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?"

Opening #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Stores Nationwide Increases POGO-Related Risks (NOT FDI)

Alice Guo aka Guo Hua-Ping may be in jail now . However, I believe the saga is far from over . It reminds me that I actually wrote about how several idiots on Facebook go so far as to say, " Alice Guo should be a warning about open FDI! " Some have even gone as far as to say that POGO and Chinese spies should "justify" the Filipino First Policy . However, the harsher reality is that the Filipino First Policy may actually be encouraging dummy investors instead ! As the saga continues, I've decided to write what I might call my harshest entry yet. It's going to be Chinese New Year this year. This might be an entry that may need to be shared before the Lunar New Year! My grievances are still ongoing because some people still demand #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, no matter how destructive it will be . That's why I use Venezuela as an example, especially during Nicolas Maduro's downfall . Back to the topic, I remember writing a joke post where I said, "Wh...

Social Media Gossipers' Ad Hominems Against Actor Robin Padilla Regarding His Proposal to Remove 60-40

Make no mistake that I didn't vote for Robin Padilla. I feel like I've had enough of voting for celebrities, athletes, and those who I felt are know-nothings in the legislative. However, Padilla recently had his proposal to remove the 60-40 restrictions regarding foreign direct investments (FDIs) . Former Philippine Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo was even in favor of that amendment. I guess that's why Philippine economist Andrew James Masigan endorsed Robredo. I may have not endorsed Robredo while Masigan remains to be one of my favorite local sources. The news from GMA News Online reveals these plans by Padilla himself: Senator Robin Padilla said he wanted to revise the Constitution to scrap the 60-40 rule on foreign ownership of businesses to accelerate job creation and competition among industries . In a Monday interview, Padilla said the move would attract more foreign investments to support the country’s economic recovery. “Para sa akin mas...

Should Noynoy Aquino be a Valid Excuse to Reject Econ Cha Cha?

Philippine Star Updated January 25, 2025 This may be a touchy post. Politics is often a source of fights during parties. That's why we're told not to talk about politics during parties. Unfortunately, some people on Facebook are now using the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino Jr. as an excuse not to execute even economic charter change. Never mind that blatant supporter of Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo, Andrew James Masigan, supports economic charter change . The late Charles Edward P. Celdran was also an anti-Duterte critic. As I looked at some okay boomer posts, I'm not surprised at people who still use Noynoy as an excuse to shout with all their might, "No to economic charter change!" Somebody posted on Facebook the following. As always, I won't publicly shame anyone. If possible, I will only refer to them by codenames or use the name Anonymous. I want to remain as professional as possible. This person said that under N...

The Great Reversal: Democratic Philippines Became MORE Dependent on COMMUNIST Vietnam for Rice

Bao Thanh Nien On January 24, 2026, I read from the Philippine Star Facebook page that a vendor from Baseco, Tondo, is selling Vietnamese rice at PHP 20.00 per kilo. Honestly, it made me laugh over President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr.'s promise. Was this rice from Vietnam a rice surplus if it wasn't premium rice? My experience with rice selling was with wholesale, and it was a very different time. What I learned in the late 2000s to 2012 may no longer be applicable today. Taking a look back at the history of Vietnam and the Philippines before Doi Moi This time, I decided to go with history because a certain someone on Facebook (as always, I will not mention names as much as possible) has actually called it that the Philippines' dependency on Vietnam for rice, despite the International Rice Research Institute being actually located in Pili Drive, Los Baños, Laguna 4031, Philippines. This guy (whom I nickname Porky due to his obesity) I just mentioned, sp...

An Interesting Mental Exercise for Chinese as Second Language Class

Back in my day, I remember we kept memorizing what was called bon toi (written as 问题, Wèntí in Mandarin) without understanding them. I hated memorizing those. I guess another reason was to parrot what one can't understand. We had the biak diam too which is Hokkien for oral recitation. Memorizing the question and answer (written as 问题和答案, Wèntí hé dá'àn in Mandarin) would actually not be so tedious if Chinese was taught as a second language. My bizarre idea is to think about having only one bon toi but there are five answers to memorize. Memorizing (and understanding) why some don't want to learn Chinese These five reasons (above) have to be memorized in both Chinese and English. The teacher (老师, Lǎoshī) would say the question, "不学中文的最大借口是什么？" (Bù xué zhōngwén de zuìdà jièkǒu shì shénme?). The question can't be answered until the student actually translated it as, "What are the top excuses not to learn Chinese?" The student will eval...

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