So OFW Program is Better Than FDI Because of the Dollar Remittance?!

Philippine Star

It's Christmas again, right? Two years ago, I wrote an essay discussing that Filipinos can't be home for Christmas, thanks to the lousy Filipino First policy. I did some research and landed on the Philippine Star. The data presented seems to suggest that the OFW program is feasible:

MANILA, Philippines — Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) continued to climb in September, increasing by 3.3 percent amid the anticipated seasonal holiday surge and currency gains from favorable exchange rates.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that personal remittances reached $3.34 billion in September, $107 million higher than the $3.23 billion recorded in the same month last year.

Of the total amount, cash remittances coursed through banks amounted to $3.01 billion, $96 million higher than last year’s $2.91 billion.

An old fool I ran into on Facebook said, "OFW program is better because they bring in dollars. FDIs will just bring in peso." The idea is stupid on several levels. An MNC must adjust and adapt to the country's local customs. An American MNC must convert the starting capital from USD to PHP. Some countries where Filipinos go as OFWs have lower monetary value. The Vietnamese Dong (VND), South Korean Won (SKW), and the Japanese Yen (JPY) are weaker than the PHP! South Korean and Japanese companies would convert their weaker currecies in favor for the stronger PHP, when doing business in the Philippines!

There's that destructive obsession with OFW remittances (read here). I'd like to ask this question, "How has OFW remittances actually helped pay back the national debt?" I always find it annoying when people confuse FDI with foreign loans (read here). Even the differences between loan and investment are clear as day and night. FDI means letting a foreigner invest in the country, which in turn, that they're required to pay taxes to the country. A foreign loan means borrowing money from another country. Saying FDI was ruined by Chinese FDI is something. Did the person realize that borrowing money from another country isn't the same as letting another country invest in your country?

Even worse, some OFWs believed that they were supposedly "conquering the world". However, if you get the job, you're under a boss! The idea that people will conquer nations by getting jobs is stupid. It's because getting a job in another country is different from doing business in another country. When a person gets the job, he or she doesn't conquer the country. Instead, the person must follow the rules and regulations of the country he or she works for. If one works in a Muslim country, don't bring pork products or do anything forbidden in Islam. If one works in Singapore, expect strict justice to be implemented like what happened to the late Flor Contemplacion.

Talks about separation aren't drama. Families get torn apart by the OFW program. It's something to think about when that problematic The Flor Contemplacion Story (read review here) was uploaded on YouTube. If only Migrante International understood that the equity restrictions against FDI led to the Flor tragedy. However, it seems they're still more focused on being bitter against Singapore, unable to accept that Flor was indeed guilty. That movie wasn't even worth a rewatch. I decided to rewatch it so I could at least do a proper review rather than recall everything by memory. Even worse, some OFW families remain poor because of

Do I need to mention the hassle of OFWs having to pack their things and leave? Do I need to mention the hassle of converting foreign currency to local currency for OFWs? It would be different if MNCs brought in their capital, converted the currency to the local currency, and employed Filipinos to work for them. Worried about exploitation? MNCs are still subjected to local laws such as labor laws and environmental laws. They will still need to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) and income tax. They may also be paying withholding taxes. They may want to deposit money they use for their expenses in a local bank. They may need to send back profits to the host country. However, they would still need to leave some money in the Philippines for operational use.

As said, let's stop romanticizing OFWs as "new heroes" and stop demonizing FDIs as invaders. It's already the 21st century. Please, we're no longer operating under a conquer or be conquered. This is all about business and economics!

Filipino First Policy Linked with Crab Mentality

Having sea crab yesterday or just eating crab, I always think of that old commercial in the 1990s. It was called, "Iwasan ang crab mentality." or "Avoid crab mentality." This makes me recall a scene when I was a child. I saw a pail full of mud crabs (called alimango in Filipino) and if one crab got out, the others pulled it down. The TV commercial showed how if the crabs got together, they could all escape their grizzly fate of becoming eaten for human consumption. Chefs are just lucky crabs pull each other down. However, it also shows that the crabs would rather all be cooked together than let that crab escape. Unfortunately, crab mentality is one of the biggest problems in the Philippines. It's not all that unique among Filipinos. However, it doesn't Filipinos should ever take comfort in engaging in a crab mentality, just because other people do it . Here's an interesting excerpt from Inquirer by Jerry Peres de Tagle PhD: Studies in human behavior ...

It's a Common, Broken New Year's Resolution Among Filipinos to Do Better with Their Finances and Economic Knowledge

Happy New Year, right? There's this statement in Cebuano that says, "Sa Disyembre nag lipay-lipay. Sa Enero, naglikay-likay." For non-Cebuano speakers, it means, "Enjoying all December. Fleeing in January." It's because of the bad habits that are common during the Christmas season. I wrote an entry talking about when a Merry Christmas leads to an Unhappy New Year . After Christmas vacation, it can be common to talk about New Year's Resolutions. Sadly, there are resolutions meant to be broken or resolutions on paper only. Several people finish high school, go to college, get a job, but never gain the necessary knowledge of economics and finances. Instead, they continue to live the same habits year after year. Even worse, the same foolish behavioral patterns get passed down f rom parent to child to grandchild. Still stuck with financial habits that put one in a financial dodo The New Year starts and it can get funny. I tend to hate December because of the ...

