where's the substance or the empirical evidence?" When I start quoting from the late Lee Kuan Yew, these diehard 1987 Constitution of the Philippines defenders start diverting the topic by pointing out my errors to spite me than to correct me. They would ask if I know the Deming Theory of Management which talks about quality management in the company culture. Okay, that was something worth asking but as said, can these people really understand the problem of the Philippines has been more systemic (that is, within the system ) than just the people running the system? What allowed the legislative to be filled with people who know-nothing anyway? That's why I didn't want to vote for Senator Robin Padilla (who ironically understands the need for reforms, read here ). Unfortunately, so many Ad Hominem attacks have been done.  A past article I wrote was Should you  listen to either Davide Jr. or Kishore Mahbubani

Where's One's Priorities in Complaining About Rising Prices?!

I found this meme on Facebook. For the sake of non-Tagalog speakers, it means: For each one that costs PHP 75.00 no complaints. PHP 50.00 per kilo, always complaining! Last year, I wrote about what's dubbed as pera-normal activities . I would like to write about another cause behind these pera-normal activities. People tend to complain that the prices of goods and services have risen. However, they have no complaints about the rising prices of things they don't need. The meme on Facebook shows two things--the gin and the kilo of rice. I was skeptical about President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr.'s promise of PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice. The promise is ridiculous but he won anyway . We can thank the presidential system and the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines for that! Now, critics of Bongbong are demanding PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice. Shouldn't the critics show why it's impossible given the current circumstances? This editorial cartoon from The Mani