Does Kabataan Partylist Understand How International Marketing Works?

I'm amazed (but not surprised) at Kabataan Partylist's economic illiteracy. The group seems to be stuck in the pre-Doi Moi days of Vietnam. Do they believe that Vietnam actually got rich through national industrialization? Thankfully, the Philippine Anti-Fascist League Facebook page (old one) collapsed like the Berlin Wall. However, I decided to look at Kabataan Partylist's Facebook page and found another idiotic statement. Yes, it's by Atty. Renee Co. Right now, with the Philippine justice system being so weak (just remember how the Vizconde Massacre and the Chiong Sisters Case are both, case unclosed), I'm no longer too beholden to lawyers. There are good lawyers but I don't think Renee is one of them!

Anyway, to translate Renee's statements in English, it would be like:

The real reason behind the oil price hike is deregulation.

The government is no longer in control and they're allowing the oil businessmen to increase prices, whenever they wish. Even the Department of Energy of Marcos Jr. admits that there's no shortage of supply of oil from Iran or Israel, in the midst of war.

Oil price hike means all price hike: the difficulty will increase in all products and services.

This makes me think, "How much does Kabataan Partylist know about the world market?" What may be ignored by this lawyer (and honestly, I wouldn't recommend hiring her) are these factors:

1. Just because there isn't a shortage of supply of oil in Israel or Iran, doesn't mean that the overall supply of oil worldwide isn't short.
2. There's also the cost of transportation. War between Israel and Iran may cause longer routes to be used. Longer mileage means higher costs. Why do you think the longer the distance, the higher the cost? 

Not to mention, what Renee may be ignoring is the number of petroleum oil businessmen in the Philippines. There may not be enough oil and gas businesses in the Philippines that could help bridge the supply/demand gap. 

Their understanding of FDI also proves they have a wrong understanding of the world market

I wrote an article, calling the Kabataan Partylist, to learn economics from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, aka the Vietnam Youth Union. It should be awkward, indeed, that FDIs are actually choosing Communist Vietnam (read here). Communist Vietnam went all the way from isolationism to prosperity, despite being a Communist country. 

Just thinking about this argument by Kabataan Partylist drove me crazy. In fact, one can really argue their ignorance in making this statement way back in 2023:

Wage increase, not FDI, key to long-term national development for the new generation

Kabataan Partylist stands in solidarity with young Filipinos across the globe on Labor Day in calling for a nationwide wage increase across the board to not only to ensure just living standards but also to curb labor export and, in turn, spur national industrialization for the long term. We call on Malacanang to immediately release an Executive Order to raise the wage rate at least by Php 750 to bring the average minimum wage to the livingd wage amount of Php 1,117 (As calculated by IBON Foundation).  

“Ang kabataang manggagawa ang butil ng pag-unlad ng ating bansa. Hindi tayo makakaaasang babangon ang bayan muli kung hindi titiyakin ni Marcos Jr. ang dagdag sahod para manatiling malusog at makapaglingkod dito sa Pilipinas ang mga kabataan. Ang nakakabubuhay na sahod din ang magbibigay daan para manatili ang brain and brawn ng bagong henerasyon para sa pagtatayo ng pambansang industriya na bibigyang daan ang pagmaksimisa natin sa sarili nating yaman tungo sa pangmatagalang pag-unlad,” says Kabataan Partylist Secretary-General Julius Cantiga. 

Kabataan argues further that the proposed Marcos Jr. Charter Change which will allow 100% foreign ownership in key sectors of the economy will not lead to more jobs, better wages or long-term development. Decades of increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow since U.S.-sponsored neoliberal policies were first imposed under the Marcos Sr. Regime have not borne any sort of economic growth, only the deterioration of the manufacturing and agriculture sectors of our economy that serve as bedrock of sustainable development.  

