Yes to Filipinas Marrying Foreign Men, No to 100% FDI Shares Ownership?!

Today is Valentine's Day. I feel Valentine's Day is plain overrated. Some people just get a date for the sake of it--even if it means enduring that materialistic girlfriend or abusive boyfriend! Isn't romance a year-round thing? A few Valentine's Day ago, I wrote about Filipinas marrying foreigners and that FDI doesn't include Filipinas dating foreigners. This time to add some comedy, I wrote this post. It's something to say, "Yes! Somebody is married to a foreigner!" It's the hype to get job opportunities abroad or to marry a foreigner.

Blossoms

Why do Filipinos want to marry foreigners? The Blossoms blog writes down the following:

Love and Affection: Love is often the primary reason for marriage, and Filipinas who marry foreigners may do so because they have fallen in love with someone from another country.
Financial Stability: Some Filipinas may marry foreigners because they believe a foreign husband can provide financial stability and security. In the Philippines, a high percentage of the population lives in poverty. Many women see marriage to a foreign national as a way to escape poverty and improve their financial situation.
Educational and Career Opportunities: Some Filipinas may marry foreigners to pursue better educational and career opportunities. Marrying a foreign national may provide access to a more advanced education system and ample employment opportunities.
Change in Environment: Some Filipinas may marry foreigners to experience a change in environment and culture. The Philippines is predominantly Catholic, and some women may find the cultural differences between their home country and their foreign spouse attractive.
Better Life: Finally, some Filipinas may marry foreigners hoping for a better life: better living conditions, improved health care, and greater personal freedoms.

It's easy to say, "Hip! Hip! Horray!" am I right? Back in the civics and culture classes, I remember how often we talked about famous Filipinas who married foreigners. They often brag about how Filipina women are sought out by foreign men. I don't really mind Filipinas marrying foreigners if it's done out of true love and affection. Some Filipina-foreigner marriages may be working better than Filipinas who marry worthless fellow Filipinos. Some Chinese marrying outside their ethnicity may be doing better than Chinese who married a bad Chinese partner.

However, things can take a tide when I tell people, "If you can rejoice over Filipinas marrying foreigners, why not allow foreigners to own 100% of their shares in business?" It can get chaotic whenever I talk about that need. Responses like that 60-40 is necessary to protect the Philippines from exploitation are common to hear (read here). The rationale behind 60-40 is based on confusing profits for revenues (read here).

Do they think that Filipinas marrying foreigners is yet "another form of conquest"? Filipinas can marry foreigners for all I care, as long as it's a loving relationship. However, a Filipina is more of the "object of conquest" since she's brought to the foreigner's homeland. Let's say that a Taiwanese man marries a Filipina. The Filipina will be brought to Taiwan and she may have to apply for Taiwanese citizenship. A Filipina marries a white man and she must apply for citizenship in the white man's country. A Filipina woman marrying a foreigner may have to change their citizenship. They may still stay Filipina if dual citizenship is allowed in that country. Otherwise, they may cease to become Filipina in terms of citizenship.

Indeed, simply another form of economic ignorance born out of the Filipino First Policy's primitive thinking!

Get Stuck with EDSA, End Up Like Nokia

Yes, we should never forget what history teaches us. A classmate of mine, back in high school, wrote a simple and blunt essay called "History: A Teacher". I doubt he still has a soft copy, given it was already more than 20 years ago. I'd like to quote Duterte critic Andrew James Masigan wrote this in Philippine Star --something that should remain relevant: I would never undervalue the 1987 Constitution. It dismantled the legal framework of a repressive regime and established the democratic institutions we enjoy today. For this, I am grateful. The 1987 Constitution was crafted with the best of intentions. It sought to put the Filipino first in all aspects of governance and to level the playing field amongst sectors and peoples. But it is far from perfect. It failed to consider the importance of foreign capital and technologies and the stiff competition we would have to face to obtain them. In short, its economic provisions were short-sighted . So despite the Constitut...

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