Why? Because, for now, China is where all the money trails lead to. It is becoming the biggest consumer market, the biggest source of high-rollin’ gamblers for Manila’s sprouting casinos, the biggest buyers of real estate all over the region, the biggest markets for our mineral products, and the biggest source of capital for our capital-starved economy.
Well guess what: today marks this year’s Chinese New year. So, yeah, EVERYBODY is chanting Kung Hei Fat Choi like it’s the Lord’s prayer today. Kulang na lang rosary beads. Indeed, the term is even “trending” on Twitter. Apparently, millions of people the world over woke up this morning and counted tweeting the term among the priority items in their morning get-up-and-go routine. Talk about pa-in.
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The world adores China — because it is a place to manufacture iPhones for a fraction of the cost to have good old-fashioned grain-fed Americans churn them out. And — get this — they now own Volvo cars! As in the company that makes Volvo cars. That’s right, the pride of Scandinavia is now a trophy on the shelf of some Taipan in Shanghai.
You think that’s great? Think again. Today’s venerable Japanese and Korean brands all had home-grown Japanese and Korean names. China, on the other hand, is on a fast-track shortcut campaign to own the world’s great brands rather than create new ones. Maybe “Made in China” will be a mark of prestige someday when the term has redeemed itself after being associated with poisonous baby formula, formalin-laced vegetables, baby toys coated with lead-based paint, and mutant tilapia. For now, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
And, oh, maybe Filipinos forgot that little “issue” of the Divine Land’s all-but-complete annexation of the South China Sea. Ayun. Happy Chinese New Year for real, folks!
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t really have an issue with the Chinese-Filipino community. They actually rock! They built Greenhills shopping center which is still going strong as a kind of a little 1950s version of Hong Kong at the heart of Metro Manila where contraband shipped direct from Zamboanga, fake LVs, and pirated DVDs can be had really cheap — thanks, of course, to the “taxes” paid to the NBI and the Pasig City police.
There’s also all those malls that dot the archipelago from Babuyan Islands all the way down to trendy Cotabato City: SM “supermalls”, Lim Ket Kai, Gaisano, Robinsons, Puregold, Ever Gotesco, etc. All good in the way they provide airconditioned oases for millions of humidity-beaten Filipinos across the land. And the wondrous variety of the merchandise! They mirror the wondrous variety of the products of the industrial might of the People’s Republic of China, I’m sure.
I’m also a big fan of Corinthian Gardens, Valle Verde, and Greenmeadows where all the fancy Christmas lights adorning these awesome mansions are sights to behold during the silly seasons. On the other side of the river is, of course, Manila’s classic Chinatown in Binondo where doing walking tours on actual outdoor streets is still feasible — because there is so much authentic culture to soak up from ordinary street life there.
I guess it’s really no surprise that my fellow contributor Zaxx sees the Chinoys as the Philippines’ only real hope. On one hand, you’ve got most of the economy owing its value to this exceptionally entrepreneurial community. On the other, you see the menace in their rise that we and the rest of the world are a nervous audience to.
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
And do remember: There can be only ONE China (cue in Queen’s ‘It’s a kind of magic’…). 😉
Frustrated artist doing geek for a living.
However awful China may be – and it is – the Philippines somehow manages to go one better. I avoid “Made in the Philippines” like the plague and buy Made in China as a matter of preference. Why?
1) Because the good old BOC, acting on the Constitution, with the Best Interests of The Citizen At Heart, doesn’t allow Filipinos to buy anything better;
2) The Made in RP version will break even quicker than the Made in China one, or more than likely not work at all.
The prospect of China taking over the Philippines is a slightly less bad prospect than the place being run by Filipinos, or at least by the current crop of amoral clowns passing themselves themselves off as leaders. Hence (I suppose) Zaxx’s thesis.
marius,
How do you explain that rationale to the hundreds of victims of the most recent Taiwan earthquake, whose apartment building collapsed because the concrete structure were filled with tin cans instead of steel rods?
Aeta
Aeta, poor comparison: Taiwan isn’t ruled by the CCP and – today at least – has a culture that’s light-years away from China. 40 years ago that wasn’t so: Taiwan looked a lot like China does today, and bribery, especially in the building trade, was rather common.
Even so, there was ONE – count’em, one – large building that collapsed, and it had already survived another earthquake 15 years ago. I haven’t been following the news, but the pictures show rebar, not tin cans. It looks like a pretty substantial building, judging from the trouble the rescuers are having drilling through it. There probably was some design/engineering flaw, and it may well have been deliberate cost-cutting, but the fact remains that tens of thousands of other buildings in the area are still standing.
Anyway, we were discussing China. The Philippines’s problem is that it has a culture that devalues and denigrates co-operation, intelligence, and competence. China was in a similar situation in 1978, but two things pulled them out of it: 1) cultural memories of the high value of education and a competent Chinese culture and 2) a leader who used his dictatorial powers to reverse the damage Mao did to the country. Something very similar happened in Taiwan in 1972.
The interesting part is that neither of those leaders were “good guys”. They were both distinctly unpleasant people who had had positions of power under the previous leader. Yet somehow, some cultural feature of Chinese society managed to reassert itself. They were not content with personal powerful while their country remained a laughing-stock. Perhaps this is what is called “patriotism”?
What chance does the Philippines have in that context? It has no patriots (except for the posters on GRP), no love of country or community. It has no desire to be more than it is today. It has no clever leaders who will (if only for selfish reasons) do what needs to be done to the country’s infrastructure, business policy, and education.
If China had invaded in 1990, they would have stripped the country bare and left it a desert. However, in the last 25 years, they’ve learned more about environmental management, engineering, and nation-building that the Filipino has in 400. I’m not ACTUALLY advocating such an invasion. I’m simply pointing out that things must be in a pretty bad way if invasion by a foreign power would improve things.
Just one problem though: since the place already looks like a war zone, how would the Chinese know that they’d won?
marius,
I didn’t say Taiwan was ruled by the Communist Party, now did I? Instead, I was making comparison about the slick characteristic of the cheap Chinese to cut corners in everything they do to save money–even at the expense of others.
To read too much into what I said.
Aeta
Ah OK. Nevertheless, my point stands. One building contractor cut corners. 99999 others didn’t.
Compare that with what you get in the Philippines, where 99999 buildings out of 10000 are substandard. Have you ever watched a subdivision going up? It’s pretty interesting. They use bare-minimum specs: half-inch rebar embedded in 60mm concrete walls, and then clad the resulting square box in the cheapest, nastiest crap they can buy; guaranteed to leak or fall to pieces in 12 months. The Filipino accepts this because he’s never been offered anything better.
marius,
I didn’t say Taiwan was ruled by the Communist Party, now did I? Instead, I was making comparison about the slick characteristic of the cheap Chinese to cut corners in everything they do to save money–even at the expense of others.
You read too much into what I said.