“Kahit gaano karami pang FDI ang maaaring pumasok sa bansa buhat ng ChaCha, walang assurance sa pag-unlad kung pabrika lang ng produktong ibebenta nila satin ang itatayo sa Pilipinas. Kontraktwal na trabaho na may di sapat na sahod lang ang dala ng FDI. Ang realidad, dayuhang negosyo ang pinakamakikinabang sa cha cha at pagpasok ng FDI dahil nasusulit nila ang mababang pasahod sa atin. Kaya sa halip na ubusin ni Marcos Jr. ang oras nya sa international flights para mamalimos sa investments tulad ng agenda niya kay Biden ngayong araw, why not invest in our own workers? Dagdag sahod ngayon na!” ends Cantiga. 

Kabataan also urges the Marcos Jr. administration to certify as urgent House Bill 7568 rather than pursue pro-imperialist policies such as Charter Change and even potential unequal military agreements to reinforce VFA-EDCA that may arise from his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden today. The Filipino youth believe that wage increase is a key reform towards securing the country’s sustainability and development for the years to come.

To translate what Cantiga said, it means:

No matter how much more FDI may enter the country from ChaCha, there is no assurance of development if only factories for the products they will sell to us are built in the Philippines. FDI only brings contractual work with inadequate wages. The reality is, foreign businesses are the ones who benefit the most from cha cha and the entry of FDI because they take advantage of our low wages. So instead of Marcos Jr. spending his time on international flights to beg for investments like his agenda with Biden today, why not invest in our own workers? Increase wages now!

Such a statement is made out of ignorance. This statement would've probably made the late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi roll in his grave. Do Muoi implemented the badly needed reforms when Doi Moi was established. Vietnam became an FDI-friendly country, thus increasing jobs. Not to mention, wage increases are dependent on supply-demand scenarios (read here). Right now, we have a job surplus, which means salaries will be lower. However, if there were more demands for jobs, the salary rate will increase. Companies will start competing on who can pay the highest, instead of competing to pay the lowest price. Yes, prices will go up, but the price increase will be worth it if services improve! You sometimes need to sell at a higher price (but not unreasonably high) to improve your services. 

Kabataan Partylist needs to learn from Vietnam's Doi Moi and the world market

Nguyen Duy Cong (Do Muoi) and Lee Kuan Yew
Source: VOVworld5

Their belief that FDI equals exploitation, etc., had long been disproven by Singapore's rise to power. However, we still have Flor Contemplacion crybabies spreading fake news for three decades and more to come (read here). Read from Singapore, expect the Flor Contemplacion crybabies to butt in. For one, if they read Vietnam's history, the late Lee Kuan Yew also recalled his encounter with Do Muoi, the man who rebuilt Communist Vietnam. Do Muoi was probably the most practical Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary (which is the equivalent of the chairman of the CPP-NPA).  Do Muoi chose a different path, which may be compared to Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy. Before that, Do Muoi was under the late Nguyen Van Linh, another former General Secretary.

LKY gave these recommendations to Do Muoi, from his book From Third World to First, on pages 315-317:

They were still communist in many ways. Kiet was noncommittal after the discussions we held int he morning and afternoon of the first day. Immediately after these two meetings, I was taken to meet the Communist Party general secretary, Do Muoi, who had been briefed on the contents of the two discussions in the 20 minutes that elpased from my meeting with the prime minister. Kiet must have got the nod after my meeting with Do Muoi because that night, in his dinner speech, he picked up a point I had made, on which he had earlier been noncommittal, that Vietnam should not have too many international airports and seaports, but should concentrate on building one big international airport and one big international seaport so that they could be included in the world network of airports and seaports.

We discussed their loss-incurring state-owned enterprises (SOEs). They wanted to privatize them or sell them off to the workers and others. I explained that this method would not proivide them with what was critical--efficient management. Singapore Airlines was 100 percent government owned, but it was efficient and profitable because it had to compete against international airlines. We did not subsidize it; if it was not profitable, it would have to close down. I recommended that they privatize their SOEs by bringing in foreign corporations to get an injection of management expertise and foreign capital for new technology. A change in the management system was essential. They needed to work with foreigners, to learn on the job. Privatization within the country by selling to their own people could not bring about this result. 

