Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history  If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...

It's that stupid  when I read the remarks of DTI secretary Cristina Roque made a really tactless remark . Sure, the remark had people angry because, in reality, the whole noche buena at PHP 500.00 for a family of four will not match, given these ingredients: ham, P170 to P945; fruit cocktail, P61.76 to P94.41; all-purpose cream, P36.00 to P72; “nata de coco,” P52.50 to P62.50; “kaong,” P76.50 to P84; “queso de bola,” P210 to P470; cheese, P16.50 to P310; and mayonnaise, P20.40 to P245.85. /dda As I read through the list above, I'm reminded of how much I don't like December because it's the season of abounding toxic positivity . The song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is in full blast, even after Andy Williams died of old age in 2012 . I tend to drive the road and when traffic hits, I always think about the problem of last-minute Christmas shopping , and scream it, "Isn't it any wonder why the Philippines doesn't improve?" It...

The Alice Guo saga seems to have come to an end, right? That's, unless of course something happens and she escapes again. This always made me laugh when I realized that, as I was writing my articles, I came across a Vietnamese girl named Ha Thi Thu Trang, aka Ha Trang, who resembles Alice. Right now, Ha Trang could come to the Philippines for a vacation and not get mistaken for the same person. Back on the topic, I would like to point out that I actually wrote a post on whether or not using Alice's controversy should be a call to shut down constitutional reform . Alice's now in jail, what's next?! I would like to let people know in advance, I'm not here to demolish Senator Maria Theresa "Risa" Baraquel-Hontiveros' efforts in getting Alice arrested. In fact, I feel grateful (in part) that Risa managed to expose Alice's lies, along with Senator Sherwin "Win" Ting Gatchalian in exposing Alice's dubious records. However, I'm going to...

Cổng thông tin Trung ương Đoàn TNCS Hồ Chí Minh A few days ago, I wrote about warning Filipinos that they shouldn't wait for more unmitigated typhoon disasters, before realizing that the Filipino First Policy isn't working ! There's a statement that says, "Just because being tanga (inattentive) is libre (free), doesn't mean you should be tanga!"  Analyzing the different policies: why policies  matter I found a Business World article, written by Cesar Polvorosa, Jr., on my Facebook news feed discussing the Vietnamese economy . In fact, it would be better to share some hard truths that the article offers about what really went wrong with the  democratic Philippines compared to Communist Vietnam : DIVERGENT ECONOMIC MODELS  Vietnam pursued an export-oriented manufacturing strategy which has proven significantly more successful over the past half century than the Philippines’ service-heavy, remittances-dependent model . Export performance alone tells a compe...

GMA Network I remember surviving through Typhoon Odette last 2022. Tino happened on November 6, 2025, which also reminds me that Yolanda's anniversary came two days later . Yolanda was even worse than Odette! Thankfully, Cebu City's impact wasn't as bad, and power didn't take too long to return, unlike Yolanda. However, seeing news reports such as an investigation done against Slater Young's project in Monterazzas de Cebu should highlight a bigger problem. Looking at the photos of floods on Facebook makes me think, "How many more unmitigated typhoon disasters until Filipinos realize that the Filipino First Policy is failing them and that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines  badly needs updates?"  For die-hard defenders like Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. (who will turn 90 this December 20) or Atty. Christian Monsod (who's 89 this year), they're prone to saying that it's just a matter of implementation . However, whether we want to admit it...

Yes, it's been a day since Typhoon Tino. It was a stormy, scary time, and I thought about how expenses were piling up after I was hit by Typhoon Odette . Thankfully, I had contingency savings at that time. However, with Uswan moving upwards and entering another area of the Philippine Area of Responsibility, I considered the issue of emergency savings. I thought about how Christmas can be the most stressful time of the year, with issues such as traffic caused by last-minute Christmas shopping . This time, I thought about some not-so-surprising statistics on Filipinos. It turns out that   only 2/10  Filipinos have enough emergency savings .  This should be considered disturbing,  and this is another thing I failed to consider in my younger, more foolish years, according to the Philippine Star : Commissioned by insurance firm EastWest Ageas, the PURPLE Report conducted by consumer intelligence company NielsenIQ showed that most Filipinos only have P50,000 in emerg...

Gemini AI Art A few days ago, I wrote about how Hilario G. Davide Jr. contradicted himself as a UN Diplomat, who's against 100% FDI . Right now, I need to address the partly good/partly bad advice. Indeed, we should never believe everything on the Internet. Some people can even get a paid domain  and be publishing nonsense (ex., Pinoy Ako Blog) while a blogger like myself, is trying to carefully craft posts. I thought about the sheer double standard  that I had to deal with. It's the same anti-charter change people who tell me, "Don't listen to everything on the Internet!" are also the same people who say, "You should always listen to the framers of the inviolate 1987 Constitution!" Such advice is laughable because, for one, even the late Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco-Aquino spoke these words : You must define and protect our individual freedoms and rights; you must decide how our different institutions of state will relate to each other. Do n...

October is United Nations Month. I would like to bring up the issue of Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr., the favorite source and echo chamber of the anti-constitutional reform groups. I wrote an earlier post where I asked to whom Filipinos should listen to between Kishore Mahbubani and Davide, that Davide was actually a former UN diplomat , until such time of his honorable resignation . I Googled "Hilario Davide Jr. United Nations" and discovered Davide actually studied in SOKA University, during the time he was a UN diplomat ! I would even want to share these words written by Davide, 50 years after Soka University was founded. In just fifty years from its founding on April 2, 1971, our SOKA University has more than fully proven itself as the "highest seat of learning for humanistic education; cradle of a new culture; and a fortress of peace for mankind." It has gone beyond the borders of a great nation through various units in other parts of the world and its comprehens...