Aeta
marius,
“Ah OK. Nevertheless, my point stands. One building contractor cut corners. 99999 others didn’t.”
The only thing that stands is the Chinese are greedy and cheap, and could care less of the affect of how they conduct themselves on the environment and everyone around them, as long as the profit keeps coming in. It’s part of their ideology.
Aeta
And you think native Pinoy ethic counts as quality? My sides are splitting here from your delusions.
Time to study Mandarin . . .
I would rather have the Failippines ruled by the imperialistic Americans–who will defend the country and feed the people–than by the cheap Chinese, who will drain the country of its resources and enslave the people as OFWs and starve the masses out of their livelihood.
“I would rather have the Failippines ruled by the imperialistic Americans–who will defend the country and feed the people–than by the cheap Chinese…”
You would, but given the same choice, I bet all those fallen Filipinos wouldn’t.
http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/war.crimes/US/U.S.Philippines.htm
“The overall cost in human lives of American actions in the Philippines was horrific.”
“In the fifteen years…Over 1.5 million died out of a total population of 6 million.”
pt,
Would you rather die an instant death in the hands of the Americans (even though you’re talking about shits that happened a century ago and has no relevance to the presence); or, a slow death in the hands of Chinese today, by bleeding your country dry and forcing your people to fight amongst each other for crumbs, while they (Chinese) enrich themselves?
Aeta
“shits that happened a century ago and has no relevance to the presence”
25% of the Filipino population died. Very relevant. Imagine had those 25% not perished? Seems like the US have a nasty track record of genocidal acts (e.g. Native American Indians).
Aeta, so you mean you want to be a slave to somebody, and rule by somebody?
chem,
We’re all ruled and enslaved by somebody. There is no such thing as complete freedom from this world. What I’m saying is I would rather have “Americans, instead of the Chinese, busting my chops every single day. I’m sure I share this view with millions of our people. If you don’t believe me, just ask the millions of Failipinos living in America compared to the thousands living in China or Taiwan.
Aeta
Aeta, I’ve been to both America and China, and honestly, there’s not much to choose between them. Potted summary:
1) Americans and Chinese both have similar attitudes to the environment, and similar policies regarding environmental destruction/pollution for profit. Both countries spend a lot of money cleaning up (or subsidizing) failed policies.
2) The Chinese are much smarter at projecting soft power. Americans tend to go in and bomb stuff at the slightest provocation. The Chinese go in with bribes and prostitutes for the “leaders”. Neither can be morally justified, but the latter leaves less damage in its wake.
3) Both Americans and Chinese people are extremely racist. Filipinos would get similar treatment from both.
4) American bureaucracy is slightly better than Chinese bureaucracy, which in turn is slightly better than Filipino bureaucracy. None of them are models of efficiency. US tax law and business regulations are an absolute disaster compared to (say) Singapore. It’s a mystery to me how small businesses survive in the US.
5) The hoi polloi in China are vastly more educated than the hoi polloi in the US. It tends to be of the book-learning variety, so neither the Chinese drone nor the American one has much common sense, but being educated and dumb is definitely a step up from being ignorant and dumb.
6) The Chinese are used to hard work. Americans think the world owes them a living.
It’s all a bit hypothetical though. The US wouldn’t touch the Philippines with a ten-foot pole. The Chinese, on the other hand, enjoy a challenge.
marius,
I know about the differences between the Chinese’s Sun Tzu approach to business and war compared to the machiavellian style of the Americans. But the end results is where do you think most people (especially Failipinos) would rather live based on the quality of life—China or America?
Aeta
Honestly, Aeta, there’s not much to choose between them. I wouldn’t want to live in either place. They both suck. To a large extent, “Quality of Life” is what you make it. If I were forced to choose, I’d probably just flip a coin.
Aeta: I’d also add, what you read in the newspapers about the US or about China is mostly just made up by journalists. Have you lived and worked in those countries? Do you speak the language? There’s no substitute for first-hand experience, and it’s surprising what features of a country can get you down, and which ones you come to appreciate.
marius,
You may not choose to live in America or China, but many of our people certainly have and it is very obvious which one they picked. Quality of life is what you make it but we cannot deny how the type of conditions the country you want to live in affects your choice. Otherwise, we might as include Somalia, Afghanistan, or North Korea in the pot when we flipping the coin.
Aeta
Aeta, Filipinos choose to go to the US for two reasons:
1) They don’t need to learn another language.
2) They believe the propaganda that America is The Promised Land.
but in reality there are far more interesting choices on the planet. This isn’t an either-or contest between the US and North Korea.
I choose to live (most of the time) in the Philippines because it’s one of the few places on the planet where you are allowed to farm without government interference – unless it looks like you’re making too much profit, of course, in which case you’ll be punished severely.
The rest of the time I live in other countries. The US is not one of them.
I’m curious to know where else you live since no decent country would allow what you’re doing.
Was that question for me, kin?
Funnily enough, it’s quite true that ‘no decent country’ allows farming the way I do it: that is, pure organic mixed agriculture. If you’re not poisoning the planet, the bureaucrats will shut you down, and they’ll laugh as they do it.
The Philippines is actually not much different. So-called farm supply stores have nothing that a farmer would recognise as useful. Most of them sell insecticides, pesticides, and little else. Want to buy open-pollinated seeds, or a spade? Good luck with that. Farmers are encouraged to destroy the land by bureaucrats who are even more ignorant and uneducated than the farmers themselves.
On the other hand, as the Chinese say, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. You can build an organic farm in the Philippines as long as you don’t try to sell anything. Once you do that, you’re a business, and the BIR and the DENR will shut you down faster than you can say 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.
marius,
That concept of “The Promised Land” sure kept those Failipinos in America for a long time. And they’re still there and not in China.
Something to think about, eh?
Aeta
Aeta: it only tells you the US is better than Philippines, which isn’t hard. Generally, people are easy to please, so if they wash up in some country where they can eat and have a roof over their head, without being arrested by the secret police, they’ll just stay there.
It doesn’t suggest that America is somehow the Best of All Possible Worlds.
To be honest, I think you’re way too obsessed with China/Chinese as the source of all the Philippine’s problems. No doubt your past experience with the farm has colored your view, but are you seriously suggesting Filipinos cheat and lie less that Chinoys? That’s certainly not my experience.
marius,
What I was expecting you to say is the U.S. is better than China in more ways than one, and the reason why Failipinos prefer to migrate, and stay there, in greater numbers. Yes, people are generally easy to please, but that is only a temporary satisfaction.
What is more important is people can look for a sense of security, even a future, even if it is only a semblance of their imagination. I have never said America is great; however, it does offer something that China could never offer to its own people: a dream of becoming anything you want to be without the fear of persecution, as long as you don’t hurt anyone in the process.
You can think whatever you wish about how I feel about China and the Chinese. Personally, I do not hate the Chinese; I just do not care for their gluttonous practice of hoarding more than what they will ever need to survive, while depriving others of the same opportunities.