Rejoicing Over Filipino Businesses Getting 100% Ownership Abroad While Crying Over FDIs Getting Allowed to Own 100% Ownership

The Philippine senatorial elections are on, right? One of the many things candidates (regardless of party) need to hold is the need for economic reform. As I continue discussing economic charter change, several objections are held. One of the objections is allowing 100% FDI--a subject often subjected to mockery. These mockeries can range from promoting colonial mentality, selling the Filipino to foreigners, borrowing money from abroad (which is definitely not investment, read here ), or even the ridiculous notion that FDI includes Filipino women dating foreigners (read here ). This time, I would like to address another hypocrisy. This time, it's all about Filipinos who rejoice that Filipino businesses are investing with 100% FDI ownership. All the while, this is crying foul when there's a law passed that will allow foreigners to own 100% FDI ownership , in the Philippines. This is a meme to expose the hypocrisy. Jollibee has 158 branches in Vietnam, which I assume happened bec...

The Recent Microsoft Global Outage Should be a Wake-Up Call to the Philippines' Need to Fix the 1987 Constitution's Economic Flaws

The Express Tribune The recent Microsoft Global Outage was caused by Crowdstrike. Since I'm no IT or CS expert--it's better if I let them talk in the news. From BBC News , here's a detail from Crowdstrike that reveals the root cause of the problem has been systemic with an update: This is still a little unclear. CrowdStrike is known for producing antivirus software, intended to prevent hackers from causing this very type of disruption. According to CrowdStrike boss George Kurtz, the issues are only impacting Windows PCs and no other operating systems, and were caused by a defect in a recent update . "The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," he said. "This is not a security incident or cyber-attack." What exactly was wrong with the update is yet to be revealed, but as a potential fix involves deleting a single file, it is possible that just one rogue file could be at the root of all the mayhem. Thankfully, those who created th...

Is Vietnam Getting More FDI Inflows than the Philippines, Because of Its Supposedly Better Fight Against Corruption?

Discussing international marketing or world economics with boomer Filipinos can be painful. Some people still believe in the Filipino First Policy. I cite Vietnam as an example of why economic charter change (called econ cha cha) should be done. Some people cite that Vietnam's increase in FDI is because of the fight against corruption. I don't deny Vietnam has a crackdown on corruption. I don't deny that fighting against corruption helps the economy. However, fighting corruption without the proper tools and not having economic development, is useless. Fighting corruption isn't a panacea or cure-all either. Spanking is part of child discipline, not the whole of child discipline. People who only spank but never teach right and wrong, render spanking ineffective . Instead, look at Vietnam's economic policy vs. the Philippines' economic policy. Some people blame the following for the Philippines' lack of foreign investments, some things Vietnam also suffers fr...

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...

When the Education Cares TOO MUCH About Grades, Schools Produce Idiots Instead of Intellectuals

During the pandemic, I was left in limbo thinking about my poor performance under K+10. It was something to think about that a classmate of mine who was both a summa cum laude and an honor student, ended up posting on his wall, "Students cheat because the education system cares more about grades instead of learning." The class salutatorian of our batch even commented about the good old days. I always had that feeling of insecurity and envy towards people better than me. But as Warren Edward Buffet would say, "Don't hate successful people. Learn from them instead." One of them is currently a teacher and the other is in Canada. I thought about my insecurities especially when I used to believe I was descended from a fine scholar and my family was a family of scholars. I remembered the time I was taking MBA and got conned. I was asked, "Is that what MBA taught you?" I got touchy and ended up admitting, eventually, that I was only taking MBA for the presti...

My Personal Opinion on the Recent Universal Robina Incident

I was doing some news readings and I found out about the death of a certain Stephen Corilla. The incident happened in the Universal Robina Corporation's factory in Mandaue a few days ago. It really chilled my bones to read these details which I'll share from Sunstar : POLICE are set to investigate a food and beverage plant in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City after one of its workers was killed on duty while cleaning a pulverizer machine Thursday afternoon, June 2, 2022. Cpl. Glenn Bordalba of the Mandaue City Police Office Station 3 in Barangay Basak who is leading the investigation told SunStar Cebu Monday, June 6, that they will visit the Universal Robina Corp. (URC) Mandaue City plant in Tabok on Tuesday, June 7, to investigate the matter. Bordalba added that they have not started the investigation yet as they were not allowed entry to the site by the URC management after the incident was reported to them. An approval from the corporation’s consultant is needed for the police to...

My Experience with Tealive Cebu at the Ayala Central Bloc

I have tasted several foreign-owned tea shops. My first experience with tea shops was with Chatime (read here ). Now, I heard of this new coffee shop (or tea shop, take your pick) called Tealive. At first, I thought it was Taiwanese but when I Googled it--it was Malaysian. It made sense that the company uses only Halal-approved ingredients since Malaysia has a huge Muslim population. The founder is Malaysian-Chinese businessman Bryan Loo of Loob Holdings. Loob here also means inside as the Tagalog language also derives from the Malay language. Tealive would later head to the Philippines. It would be like getting Filipinos closer to their Malaysian heritage after all. The branches in Cebu include SM City, SM Seaside, and Ayala Central Bloc. The one I ate was at Ayala Central Bloc. Someone gave me a taste of their sandwich and their signature coffee. I was pretty much impressed that I decided to dine in there. I went to try their lychee tea and chees burger. For a note, their ...

Getting Stingy at the Cost of Fire Safety?

March is fire prevention month, right? If there are people who are too extravagant then I'd like to talk again about stingy people (read the article here ). I've tried growing up with the stingy vs. extravagant extremes. Some people become stingy even with the necessities. It's one thing to deny a child a children's party since it's a want . It's another thing to deny a child stuff they need all in the name of saving money . Even worse, some people may be more than stingy enough to ignore fire safety. A stingy person just wants to save. It's almost like the story of the Miser and His Gold or The Rich Miser . I really find these stories entertaining at the same time, irritating. The first story has the miser who hid his gold under the ground. Some people today are too distrustful of banks and investments. The second story has a rich man who even dresses in rags, denies his son's shoes, had his wife cook some cake only for him, and was so greedy he had it ...

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