Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Vecteezy The 1990s may be over, but there are times I feel like reviewing them. Many times, I feel like the teacher is often the enforcer and the victim of a bad system. You can have a smart teacher, but the same person  is constrained by the work culture of that day. There's this irritating mentality that says, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." mentality. This is like saying insults supposedly have no lasting impact . This reminds me of some incidents growing up. For the privacy of the people, I will not mention their names or the names of the institutions where they took place. In one incident when I was seven years old, a girl taunted me and wagged her tongue at me. I got mad, and I punched her in the eye in front of the whole class. The teacher comforted her and scolded me severely. I said I was insulted and I told the teacher, "Come on, you saw it ." However, the more I look at the work culture of that day, people were ex...

Jollibee Group Is it me, or am I getting reactive? Regardless, I'm probably obsessed with Jollibee right now. The first Jollibee article I wrote discussed how Jollibee is proof that the Philippines is more than ready to face off against FDI in the Philippines . My most recent Jollibee article is about how the company ranks as the  top quick service in Communist Vietnam . Right now, I just want to feel pride in Jollibee's latest achievement in New York City . This is another lesson in adaptation in international marketing . From an  Insider PH   article by Princess Daisy C. Ominga, and edited by Corrie S. Narisma, here's a lesson on business evolution in the world market: Why it matters The strong turnout highlights Jollibee’s efforts to move beyond its traditional Filipino customer base and build wider appeal among American consumers, particularly in dense metropolitan markets . The company said customer traffic remained steady after opening day, driven mainly by demand f...

It's time to rethink about Chinese again. Here are some ways we can teach basic Chinese by introducing food in Chinese. All pictures here belong to the International School of Languages Facebook page. This would be one way to prevent the dead reading (si-thak in Amoy) in exchange for learning Chinese for real.  This could help create some interesting tests like: a.) Matching up the meaning and filling up the Pinyin. b.) Memorizing (and understanding) the mini-conversations with food as the topic .

It's really hot right now, isn't it? El Niño is approaching, yet haven't Filipinos learned anything? Back in 2024, I actually wrote an essay asking if one would rather die from heatstroke or thirst, in the name of Pinoy Pride economics . I could be getting more aggressive than usual right now. It was El Niño when I wrote the post I previously linked. Now, it's time to think about the call to subsidize electricity for the lower class. As good as it might sound on paper , however, the big problem is that the middle class and above aren't an endless wallet.  Why increasing tax rates to subsidize electricity may be a short-term solution I was even thinking if critics of the TRAIN law aren't complaining about excise taxes but the lower tax rates . Did people like those in the Makabayan Bloc and those who support them complain that by lowering tax rates, there's not enough taxes to support the electrical subsidy? Unfortunately, the Philippines' electrical sect...

Here's a video from Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong enjoying Filipino shaved ice,  aka halo halo. This is a short video where Wong says, "Halo halo!" during the ASEAN. For some reason, he also sets the video to the song "Salamin, Salamin" by the Filipino girl band BINI. Salamin means mirror. The short video also has him greeting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Vietnamese official Lê Minh Hưng, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. I can only imagine Flor Contemplacion Crybabies  may be overreacting on social media when this came out. Migrante International is still stuck with its narrative that FDI is bad . It's presumably born from the Flor Contemplacion crybaby narrative. They can cry all they want, but the facts remain as facts. Flor was guilty. The movie, The Flor Contemplacion Story,  remains a problematic film .  Ironically, some Filipinos may actually be...

Lechon may look fresh but it's really bad | Credits to: DVMF It's May and Fiesta Months are here too. Fiesta tends to have lechon in mind. I was thinking about the near-inescapable tradition of, "Must have lechon." A recent incident in Cebu City was reported by the Cebu Daily News with this frightening report: In a report, the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) said two lechons weighing 15 kilos and 42 kilos were confiscated in Barangay Apas. The pigs used for the lechons were reportedly slaughtered in the cities of Talisay and Mandaue. The third lechon, weighing 30 kilos, was found being sold in Barangay Lahug. Investigators found that the pig had been slaughtered in the mountain barangay of Bonbon in Cebu City. The DVMF, in coordination with the Cebu City Police Office, conducted the “hot meat” operation on Sunday as part of the city government’s campaign against unregulated slaughtering and the sale of undocumented meat products that may pose p...

Philippine Star Some time ago, I wrote about how many Filipinos don't understand what 100% FDI shares ownership means . As of now, I need to make my stance clear on my version of the economic charter change. Economist Andrew James Masigan pointed out in the Philippine Star  the following: Imbedded in the Constitution are industries in which foreigners are precluded. These include agriculture, public utilities, transportation, retail, construction, media, education, among others. Further, the Constitution limits foreigners from owning more than 40 percent equity in corporations. Foreigners are barred from owning land too. These provisions caused us to lose out on many investments which would have generated jobs, exports and taxes . Not too long ago, we lost a multibillion-dollar investment from an American auto manufacturing company that chose to invest in Thailand instead. We lost a multi-billion smartphone plant by Samsung, who located in Vietnam. Masigan seems to be for foreigner...

Bongbong Marcos' Facebook Page The ASEAN Philippines 2026 was taking place in Cebu City. It's the 48th Asian summit. Last time, I wrote an article in 2023 where I talked about the great ASEAN opportunity . That post was a critique last 2023. I was writing how the Philippines has potential but it's held back by Pinoy Pride Economics . What has Pinoy Pride Economics done anyway? As I read the late Lee Kuan Yew's book From Third World to First , there was a stinging rebuke not just about the Marcoses but also about the sad state of OFWs: Mrs. Aquino's successor, Fidel Ramos, whom she backed, was more practical and established greater stability . In November 1992, I visited him. In a speech at the 18th Philippine Business Conference, I said,  "I do not believe that democracy necessarily leads to development. I believe what a country needs to develop is discipline more than democracy."  In private, President Ramos said he agreed with me that  a British parliame...

World Riots As it was Karl Marx's birthday a few days ago (May 5), I personally find it crazy that I missed this "golden opportunity". I remember back when I was in high school, a maid of ours bragged, "If all the poor will unite, all the rich will be defeated." Years later, I remember some crazy brat (probably just past 18 and not in his late 20s) said, "We will do it better when we seize the wealth." This makes me laugh hard because the idea of the poor uniting against the rich, to create utopia, can be easily debunked with common sense . You don't need to go to Ateneo De Manila or the University of the Philippines to understand what I'm going to share. The poor aren't exactly homogeneous or all alike I haven't tried being poor. However, having talked with poor people who got better, it's easy to think that you can't have a homogeneous group of the poor. If you look at people under poverty, you have these situations to prove t...