My family losing their farm did color my view about the Chinese and our corrupt politicians for a while, but the gist of my continued irritation is there are millions of our people who were also affected by what these oligarchs have done and continue to do.
There seems to be no end in sight to what the Chinese are doing of fleecing the Failippines of its natural resources and forcing the people to resort to extremes (leave the country or covet what each other has) just to survive.
Aeta
Aeta, I’ve seen the fleecing and hoarding of which you speak. 99% of it is being done by purebreed Pinoys. Your leaders (with the notable exception of the Aquino clan) are Pinoys, and have been for generations. You lost your farm because of rules made by Pinoys to favour the rich. It just so happens that Chinoys, statistically speaking, tend to be rich.
My experience of Chinese culture is that they are extreme realists. They have a commonly-used expression: “don’t think too much”. If the State expects them to bribe, then they will bribe. If it doesn’t, then they won’t. The history of the Chinese is mostly one of oppression under arbitrary rules. They’re used to it, and instead of moaning about it or giving up, they exploit it. Is that wrong? Hard to say.
As for American freedom: really, for the man in the street, there is little difference between the US and China. In both countries, you can get up, eat your breakfast, go to work, come home and fall asleep, and the government will pat you on the back. If you step out of line in either country, you will be persecuted or jailed. Bureaucracy is cumbersome in both countries: it’s easy to be an employee, but not much fun to be a boss.
Personally, I find American policemen 10x more scary than Chinese ones. The Chinese tend to be lazy; the Americans are actively looking for trouble.
It’s very hard to guess what China will become. 10 years ago I might have agreed with you that the country will fall flat on its face, or remain encumbered by dictatorship. That still might happen. However, it’s looking less certain.
We live in interesting times!
Marius,
Why do you keep going around in circle on what I had said? You’re just re-wording my words and try to throw it back at me.
I’ve already told you for the ‘nth’ times that these “purebred” Failnoys that you are talking about are made up of Chinese and Failipino politicians who complement each other by fleecing the country, through bribery and other dirty deeds, of oppressing the people.
Yes, my family lost its farm because of the fabricated laws made up by Failipino politicians, but the driving force behind these corrupt lawmakers are the “rich Chinoys,” so they can have these land for themselves and to do what they wish.
Whatever crumbs these two asshole oligarchs drop on the floor are picked up and fought over by the rest of the Failipino population. So stop repeating what I said just to prolong our discussion.
It sounds to me that your experience of the Chinese culture is consistent of what I think of them: a non-compassionate and materialistic human being who could care less about his fellow human being, whose prerogative in this world is to take and not give.
If that is the case, then the Chinese are one of the causes of human suffering because they will commit and condone atrocities just to reach their goals.
As for your twisted version of American freedom. It is not just about doing a good job, getting pat in the back, and remaining an employee for the rest of their lives because it is too hard to be a boss.
It is also about keeping your self-respect and reputation intact, and to be a role model for others by being responsible. Every heard the saying, “Americans work hard and play hard”? Well, it is the quality of life that is more important to Americans than hoarding money in the bank that they will never be able to spend in this lifetime.
Why do you think American billionaires like the late the Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Charles Finley–as well as scores of wealthy Americans–have given, and will eventually give, away their money to philantrophy?
It is because these wealthy Americans have already achieve their life’s goal (worked hard), have tasted what it is like to be wealthy (played hard), and realized they will not be able to spend all their money before they die. So they give it away as a final gesture of their legacy.
How many Chinese magnates do you know of have given away most of their wealth, before they died, to help others?
Aeta
Aeta: I don’t think I’m ‘throwing your words back at you’. I thought we were having a debate, which necessarily involves referring to things that you said previously.
Anyway, to clarify, I’m contradicting your opinions about China and the US for two reasons:
1) You have a very simplistic view of both countries: I get the impression you have been to neither one. Even if you had, a short visit is not enough to let you look under the hood.
China is not populated by immoral moneygrubbers, nor is the US populated by hard-working, law-abiding folks living free and proud lives. There absolutely are differences in culture and politics, but there are far more similarities than differences. China is ahead of the game in some respects: for example, small gasoline engines are banned in several Chinese cities, something the Philippines would do well to emulate.
2) Your focus on blaming The Other (China) for something you cannot be (the US) is ultimately unhelpful and self-defeating. What matters is this: what are you going to do about it?
If you look at it that way, the major problem is this: all your smart people have left to work as OFWs. 200 years ago, The US was very similar to the Philippines: rampant corruption, a dysfunctional legal system, squabbling vested interests, and environmental mismanagement. They managed to turn that around because the ordinary American had a strong moral code inherited from Protestant Europe, a love of (or at least a respect for) learning, and a genuine desire to build a country. The ordinary Filipino has none of those things. Thus the country is doomed unless the few remaining smart people can do something about it.
The weak and the stupid have ALWAYS been exploited by the strong and the smart. You can whine about how unfair it is and look for a scapegoat, or you can become strong and smart yourself. The Chinese are opportunists, and they do (I’m afraid) look down on people they perceive as inferior. So don’t be inferior.
Aeta: my suggestion is as follows. Don’t blame The Other. The Philippines has too few homegrown leaders and innovators; they are simply drowned in the noise made by idiots. You need to welcome foreigners in simply to support you and make up the numbers. All nationalities, as long as they have something to offer.
Government knows this, of course, which is why foreigners are excluded from any legitimate economic participation. That’s why most of the foreigners who DO take a chance on the Philippines are either incredibly naive (they try to follow The Rules, and end up getting scammed and kicked out) or chancers and criminals who know how to work the system.
My suggestion would be for people like GRPs writers to lobby individual powerbrokers: the people who run fiefdoms at the BOI, DTI, DENR, BOC etc. In theory these people simply implement the law, but we all know they don’t. Half the time they don’t even follow their own rules. Get those organisations to behave, and it doesn’t really matter who is (theoretically) in charge.
marius,
You already know what I said. If you have to quote what I said, just quote; but do not repeat them in your own words. You already know what I had told you about what the Chinese are doing to the Failippines and its people; and so do other readers on this website. Just do not make it sounds like it is something you have never heard of before.
My views are not simplistic at all. I hate to shatter your misconception that I have not been around. I have lived in the U.S. for many years and traveled to China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore on numerous occasions. You said, “If the State expects them to bribe, then they will bribe. If it doesn’t, then they won’t. The history of the Chinese is mostly one of oppression under arbitrary rules. They’re used to it, and instead of moaning about it or giving up, they exploit it. Is that wrong?” That’s sounds like an “immoral moneygrubber” (your words) kind of people to me, and I see that attitude and behavior from the Chinese in the Failippines and other parts of the world.
I have never said “the US populated by hard-working, law-abiding folks living free and proud live”; however, it is the most prevalent attitude that many Americans try to emulate. Even though there is no complete freedom in any society, even in America, ‘all’ Americans are proud and thankful for their way of life and will defend it at all cost to preserve it.
