It's ABSURD to Say That Delays in VP Sara's Impeachment Trial will "Turn Off FDI"

I would say it as it is that this impeachment process is potentially a waste of time. That's why I've been an advocate for the Philippines to go for the parliamentary form of government. If we were in a parliamentary system, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio would've been subjected to a vote of no confidence. In short, if Sara loses, she loses and she would need to step down.

Moving on, I recently read that the Makati Business Club said delaying Sara's impeachment trial, could turn off political investors. Some time ago, someone even said that nobody would want to invest in the Philippines, because of a political dynasty. Please, don't tell me that the late former president Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino wasn't part of a political dynasty! We blame everything except the nonsense 60-40 restrictions! We blame it solely on government corruption, never mind that the 60-40 policy is also something loved by corrupt politicians!

The Makati Business Club is barking at the wrong tree. Some people might say I'm just talking nonsense because I'm just on Blogspot (and I don't expect them to respect me, even if I do secure a domain for this blog), or that I'm not a member of the oligarchs. Whatever, why don't we just focus on the facts? Saying that delaying Sara's impeachment trial could turn off FDIs from investing, is just absurd. If we think about it, the Philippines and Indonesia are both at par with corruption scores. However, Indonesia has become more preferable for FDI.

Radio Free Asia

Something I need to bring up is Vietnam. Vietnam is a one-party state. Some time ago, I wrote about General-Secretary To Lam eating a gold steak, while he was the defense minister. We never saw (insert president) eat a gold steak like that in the Philippines. I could consider To Lam's move as a act of corruption, bragging he would eat a gold-crusted steak! Vietnamese activist Bui Tuan Lam was even arrested by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) for mocking To Lam. Vietnam is still a dictatorial state. However, the major irony is that investors fly over to Communist Vietnam. Some Filipinos blamed a lack of investment on Atty. Leila de Lima's arrest. However, Tuan Lam got arrested over a petty offense (and he's serving a five-year sentence), but that didn't deter FDIs overall! Why is Vietnam still doing better despite being a Communist state?!

The answer lies with the FDI policy of Vietnam over the Philippines (read here). Vietnam's negative list is so short that it's almost negligible. Hopefully, the CPV will vote to allow foreign banks to own 100% shares. Meanwhile, the Philippines is still obsessed with the "Filipino First Policy", which can potentially lead to the Philippines last. For the nth time, who in the right mind is ever going to rent a space if they have to give up 60% of their ownership to the lessor (read here)? Vietnam still has its controversies with corruption. However, it has still invited investors over.

The whole issue is not understanding simple economics. Was China far cleaner than the Philippines when the late Deng Xiaoping invited investors over? The Tiananmen Square was a big blot in Chinese history. Vietnam doesn't have a good record with Human Rights Watch either. However, these two, don't have the ridiculous 60-40 policy, like the Philippines does. In short, the statement made by the MBC is really making me ask, "Are you sure you people understand basic economics?"

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