Kabataan Partylist Uses a MacBook While Opposing FDI

Daily Tribune

Just looking at this picture of Atty. Renee M. Co of Kabataan Partylist using a MacBook makes me laugh. Honestly? I thought about how I'm often berated that, "What have you done compared to Kabataan Partylist?" I remembered writing an article about the irony of using imported equipment to type information against FDI. Honestly, it gets super funny. After all, Kabataan Partylist is part of the Makabayan Bloc. Groups like Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and League of Filipino Students all fall under the Makabayan Bloc. Their stance has still been a stone-age understanding of what FDI is all about. 

The possibility that Kabataan Partylist members have been telling people that a wage increase, not FDI, is key to long-term growth, using a MacBook, is there

In fact, one of the craziest things that Kabataan Partylist said (and probably still stands by) is this idea. They believe that wage hike is what's needed, not more FDI. Do they even understand that even the cost of labor is also subject to supply and demand? 

Graph taken from CFI

The Corporate Finance Institute revealed this fact about how supply and demand work in the job market:

Supply and Demand in the Job Market

Similar to the markets of goods and services, job markets also follow the supply-demand mechanism. When the quantity of workers demanded is equal to the labor force available (the quantity of supply), the job market reaches its equilibrium point, and wages can be determined.

The wage level rises when the demand is greater than the supply and lowers when the supply exceeds the demand for workers. However,wages cannot always move freely. There is often a floor determined by the government, which is known as the minimum wage.

When the equilibrium wage is above the minimum wage level, introducing a minimum wage will not lead to a major impact on the job market. When a minimum wage is established at a level higher than the equilibrium wage, the quantity of demand will fall as businesses will instead try to control their labor costs by reducing the number of employees.

The quantity of supply increases as there are more active job seekers motivated by the higher wage level. It forms a gap between supply and demand and thus, leads to unemployment. Despite this drawback, the minimum wage policy can provide both economic and social benefits. By increasing the wages of low-income workers, the government can reduce its spending on social programs to support these individuals and relieve the economic inequality at the same time.

The issue is that the supply of labor is much higher and the demand for labor is much lower. Let's just face it: not believing in supply and demand will never make it go away. Let's face it: mathematics demands accuracy. You can never change the answers of the basic arithmetic table by insulting it. You can never change the way differential calculus and integral calculus are performed by insulting mathematics. In the case of supply and demand for labor, no one in their right mind would want to offer higher pay if there's barely any competition for labor. 

Does Kabataan Partylist even realize that FDI itself can increase the demand for labor, which in turn, makes a wage hike inevitable? Probably not, since they're most likely too stuck with Pinoy Pride Economics. Yes, the economics that always tries to put Filipino First no matter what. They still have the bizarre belief that says this, as stated by Kabataan Partylist Laguna's blog:

It believes that the Philippines, as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, is plagued by a system which allows foreign and big business interests to dominate, while the majority of our countrymen are left poor and hungry. We are living in a society where foreign subservience, peasant landlessness, and rampant corruption are the top three ills. To that end, Kabataan Party-list strives to galvanize the Filipino youth in upholding, protecting, and defending our interests and in harnessing our full potential as a sector.

Yet, why are some Kabataan Partylist members even using a MacBook?! It's because they have no choice, as the foreigners "unfairly" own the methods of production. However, one must ask why people at the Makabayan Bloc even buy luxury products if there are more affordable options? For example, why buy a MacBook if one can buy a Xiaomi laptop or a Huawei laptop, for a start? Even more, why buy a MacBook since their anti-FDI stance would, by default, would've allowed Apple to manufacture in the Philippines. 

Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, aka Doan Thanh Nien, doesn't look contradictory for using a MacBook 

Vietnam National University

Meanwhile, here's a photo of the Doan Thanh Nien. We have the lady in glasses using a MacBook. However, why are Doan Thanh Nien members using Apple products not contradictory despite Vietnam being a socialist state? It's because the Communist Party of Vietnam even allows Apple Inc., an American company, to produce in Vietnam. The VALO Simplified Sourcing, where Arjen Rubberberg, CEO of VALO Vietnam, gives this detail:

Yes, several Apple products are already manufactured in Vietnam, and the list continues to grow. Vietnam now plays a meaningful role in the company’s global production network, especially in categories like wearables, audio devices, and accessories.

While Vietnam does not yet produce every Apple product, the country has become a strategic location for diversification, quality manufacturing, and long-term capacity expansion. This shift did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of infrastructure development, government incentives, workforce training, and the steady growth of supporting industries.

For global buyers, this signals something important: Vietnam is no longer an “alternative” manufacturing choice, it is a central part of the global consumer electronics ecosystem.

Vietnam's focus was all about inviting more FDI. It's a far cry from Kabataan Partylist, which still thinks FDI is exploitative. The big difference is that one Doan Thanh Nien realized a false sense of nationalist pride would never fill the table. Kabataan Partylist is probably still hoping for a country that develops through self-industrialization.