“Your focus on blaming The Other (China) for something you cannot be (the US) is ultimately unhelpful and self-defeating. What matters is this: what are you going to do about it?” Here is what I am doing about it. I am letting everyone know that the Chinese are ‘also’ a part of the problem in the Failippines and not the solution. So do not allow the notion to sink in your head that the Chinese are blameless and doing everybody a big favor; they’re not. The Chinese are only in the Failippines for themselves and no one else.
“If you look at it that way, the major problem is this: all your smart people have left to work as OFWs.” Now why is that? Was is you or someone else who said that Failipinos are not as bright and industrious as the Chinese, and the reason why the Failippines is such a fucked up nation; yet, they seem to be doing all right in other countries as expats or OFWs? Sounds to me you cannot make up your mind on how you want to place the Failipinos.
Let me repeat what I had for you for the ‘nth’ times, like what I have also done in the past about the Chinese, so you will not try to throw it back in my face as another novel idea. The Failipinos are leaving as OFWs (and expats) because the Chinese and the corrupt politicians are monopolizing and oppressing them into poverty and desperation in their own land.
You know what, I am really getting tired of explaining myself, because you are just going around in circles with everything I had said about the Chinese. Here is my advice to you, William Jackson, pt, and everyone else who feel they really know what is going on. ‘Stop comparing the Failippines to America and the Chinese to Americans.’ This is a form of scapegoat tactic that many Failipinos, Chinese-Failipinos, or pure Chinese are doing in order to deflect the attention to the real problem.
I have never denied the Failipinos (my people) are fucked up. Failnoys are not proud of their indigenous tribal culture because it is too primitive for their taste. So they will beg, scratch, and covet to adopt another culture(s) to satisfy their deep-seated desire to look modern and aristocratic in everyone’s eyes. This arrogant attitude is the by-product of my people’s self-serving ways. However, do not take the hoarding Chinese out of that equation. The Chinese’s materialistic, cold-hearted nature also profligate these aristocratic and self-serving traits of my people by catering to it.
The only thing that makes the Chinese survive the hostile “cats and dogs” game they call life in the Failippines is they are united in a common goal of fleecing (raping) the wealth of the land for their own purpose, their cheap characteristic on themselves and others, and their lack of concern about what others think.
Aside from those distinct differences, the Chinese are as much to blame for why the Failippines is fucked up.
Aeta
Aeta, I’m “going around in circles” because frankly I can’t figure out what on earth you’re talking about. I rephrase your words because I’m attempting a “have I understood that correctly?” stance.
I still have no idea why you have such a problem with Chinese people. There aren’t even many of them in the Philippines. I’ve seen very few Chinese faces. 95% of the crime, corruption, and stupidity that I experience day-to-day comes from pure-blood Filipinos. Those with Chinese names are second- or third-generation; they’re as Filipino as anyone else, nevermind their genetic heritage. If they’re taking over your land, it’s probably because Filipinos don’t know what to do with it, and are mostly happy to give it away in exchange for a year’s supply of Red Horse. There’s a happy buyer and a happy seller. So what’s the problem? It’s not the Chinese buyer’s fault that the seller is clueless about the value of his assets, is it?
You honestly, really think that OFWs leave because of a 5% Chinese minority? I mean, really? Put it this way: if every person of Chinese descent were expelled tomorrow, would it put the Philippines on the fast track to development? Would the OFWs all come home? I can’t see it myself.
Right now the country has two choices: you can welcome the influence of foreigners and other cultures as a positive thing, or you can fester in your resentment until you are conquered by them. And yes, it probably will be the Chinese.
Aeta,
If your against chinese then, do not buy anything from chinese or filipino chinese.. anything made in china.. or SM or Robinson.. ok?
Marius,
I will agree with you on one thing. The Chinese you see walking around are second and third generations, are mixed with Failipino blood or other ethnicities, and are neither rich nor poor.
However, the pure Chinese you wills seldom see (if ever), are not going to walk the streets of Manila or low-end shopping malls. They are the ones who drop in and drop out, and spend most of their time in highly secured compounds or out of the country for security reasons.
Even local Chinese-Failipino magnates like Lucio Tan and Henry Sy spend most of their time outside of the Failippines. However, it does not mean these Chinese (pure or mixed) do not influence the heart and soul of this country and how it is run.
Again, for the ‘nth’ times, you’re still beating a dead horse back to life. I am not denying the Failipinos are ‘fucked up’ people, but you need to change your perspective that the Chinese are blameless when it comes to condoning the ‘fucked-up-ness’ of this country, and make them appear innocent in everyone’s eyes—including yours.
I’m blaming both the Failipinos and Chinese for the country’s problems with graft and corruption. You’re only blaming one and absolving the other.
Oh yea, I absolutely blame the OFWs’ predicament to the Chinese minority that controls the country. These Chinese elites are responsible for monopolizing the economy—through their well-bribed government officials— with their unfair trade practice of raising the prices for products and services, destroying local manufacturing industries by allowing unregulated import products to come in from China, by transforming agricultural land into ‘concrete wasteland’ of commercial properties in which they have a stake at, and by depriving the labor force of competitive salary and benefits to want to stay.
It is not a question of whether the Chinese minority is allowed to stay or expelled tomorrow, it about not giving them further opportunities to fuel graft and corruption through the bribery of local officials, and discourage other foreign companies (American and European) to do businesses in the Failippines other than call centers.
Given the above reform to the economic and political infrastructures of this country, yes, I do believe many OFWs and Failipino expats will come home and stay home.
Aeta
Chem,
Don’t worry. I don’t buy Chinese as much as I can help it. I try to support the local industries as much as possible. Thanks for the advice.
Aeta
>> Given the above reform to the economic and political infrastructures of this country, yes, I do believe many OFWs and Failipino expats will come home and stay home.
Amazing. I was trying to figure out if that’s what you actually meant.
If it’s true what you say about your leaders being easily bribed by rich Chinese nationals (non-Filipinos), it suggests that your leaders are traitors to their country. And if that’s so, you can hardly blame the Chinese for exploiting such shameless venality.
As I said, the strong will always exploit the weak. It’s unfair, but that’s the way the world is. If Filipinos do not behave like prey, then there will be no predators.
As for Filipino industry, it doesn’t exist for several reasons: appallingly low standards of education; predatory government agencies (run by Filipinos); nonsensical and timewasting rules for business; lack of cultural aspiration (low product quality) … the list is endless. If the cheap Chinese crap were removed from the shelves, it would be replaced by even more pitiful Filipino crap, or by nothing at all. Hardly a step in the right direction.
Marius,
“As for Filipino industry, it doesn’t exist for several reasons: appallingly low standards of education; predatory government agencies (run by Filipinos); nonsensical and timewasting rules for business; lack of cultural aspiration (low product quality) … the list is endless. If the cheap Chinese crap were removed from the shelves, it would be replaced by even more pitiful Filipino crap, or by nothing at all. Hardly a step in the right direction.”
