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 from 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 foolish behavior people engage in. It can even get worse during New Year's Eve. Back in 2022, I wrote an article where I discussed complaining about the inflation of basic goods while still buying firecrackers. The amount of firecracker injuries year after year points to one thing--broken New Year's Resolutions. I remember that ad back on TV in the 1990s. It was a hand with missing fingers (but it was obviously edited) where a student says, "My New Year's Resolution is that I will not play with firecrackers anymore." It was meant to be a warning. However, some people still foolishly practice it--in the name of tradition. In logic, that's the Appeal to Tradition fallacy. How many of these firecracker injury victims bothered to even buy health insurance? Some people may even think of insurance as a burden while they enjoy spending on useless stuff. 

Certain things can be traced back to December. January is the beginning of a new cycle. Some people just refuse to learn to budget their money wisely. Year after year, some people still do the same foolish habits. It's because habits learned in January can get carried over in December. Some people lavishly celebrate during the Noche Buena (read here) because it's a habit all year round to do something similar. For example, one could think about how people tend to get payday euphoria, resulting in dumb ways that drain the paycheck (read here). Some people still expect instant riches. Some people may have lost large amounts of money gambling but they still gamble anyway, hoping to get rich quick fast. Some people may continually invest in get-rich-quick activities, never mind that previous schemes have failed miserably. However, they still keep doing it anyway! 

It's common to see Five-Six Lenders roaming during January. They can abound during December. It's because people tend to borrow more than they can pay. Some people might even foolishly think that Indian restaurant owners will loan them money (read here). It may be a common sight that I couldn't eat in an Indian restaurant because Five-Six Lenders have occupied the parking lot to eat lunch. It's not easy for the Five-Six Lenders to go around, finding the people who owe them money. I could imagine people are probably hiding from their creditors, both legal and illegal. Right now, I can imagine the clock ticks when all types of creditors will roam around, looking for delinquent debtors. It's a delinquent debt that could've been avoided if they learned to manage money wisely. 

But some never try to change their habits. Instead, they're still stuck with it. They still practice the same old foolishness of spending more than you can handle. They still prioritize pleasure over work. That may explain a typical workplace. In fact, the other AIDS epidemic isn't the STD but the problem of As If Doing Something (read here). Someone can put up a front that they're busy but they're actually doing something irrelevant to work. The worst part is they wonder why their financial standing never improves. 

Still stuck with bad economic knowledge

Above is the common demand of some idiots, young and old, to have #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba. In English, it means, "Increase salaries, lower the prices of goods." Some people even go as far as to believe that profits are merely unpaid wages. Like what? Do they even realize that companies need profits to survive? Of course, people must be prioritized over profits like family must be prioritized over money. Just because something is of lower priority doesn't mean it can be neglected. Sure, employers should prioritize the welfare of the people first. However, how can one even prioritize the welfare of people if there are no profits? How can employers increase salaries without increasing the prices of goods and services?

Business & Plans

Let's think about simple accounting. Salaries will always be part of the cost of production. Salaries would fall under the Selling, General, and Administrative expenses. If we look at the accounting cycle, the profit is barely half of the sales. Salaries are paid and they're deducted from the sales. In short, the salary, not the profit, belongs to the workers. Of course, prioritizing profit over people will eventually destroy profits. A company whose workers don't perform well will eventually suffer long-term losses. Companies that want short-term gains will never get bigger long-term gains. If there was no profit then how can the company give employees their benefits and increase their salaries? Are these idiots suggesting that the company should "just borrow money", never mind that the money has to be returned with interest?!

Even worse, it's already 2024 last year and it's 2025 this year. However, some people are still living in the mentality that FDIs are invaders (read here). That's probably why some people got happy when Jollibee opened in UK but got mad when FDIs had plans to invest in the Philippines. They probably thought Jollibee's opening in the UK was an act of invasion. They still get stuck with the lousy mindset brought by the Filipino First Policy. They still think that until most businesses are Filipino-owned, the nation will never see progress. Even worse, I can mention the late Lee Kuan Yew and they can mention the late Flor Contemplacion (read here), or that the former was a dictator. Again, Flor was already proven guilty, and FDIs, when properly regulated with reasonable restrictions (which equity restrictions aren't part of them), can help the Philippines!

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines badly needs upgrades too. Some people couldn't even get the analogy of the Constitution and the OS of a computer. The OS of a computer can also help determine the quality of work. A PC will need to be replaced sooner or later. Why are some people still acting like the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines as an infallible religious text when it isn't? Article XVII states that it's open for amendments. Meaning, it's not even illegal to have a charter change! However, some people are too stuck in the past. It's all about being too sentimental, never mind that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, has weaknesses that need to be resolved ASAP. The consequences of not amending it have been disastrous. The late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III may have improved economics but it's not enough. One shouldn't rely too much on past successes, or risk a string of failures in the present. They need to think of what happened to Nokia. Nokia was just too stubborn and look what happened. Adobe relied on its past successes then created that highly expensive subscription model--something that created a controversy. The same can happen if the people rely too much on Noynoy's past success. The Philippines couldn't keep saying, "Well Noynoy succeeded last 2010-2016." Please, past successes don't make anyone or any institution invincible!

Conclusion

This would be the result of decades of Filipino First Policy mindset in schools. People pass down the same obsolete knowledge. LKY already called the protectionist policies of his day obsolete. Kishore Mahhubani's statements would put Hilario G. Davide Jr. to shame. What weneed is a radical reform in the system. If there's a radical reform in the system--we may expect these broken resolutions to be much less common!