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Showing posts with the label protectionism

Would You Rather Die of Thirst and/or Heatstroke This Summer Than Accept Quality Water and Electricity Services from MNCs?

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Looking at the IBON Foundation's page can be laughable . One may notice Atty. Neri Colmenares, someone who fortunately lost the senatorial race twice . I remember arguing about people who'd believe in the lies that Colmenares would propagate about FDIs. There's the call to stop water privatization (the call for the nationalization of the water industry) and the constant opposition to allowing foreigners to own 100%. Do they even get that 100% FDI ownership is all about share ownership and not land ownership ? As the summer heat intensifies due to the El Niño, I decided to write this entry. A good question to ask now is, "Would you rather die of thirst or a heatstroke than accept quality water and electricity services from MNCs?"  What organizations like the IBON Foundation and Migrante International insist is on national industrialization over the acceptance of FDIs. The question is how do they expect to industrialize the nation based on doing everything on their

The Parable of the Lubi Iton Bag

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  Introduction First and foremost, let me remind you that this is a joke post . There was this picture on Facebook that went circulating as a joke. Lubi (coconut leaf) Iton is a joke in Louie Vuitton . Personally, I don't recommend branded items because most of them are just of the same quality as regular items. With the calls for the People's Initiative going on, I noticed some people are still spreading the wrong information about FDIs. You can have Facebook pages left and right doing so. You also have groups like Bayan Muna, IBON Foundation, Kabataan Partylist, League of Filipino Students, and Migrante International to name those opposed to FDI. Now, I hope that this joke post will fire some shots.  I took the idea from the  CoRRECT Movement's " The Parable of the Mountain Bike ". Take note that I intend to let this story be as funny (and offensive) as I can within reason. I will be putting real-life characters in this one. But this post will be written as a jo

I Wonder How IBON Foundation Plans to Improve Philippine Agriculture

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Feeling the heat wave today is really something. I tend to take antihistamine tablets every now and then due to prickly heat. The post above was towards the end of the year. As a business school graduate (and with an MBA on top of it), I feel the need not to heed the IBON Foundation (read why here ). I even wrote a post as to why I can't take their executive director Sonny Africa's statement about FDIs seriously . Their continued quest for national industrialization, their destructive obsession with ayudas meaning cash handouts (read here ), and the Filipino First Policy make me cringe.  The recent narrative on agriculture is this. Just reading Africa's statement reminds me I wrote an article about eating rotten meat . The question that I asked is would anti-business, anti-FDI Filipinos want to eat rotten meat in an isolationist Philippines. I shared the comment on the now-defunct Philippine Anti-Fascist League Facebook page (they made a second one but it's so inactive)

The Filipino Obsession with the iPhone While Not Knowing What FDI Really Means

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Interaksyon I was running out of ideas until I saw iPhones on the Facebook feeds. Right now, I'm indirectly invested in Apple stocks via the ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund and recently, the ATRAM Global Opportunity Feeder Fund. ABS-CBN News reports that scores queue for iPhone 15 release . This was just the introduction of the whole event: Around 200 peopl e queued outside an Apple Premium Partner store at a mall in Makati City on Friday, with some even having spent the night lining up, so they could be among the first to get their hands on the latest iPhone model. Accessories worth several thousand pesos were given to the first 300 individuals who purchased the iPhone 15 before dawn.  Now, I'd like to also present this part about Filipinos and the iPhone craze: Krisel Loreto, the marketing manager of Power Mac Center, said they host the giveaway annually to help patrons “make the most of their investment.” “ We all know iPhone comes with a hefty price. We do events such a

"But the Philippines Isn't Taiwan!" is Just Another Lame Excuse to Justify Filipino First Policy

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Atlas Institute for Internal Affairs   Happy Double 10 to Taiwan! Chinese Filipino schools would take part in what's often called the Double 10 celebrations. October is the 10th month and it's the 10th day. I remember talking about how Taiwan succeeded by accepting FDIs and how the Filipino First Policy caused us to fail . The typical response I would get on American-made social media (of all places), such as Facebook, would be, "How many times do I need to stress that the Philippines isn't Taiwan. We are the Philippines! We are unique!" If those fools did a study, they may realize that there's a link between the Taiwanese aborigines and the Filipino aborigines (read here ). The Philippines should've learned from Taiwan during COVID-19 One of the best models for fighting COVID-19 was Taiwan. Sure, I'm more in favor of shifting to a parliamentary system and Taiwan is still a presidential country (with parliamentary features).  Former Taiwanese president

"First Bitter, Later Sweet" Beats "If It's Bitter, Just Add Sugar" Mindset ANY DAY

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Back then, I wrote an article where I discussed the stupidity of the "If it's bitter, just add sugar." mindset . In Cebuano, it's, "Kung pait, butangi lang ug asukal". The mentality itself has kept many people poor. It would go with how people just want to have a good time. It can be observed in how people deal with their salary hence explaining their financial situation (read here ). With Christmas just around the corner (read here ), it's very easy to land into the dreaded Holiday Debt Trap (read here ). What's next? Would those members of the labor union blame the government and entrepreneurs for the bad decisions they made themselves?  What's with the typical Filipino mindset about money (and sugar)?  Please note that I'm not attacking every single Filipino  there are Filipinos who are mindful of their money. Instead, I'm tackling the predominant mindset brought about by the "Kung pait, butangi lang ug asukal" mindset. It se