Again, for the ‘nth’ times, you have never heard me say that Failipinos are people of superior qualities, the epitome of world class political and economic potentials to be reckoned with by the international community as “movers and shakers.” The only thing my people can shake and move are broom and dustpan for their foreign employers.
We Failipinos have the same peasant mentality as the Chinese, with a chameleon-like demeanor that will readily bow down to the “hands that feed them.” There are only two distinction that sets the Chinese apart from the Failipinos’ primitive mindset and warlike behavior.
The first is the Chinese’s lack of desire for aristocracy that my people are well-known for—the product of centuries-long tribal caste system and Spanish influence. The second is frugality, which on the surface might seem like an admirable trait; but when frugality leads to cheapness and begins to affect other aspects of your life in adversarial ways, then it becomes self-deprecating.
How do you improve on what you deemed as “Filipino pitiful crap,” or make room for other countries’ ‘more competitive crap,’ if the Chinese won’t remove their own “cheap crap” from the shelf? Something (or someone) has to give or those shelves full of “cheap crap” will eventually collapse within themself by their combined sheer weight.
As for the “appallingly low standard of education,” the Failippines’ educational system was, by far, much better before and during Marcos’ reign–especially with the emphasis on the efficient working knowledge of the English language—since it was fashioned after the traditional American system of developing reading and writing skills. When the Americans left in the 1992, so did the quality of education.
Today, the country’s learning institutions are managed pretty much like the Chinese “cheap crap” you see on the shelf (quantity over quality), with education coming “cheaper by the dozen” from the growing number of “for profit” private schools throughout the country, that will readily crank out degrees from their “diploma mill” machines as long as the tuition is paid. Hell, even the country’s educational system is not exempt from the Chinese’s way of doing business.
I wouldn’t say the Chinese are strong and superior predators. They may have an edge over the primitive mindset of the Failipinos when it comes to shrewdness, patience, and cheapness; but, once all the prey have been devoured–in the Failippines and throughout the world–and there is nothing left to go after, the Chinese will eventually face a much more formidable predator with no chance of escape: each other.
The world really is round–with a time and place for everything–isn’t it?
Aeta
Aeta: follow your own logic. If the Filipinos are incapable of governing themselves or providing for themselves, as you assert, then what do you expect is going to happen if your wish comes true (expulsion of those wily Chinese)?
I suggest the immediate result would be plague, famine, and social collapse. You’re talking about a Killing Fields-scale catastrophe.
You may be right. Maybe what the country needs is an enormous kick up the ass. A 50% die-off might provide that kick. Presumably the dumb and the useless would die quickest. It seems an awfully drastic solution, though.
How do you improve on what you deemed as “Filipino pitiful crap,” or make room for other countries’ ‘more competitive crap,’ if the Chinese won’t remove their own “cheap crap” from the shelf?
This makes no sense whatsoever. If the Filipino can do it cheaper and better, then let him do so. If you remove the competition from the shelves – useless, low-quality garbage that it is – then why should he even try?
My experience is that Chinese crap is on Filipino shelves for two reasons:
1) The Filipino consumer loves cheap crap. He values appearances over functionality.
2) High-quality stuff is simply not allowed in. It is either taxed or blocked outright, leading to high retail prices that nobody could afford (even if they wanted to).
3) Filipinos who want to do better are put out of business by their own government.
In other words, it’s there because the Filipino wants it there. Aeta, this is called Capitalism. It doesn’t work very well, but nobody has invented anything better. You seem to be arguing for protectionism and socialism, both of which have been proven not to work (by experiment on unfortunate populations) several times.
Learn from the mistakes of others, and don’t imagine that what failed for them is going to work for you.
Marius,
“Capitalism” you say. In the Failippines? Where do you see Capitalism in this country where manufacturing, retail, and other major and minor industries are all controlled by a few select Chinese business and political conglomerates?
You’re hallucinating if you think Capitalism is alive and well in this country; it is more like a ‘Duopolistic’ economy where only well-placed and moneyed individuals and/or cartels have the first shot of what’s gets place on the “cheap crap” shelf, which one gets taken down, or not even taken out of the box at all.
In spite of their stupidity, Failipinos can still tell the difference between the ‘good stuff’ and “cheap crap” that you’re talking about; and, regardless of your insinuation that these ‘Fliptards’ cannot afford or prefer “appearance over functionality,” know what the ‘good stuff’ is and are willing to pay for it (regardless of the cost) if it were available.
So don’t run that bogus line that the “high quality stuff are simply not allowed in.” Believe you and me, if there is money to be made, somebody will figure out a way to put the “high quality stuff” out there (legally or illegally), and there will always be a sucker to pay for it—tax or no tax included.
This is called “supply and demand,” and not just limited to a capitalistic, but also in a duopolistic-or whateveristic–economy you see the Failippines to be.
Aeta
The trouble with running the country like Hell by Filipinos (as opposed to one run like Heaven by Americans) is that the stuff that is run like Purgatory by Chinese looks so much better by comparison.
Gryphon Hall,
For now, “the stuff that is run like Purgatory by Chinese looks so much better by comparison [to Failipinos]” might appear tolerable; but, wait for ‘Judgement Day,” when these Chinese send everyone to Hell instead of Heaven—just like the hundreds of victims of the most recent Taiwan earthquake victims, whose apartment building came tumbling down because the supporting beams were filled with tin cans.
Aeta
Aeta
hey don’t discriminate the Chinese like this article that I read by Clinton Palanca: http://getrealphilippines.com/2016/02/kung-hei-fat-choi-everybody-is-sucking-up-to-china-today/
But instead let’s discriminate those commies like the Chinese Communist Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49ZGvfGOIU
Geez! That’s like saying do not discriminate between Failipino Christians and Muslims. The ideology may be different, but the way of life (aristocratic and/or self-serving) are the same.
US, China, Spain, etc…the country will be better off being ruled by someone else other than Failipinos.
And soon, the entire planet Earth will be owned by China.
Link to YouTube video
mrericx,
If that is the case, Greenpeace and other environmental, conservative, and human rights groups will be busting their asses rallying against the atrocities of China.
Aeta
Keep dreaming, the people that run the USA, run China too. Ever notice that every time Obama calls Xi Ting Ling to the White-House ,Xi Ting Ling comes running?
Kate, Volvo isn’t the only international car brand now owned by Chinese….Britain’s MG (Morris Garages) brand is also Chinese-owned.
In the field of entertainment, China is fast emerging as a profitable market for Hollywood product, that is why movies like Iron Man III, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Point Break (the remake) and even the upcoming Warcraft live-action adaptation have lucrative tie-ups with Chinese producers.
Land Rover and Jaguar are owned by Indians. So what?
