Huwebes, Setyembre 19, 2019
It's probably an overstatement to call the Philippines as a supposedly free and democratic country. Some say that democracy was restored in 1986 and supposedly "died" on September 21, 2017. Before we even call a democracy a democracy - we need to understand what it means. If you've at least taken your basic Civics and Culture classes - you may notice that the term democracy is a government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, and for the PEOPLE. It's not a government that's only for the majority, by the majority, and of the majority. A real democracy caters to both majorities and minorities. The majority wins but they shouldn't take all. Minorities are given their right to be heard and criticize the majority. But that doesn't seem to be the case of the Philippines. What I'm seeing is not really democracy but a crowd-based dictatorship that has prevailed for years.
If there's one tyranny that the Philippines has been facing even before 1987 - it's the tyranny called economic protectionism. That idiot Carlos P. Garcia raised the Filipino first policy - a policy that caused Filipinos to fail! Some socialist nutjobs can go ahead and say that the Philippines is supposedly "blessed" by it. But who are blessed by protectionism? The Marcos Years weren't the golden years either. Those who benefited during the Marcos Years are the oligarchs who became his cronies. Who got blessed by protectionism after the Marcos Years? Once again, economic protectionism only blesses the oligarchs and the Filipino leftist groups. As for the people, they end up lacking jobs because there's too few Filipino businessmen and too many Filipino needing jobs.
It's stupid to say, "At least Philippines is a democracy!" What good is having democracy then if the people are in the danger of sinking to the levels of North Korea, Venezuela, and Maoist China? How you define democracy can define who you are. Sadly, I remembered how the word "democracy" has been misused and abused like the word love. You've got people confusing democracy with a dysfunctional sense of freedom. Do they think that the Philippines is the most democratic place in Asia or if not the whole world because of a culture of impunity? Then you have had people who would probably rather commit suicide than follow rules. Filipinos may be having more freedom than North Koreans, Venezuelans, and Chinese (since China is still a dictatorship in spite of it being capitalist) but how's finding a job? Sadly, most Filipinos are still trying to find jobs abroad because the 60/40 rule is still applicable to many sectors.
How is economic protectionism a real tyrant? It doesn't really protect jobs. Rather, it restricts jobs because of the principle of supply and demand. The claim that protectionism supposedly helps the small and medium scale local businesses grow is a lie. True, foreign investors are a threat but they are also an opportunity. Foreign investors can be seen as potential new customers and new service providers. Does your customer have a competitor? You can get that competitor as your new customer. Does your service provider have a competitor? Now you've got more choice. Economic protectionism's aim of getting rid of healthy competition has destroyed jobs because it not only limits employment opportunities but also for local businesses to grow. If you don't believe me then take a look at the history of Maoist China as well as today's Venezuela and North Korea. They didn't get impoverished from capitalism but from socialism. The belief that production and distribution should be under common ownership than emphasizing private investment for the economy destroyed them. If you say Venezuela and North Korea are pro-FDI then you really are dreaming! Go there and prove to me they're taken over by foreigners if you dare!
What's the government's role in the economic growth of the country then? It's not the government's responsibility to directly provide for the needs. People must be responsible for providing for their needs but how can they do that if jobs are restricted? The government must promote economic policies such as giving reasonable restrictions to foreign investors. Yes, 60/40 is a big issue because it's not fair play. Foreign investors should be given the option to either find a Filipino partner (joint venturing and must be given a minimum of 50% or more for the foreign partner) or have 100% ownership even without land ownership. The government should only be involved in peace and order. Taxes need to be reduced as much as possible like what the tax reform law is currently doing. People who own PHP 250,000.00 and below a year should be income tax exempt - the only taxes they would be paying are the value-added taxes and excise taxes. It's all about making sure people have spending power. The government should only get involved in cases of fraud, theft, and other related business offenses for both Filipino and foreign-owned businesses.