When he (Do Muoi) asked how he could increase the flow of foreign investments, I suggested that they should abandon the habits they learned in guerilla warfare. Development projects for the south that had been approved by the Ho Chi Minh authority had to be approved again in the north by Hanoi officail shwo knew little about conditions there. It was time-wasting. Next, projects approved by the government in Hanoi were often blocked by local authorities because of the supremacy of the local commander in charge, a legacy from their guerilla days.   

In fact, the Vietnamese had made progress. As a result of more contacts with foreigners and greater information on the market economy, ministers and officials had a better understanding of the workings of the free market. Greater street activity, more shops, foreign businesspeople, hotels--those were all signs of prosperity in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. 

FTU Vietnam

What should be ironic is that Communist Vietnam established the Foreign Trade University (read here). I looked at this Facebook page, finding that there are plenty of "Kabataan Partylist" members. But as always, it's the Vietnam Youth Union, not Kabataan Partylist! One could look at the Vietnam Youth Union members are actually immersed in basic entrepreneurship. 

The National Defence Journal of Vietnam gives out this important detail of the Vietnam Youth Union: 

Currently, the cause of national construction and defence are posing new and more challenging requirements for the work of building and developing human resources in general and the intellectuals, especially young intellectuals, in particular. The Fourth Industrial Revolution continues to develop robustly, fundamentally changing the social labour forces. Our country is promoting deeper and wider international integration, industrialisation and modernisation associated with the development of a knowledge-based economy,... This poses new requirements for people working in the science field that science must be built to become a direct productive force in all fields. Therefore, thoroughly grasping and implementing Resolution No. 45-NQ/TW, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union needs to continue to promote its role and responsibility in building the young intellectuals with the following measures:

Firstly, deploying diverse forms of propaganda about the Party and State's guidelines and policies on the development of Vietnam's young intellectuals, raising the awareness of the position, role and importance of the intellectuals and the young intellectuals. Promote the application of digital transformation, innovate content and methods, improve the effectiveness of propaganda and mobilisation work to enhance the consensus of the intellectuals for the Party's guidelines and policies, and State law. Focus on promoting the honour, morality, dedication, and responsibility of young intellectuals towards the Fatherland and the nation.

Second, continue to research and perfect the system of mechanisms and policies to innovate and improve the quality and effectiveness of training, fostering, using, remunerating and honouring the intellectuals and the talents, creating a favourable environment for young Vietnamese intellectuals to develop and contribute. In particular, there should be mechanisms and policies to mobilise intellectuals, especially the industry-leading ones, to directly train the next generations to make strong and comprehensive changes in the training of highly qualified human resources, and the development of talents in higher education institutions and scientific research institutions.

Third, discovering and honouring outstanding young intellectuals in a careful manner. Actively and effectively deploy the Creative Youth movement; create favourable conditions and environments for early training, discovery and honour of young intellectuals. At the same time, effectively leverage mass media, the press - publishing system, and social networks to propagate outstanding young intellectuals; the products and works of the young intellectuals; share models of honouring, supporting, connecting, and promoting young intellectuals at home and abroad.

Fourth, improving the quality of awards, contests, and competitions to promptly discover domestic and overseas Vietnamese talents, and create positive motivation for the young intellectuals to take part in training, improving themselves, and have the opportunity to be recognised and praised for their efforts.

Fifth, enhancing the support of young intellectuals to get access to opportunities of work, research, develop ideas, products, and start-up to legitimately enrich themselves, the community and the country. Support the implementation of startup ideas and projects of young intellectuals in practice, making practical contributions to the country's development. In addition, there should be solutions to support young intellectuals to access capital to start their business. Actively innovate the content and methods of operation of intellectual organisations, etc., contributing to the successful implementation of the Party's resolution, building a contingent of young intellectuals with dreams, ambitions, and aspirations to develop themselves, make contribution to the country, and follow the entire intellectuals of the country on the path of integration, development, and make the country increasingly rich, prosperous, civilised, and happy.

Meanwhile, I must wonder if Kabataan Partylist has any real, productive solutions. That's why I don't take Kabataan Partylist seriously. I don't take anyone who uses IBON economics seriously either. Such people are still stuck in third world economics.