I believe Peter Aloysius A. Mossesgeld is only trying to justify the Chinese’s parasitic “Bamboo Network” existence in the Failippines, and how they are bleeding the country dry of its resources.
The Chinese community in the Philippines lead a supposedly “parasitic” existence there because they can. Point being that victims are victims because they allow themselves to be victimised over a prolonged period.
Rather than compete with the Chinese community the indio community just lies on the ground throwing tantrums all year, year after year over how the Chinoys are “bleeding the country dry of its resources.”
As the venerable John Mason said in the excellent movie The Rock…
Sick men of Asia no more, the Chinese. We are Flipinos! The most gullible country on the planet.
“Losers whine about doing their best. Winners go home and fuck the Prom Queen.”
Yea, but that prom queen usually turns out to be the fat, ugly, and mean bitch years later. Things only look good on the surface.
Yes, we’ve allowed these Chinese lead a parasitic lifestyle because we Failipinos have condoned it.
So isn’t it time to boycott what these parasites are selling (television programs, movies, shopping malls, condominiums, automobiles, and etcetera) and go back to “grassroots” level of patronizing our cottage industries (locally-owned businesses) again?
It makes sense right. Kills the parasite by not feeding it.
Cottage industries. One thing about the bigger Chinese-Filipinos is that they made their cottage industries bigger. They didn’t want to stay small. Lazier Filipinos on the other hand want to stay in the cottage. You can’t expect growth or improvement from that. I’ll use Nick Joaquin’s term for it – Heritage of Smallness.
The Chinese making their “cottage industry” big through hard work and fairness is one thing; monopoly and oppression are another.
ChinoF: That’s actually a bit of the problem—how the Chinese make big business the only way to do business. Small businesses and cottage industries can thrive if they are allowed to. The thing with big businesses is that by expanding too much you have to drive everybody out of business.
In Australia, for instance, you rarely see the predominance of big chain businesses in the suburbs because there are small businesses that cater to the needs of the community. If there are any shopping districts, they grow organically.
It is, in fact, a point of pride when someone can say that their produce is sourced locally. You know that when you buy it you help a neighbour either pay for their bills or send their kid to school.
And they do the same for you. One doesn’t have to force someone to fail just to succeed. It’s not laziness to not want to expand—it’s being satisfied with what you have. And because everyone is doing it, there is hardly anyone not working. Everyone does what they can. Everyone has a fair go. It’s not so much the “heritage of smallness” so much as the “heritage of everyone having a fair piece of the pie.”
It works. It’s why Australian cities have been at the top of the most livable places for so long.
It used to be like that in my hometown of Baguio: small businesses and cottage industries meeting the needs of the community and extending outside of the city.
But with SM and big business coming in, you either watch your small business or cottage industry die (because who can compete with SM) or you’re reduced to working for someone else.
So people dreaming of aggressively expanding business do so at the expense of someone else’s dreams. By putting someone else out of business just so you can expand yours, you force these disenfranchised ones to become lazy because they find that their efforts are futile.
It is this infatuation with having to be the biggest fish in the pond that creates the issues of social disparity.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
It’s about time both Filipinos and those Chinese who happen to have Filipino citizenship realise that everyone can live symbiotically.
ChinoF, I completely agree. Filipinos are always whining that there are no jobs, but they won’t get out there and create some. In fairness, that’s because the state does not want them to: but whose fault is that? If you want things to change, don’t just take your 500P and vote for the idiot who gave it to you. Demand change. Stand outside the BIR, the BOC, and the DTI with torches and pitchforks if you have to. That, unfortunately, is the standard way a citizenry must make its feelings known.
GH: In Australia that attitude makes an awful lot of sense: long distances mean that most businesses HAVE to be local. It would make sense in the Philippines for the same reason.
Let me tell a story. My story, so bear with me.
Some time ago after I graduated from college, I couldn’t find a job to fit my training. So I went back to the job I had that helped put me through school: lay-outs and type-setting, but this time using computers (what we now call desktop publishing). Eventually, I taught myself HTML and how to make websites.
While jobs were hard to come by, I still went and got what was available. I worked for a company/internet cafe (popular back then), making the website, even compiling and editing videos for them. Eventually, I left because I wasn’t being paid a regular salary. How did they get away with that sort of insanity? Because our clients were few, so I, an employee, shared the risk of the business owner and worked long hours for no pay with the hopes of someday cashing in.
That stupidity did not last long and I eventually left (like I said).
After a stint in teaching, I went back to designing websites, teaching myself CSS. I also would edit videos and turn them into Video CDs.
Eventually, I got a client who wanted me to make a website for their business. The plan was that I create the framework first, get them to okay it, then they hire me to maintain the content.
One day, when nearing completion, my “boss” wanted me to show what I do to her nephew, because he wanted to go into the same business as me. So there I went, showing him the ropes for a few hours, with the boss encouraging him to help me however I can.
The week after that, when I “came to work” I was told that they no longer had money to pay me for the project and it had to be shelved. I was disappointed, but it happens.
A month later, I found that they not only went ahead with the project but used my prior work to complete it… but this time with the nephew as the webmaster.
To cut a long story short, I eventually found myself working in a call centre, using the only things left to me: my English-speaking skills and accent.
Now, I’m not well-to-do. My only treasure was my education and my skills. I can’t make jobs. I can’t build a business. Not without a lot of risk, and a lot of the untold story of self-made men in the Philippines is that the so-called “poor man” who made it big actually had a lot of resources to pull upon, at least to mitigate risk if nothing else.
To cut a long story short, I stopped looking for work in the Philippines, went to Australia, and have not been without a steady job since I got here.
Yes, losers do whine about doing their best because that’s what happens: they do their best and the real rulers of the country makes their best meaningless.
Now, we can blame the losers or we can blame the bullies who made them losers in the first place.
And in case anyone was curious about those two places (amongst many) where I worked: run by Chinese-Filipinos. Yes, it’s not logical to conclude all of them are like that… but it is so hard not to see them as anything other than opportunistic bullies when they behave that way.
@Gryphon Hall
Before the project started, did you sign a contract? I supposed your former employer took advantage of your lack of employment.
During the development of the website, were you paid?
That really sucks! Good thing you’re hired by a better employer.
Nonetheless, this issue happens regardless of nationality. A freelancer blogged that a freelancer shouldn’t give “free” sample to potential employer without being at least compensated.
@OnesimusUnbound: Yup, there was a contract; with the right clauses that say they can terminate at any time. I suppose I could have had a case if I brought it to court, yes. But I can’t afford legal fees; just go on to the next job.
I do admit that this happens not just because the bosses were Chinese. They just happen to be the social strata above me at the time; I suppose they have their own horror stories when it comes to those with Spanish blood (my family, on both sides, have Chinese heritage… but they made good on assimilating into Pinoyhood and, while we still used the typical Chinese honorifics with siblings we no longer speak any Chinese; and my grandmother used to feel ill-used by the Spanish meztizos who would look down on her chinky-eyed face).
I suppose my point is that we shouldn’t call a disenfranchised people losers just because they can’t duplicate what the Chinoys have done. Chinoys did what they did at a time when it was still possible; that boat has long since sailed. A poor Pinoy cannot hope to compete with a rich Chinoy when trying to raise a rival business: they will either buy you out or make you pay dearly.
The only time we can hope to get a fair shake is to go abroad. Who wants to leave their homeland? But it can’t be helped; even BAs have to eat.
@Aeta, That’s not gonna happen. Filipinos cannot even boycott an election consisting of obviously idiotic presidential candidates, what more those icy-cold malls and cool imported stuff that Chinese tycoons make available to them.
@GryphonHall: The important thing as even after all of those fails, you still got up, dusted yourself off, and tried again. The people I refer to who when quoting Mason saying they “whine about doing their best” refer to those who expect medals for that dubious “achievement” of doing “their best”.
Ultimately it’s about results, not effort. In school, kids who are natural math whizes and are able to ace tests without much of a sweat are graded using the same criteria used on average kids who have to burn midnight oil just to get a B. The test result is the only measure. There is no medal for effort.
benignO,
I, for one, have been speaking out against the unscrupulous business practices of the Chinese-Failipino in the country, but my voice has been falling on deaf ears for years. Our people are too immersed of trying to emulate the lifestyle of the elites, in their own aristocratic and self-serving way, by buying into the products and services that these”Chinoy”-owned businesses are offering.
Our primitive-thinking people are oblivious to the fact that they are fast-becoming “victims” of a ‘consumer mentality’ schemes, that were ingenously set up by the Chinese to make our people victims of “consumer mentality”–due to our own narcissism.
The “tantrums” are coming from the poorer segments of the population–who are suffering for having to shoulder the rising cost of living (inflation)–as a result of the growing “consumer mentality” of those (Balikbayans, OFWs, and tourists), who try too hard to afford to live the fashionable lifestyle of the “rich and famous” of this country.
The life in the Failippines really is a vicious cycle, and everyone (Chinese and Failipinos) are both guilty of contributing to it.
Aeta
Victims be clear, you are all volunteer’s.
@Peter Aloysius A. Mossesgeld You can largely blame the non-English-speaking market for the dearth in quality of Hollywood films these days, since those audiences enjoy the bright colours and explosions without having to pay attention to the complicated words.
That includes the Philippines. Just look at the top grossing films here every year (kids’ films and dumb rom-coms) and the quality ones that frustratingly don’t even make it to these shores because nosebleed.
Ah, Chinese New Year, something just as commercialized as Christmas, nothing new.
Chinese New Year is when the world sucks up to China today? That’s as retarded as if on Thanksgiving is when the world sucks up to the US.
At least when you suck up to the U.S., you will get something in return; it is the opposite when you suck up to China.
China is a “communist country”, but is the most capitalist country in the world. It is like the Old Silk Trade road, being revived again.
China monopolized silk, during those times. And Silk was a very expensive commodity. It was priced high , and was in demand in Europe, and in the Middle East.
China’s labor is low. And, its currency exchange is manipulated, by its government, to favor its trade…it’s products are cheap, but their quality is low, compared to Japanese, European, U.S., and other industrial countries products.
The Filipino Chinese has a field day in the Philippines, because Aquino is of Chinese ancestry. These Filipino Chinese businessmen are more interested in: retailing, wholesaling, real estate; than the industrialization of the Philippines.
888Hyden007Toro99999.99,
“The Filipino Chinese has a field day in the Philippines, because Aquino is of Chinese ancestry. These Filipino Chinese businessmen are more interested in: retailing, wholesaling, real estate; than the industrialization of the Philippines.”
You are absolutely right! The Failipino-Chinese only care about fleecing the country of its resources–with litle or no regards for the environment nor the welfare of the Failipino people. This business practice makes the Failipino-Chinese parasitic (only they benefit while the rest suffer) instead of symbiotic (everyone benefits).
These Filipino Chinese are in control of the Philippine economy. They control the exploitation of the natural resources. They control retailing/trading businesses. They even control the agricultural/rice business and
rice importation.
Ever wonder why the Land Reform Program is not enacted? To make us self sufficient in rice?
They profit in the rice importation business and rice smuggling business. And Chinese ancestry, like Aquino/Cojuangco owns large areas of agricultural lands with tenants/serfs (Filipinos), tilling the land.
I think this is some sort of slavery; like the African American slavery in the Southern states, during the slavery times in U.S. Only, we , the natives, are their slaves.
786Hyden007Toro9999.99,
“Ever wonder why the Land Reform Program is not enacted? To make us self sufficient in rice? They profit in the rice importation business and rice smuggling business. And Chinese ancestry, like Aquino/Cojuangco owns large areas of agricultural lands with tenants/serfs (Filipinos), tilling the land.”
I totally agree with you. My family and I, along with other Failipino farmers, were in the rice business for decades until we were forced out of business.
These Chinese–along with their bribed Failipino politicians–enacted the Agrarian Land Reform to control rice farming in the country, so they can start importing rice from other Asian countries.
These assholes literally bled the entire agricultural industry dry, forcing most of us to sell our land to the same assholes (Chinese or Failipino politicians), so they can turn them into housing subdivisions, shopping malls, or sit idle–without any farming going on.
The side effect of this Agragrian Land Reform, that transformed riceland into “concrete jungles,” is it also killed off the aquaculture (fish farming) industry because it blocked off natural water drainage and runoffs, causing mass flooding even in rural areas (provinces).
Tell me if that ain’t monopoly! Shit!
Aeta
I still remember a time when visiting my relatives in Tarlac that you can still see produce in the barn. You can still see farmers actually tilling the land, and eating their produce. Nobody was rich, but everyone had enough.
Then someone had the bright idea of removing the farmlands and making them all residential areas. In one fell swoop, made the ones who used to live off the land mere tenants and renters: from producers to consumers.
Where now to find money to pay for the rent? Why, work for the biggest businesses in Tarlac, of course.
In the end, all my cousins have to leave their home, one by one, to find work elsewhere. We’re all scattered across the globe. As the generation before us die off, there’s no reason to go back. Especially when you live in countries that actually treat you like humans rather than just more cheap labour.
Gryphon Hall,
The greedy, cheap Chinese businessmen and their bribed Failipino politicians did it. I know this to be a fact because my family’s farmland, along with other farmers’–were a casualty.
Aeta
786Hyden007Toro9999.99,
Its up to you if you want to break free from slavery, Singapore now is much richer than its former colonial country the British. Filipinos are still the same.. If Filipinos are intelligent, you guys can create Iphones, and sell then rather than using them only…
Aeta: what land reform? Certainly in my part of the country, there has been no land reform. There are lots of stupid bits of paper that look superficially like land titles, but there are no maps, no GIS database, no (functioning) registry of ownership, no agreement on the ground as to who owns what, and no enforcement of boundaries. Thus farmers can do nothing, even if they wanted to.
As for your family business, I can understand it must have been painful to watch that destroyed, but I honestly don’t understand why Filipinos grow so much rice. It’s a useless crop. It has no nutritional value, it’s incredibly hard to grow, and it makes no profit. The Americans subsidize their rice industry, which means nobody can compete in the world rice market. Just buy American rice already, if their government wants to give it away at below market value. Filipinos can grow something else; preferably something profitable.
happy new year folks. And f@ck the squatter its 4am they wont stop the videoke. Cant sleep! sh!t! >_<
Pilipinos ain’t liking chinese? how come chinese new year being celebrated in the Philippines?
martin,
Because the Chinese is part of our culture and is now the most influential (and monopolizing) ethnicity in the country. That’s why.
Aeta
chem:
There are laws to be enacted; or to be repealed. These laws need to be used in proper order.
Slavery in the U.S.,then, was legal. Southern states did not want to repeal it. So, there was a U.S. Civil War. U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln, enacted the “Emancipation Proclamation”, after the Northern states victory…making the Black slaves free.
A century later, Martin Luther King, Jr., fought for civil rights for blacks and minorities. It was successful, but M.L. King, Jr., was asassinated by a white supremacist.
It is the government and the political leaders jobs, to enact good laws. Repeal bad ones. Like the Land Reform Program, shelved by Aquino to protect his Hacienda Luisita. This program could get us off from Feudalism, and probably make us self sufficient in rice. But, the greed of Aquinos prevails.
I don’t think land reform is the answer. Think about this, those who are getting the land in land reform are not people with business acumen. Our agriculture industry and transportation is industry is continuously being interfered by the government. So you end up with less profitable, less productive, less successful industries.
Compared that to industries that didn’t have the same funding from the government from retail down to information tech, which is highly successful, profitable, productive. What these industries had was a different system, which attracts the best and brightest.
Free land, equal land doesn’t equate better productivity. to attract the best and brightest investors, carp needs to go down including agrarian reform. The problem is you look at the statistics, our farmers are mostly grade school, high school dropouts. Most likely with little to no business acumen. So transferring land to ateneo graduates or Wharton graduates to grade school and high school dropout wouldn’t be the answer to productivity. It is answer for equal land, not necessarily hgiher profit, higher productivity.
Imo the money meant for carp or agrarian reform would have been better for back to school programs to these farmers rather than giving land away, who has no idea how to run a business, which includes a farm.
I agree. Giving away land to poor people is literally casting pearls before swine. Anyone who wants to acquire land should be able to prove that they know what to do with it, or at least are prepared to learn what to do with it. The average Filipino farmer knows absolutely nothing about farming: 9 times out of 10, the first thing that comes to their mind upon receiving their land grant title is to sell the land and remain poor.
Question, what makes China different from the Philippines? Both countries were destroyed during War World 2/ One country decided to become united and make a promise to never depend on others for help. The other country decided to stay divided and depend on other nations for everything. China has taken a long patient hard road to become a superpower in the world. This is the same with other countries that are starting the slow climb to the top of the Asian market. Vietnam has recently stolen four major corporations from the Philippines and the companies actually increase the size of the workforce and jobs. Vietnam is where Nike shoes and the newest computer factories are now. How long till there are no companies left in the Philippines to hire workers?
William Jackson,
The Chinese are slick people. When the Japanese invaded China in World War 2, Mao Zedong and his communists rebels took to the mountain and let General Chiang Kai-shek and his soldiers drive the invaders out. Once the Japanese were out of China, Mao and his rebels drove the battle weary soldiers of General Chiang Kai-shek out of mainland China to the island of Formosa (now called Taiwan).
The same thing happened to the Failippines. The Chinese-Failipino stayed out of the fight and catered to the Americans, Failipinos, and Japanese at the same time, while waiting to see who will come out victorious. This is why you do not hear of many Chinese dying in the Failippines during World War 2. They are too slick and let someone else fight their fight for them.
The same thing is happening today. The Chinese-Failipinos are putting Failipinos against Failipinos by literally starving them out of their own country into depravity or as OFWs, so that they can have the country to themselves. It is time my dumb and primitive Failipino countrymen realize what is happening and start boycotting these Chinese investors coming into the Failippines and taking their livelihood away.
Aeta
Aeta, have you forgot your history? What about the the Bataan Death March and the Rape Of Nanking? Your facts are wrong and very misleading and insults Filipino and American War World 2 veterans. Here are the true percentages of people killed from each country during WW2 China 3.5 %, Philippines 3.29 % , USA 0.45 %, And last Japan who the USA dropped two atomic bombs on destroying two large cities in a matter of seconds is 3.75%.
William Jackson,
Now I’m curious. How in the hell did I offend the American and Failipino veterans of World War 2 with what I said about the Chinese? Please explain.
Aeta
Your qoute “The same thing happened to the Failippines. The Chinese-Failipino stayed out of the fight and catered to the Americans, Failipinos, and Japanese at the same time, while waiting to see who will come out victorious. This is why you do not hear of many Chinese dying in the Failippines during World War 2. They are too slick and let someone else fight their fight for them.” There were many Chinese-Failipino and Americans who actually fought and died here in the Philippines trying to protect it that did not go into hiding. If you consider the death toll from the Bataan death March alone the numbers are incredible.
William Jackson,
Name the Chinese-Failipinos who fought heroically and rallied his or her people to do the same.
Why are you referencing the “Bataan Death March” and “The Rape of Nanking” to support your argument that the Chinese-Failipinos had fought side-by-side with the Americans and Failipinos in the Failippines? Both citations are not even relevant to the argument.
The “Death March” was specifically about American and Failipino POWs, and “The Rape of Nanking” is the collateral damage of the Japanese invasion of China.
I’m not sure if you are aware of it, but many of these so-called atrocities that you are talking about were also committed by Koreans convicts, who were drafted by Japan to beef up their military presence throughout Asia during the war.
Aeta
Aeta, this is really scary that you do not know your country’s history. here is the name you should know by heart Brigadier General Vicente P. Lim, who was also the friend of José Rizal. The point is this simply China has always been a part of helping and defending this country until after War World 2. Chinese immigration to the the Philippines happened before War World 2. have you even read the names of the Filipinos in any of the war memorials? Also in your claim that the japanese did not commit the atrocities. Photos have disputed this claim many times as high ranking officials have been identified in the photos. Photos from back then could not be photo shop. next are you going to deny that comfort women existed also. The Philippines has a habit of turning its back on the countries that help them from China to America. This is why most of the people in these country do not care about the Philippine people in general.
From philstar
Ask the two Clowns: Aquino and Mar Roxas, about these companies folding up, and going to other countries.
See how they answer…
Here is your answer in a question. 1. Do you think that Aquino and Mar Roxas does care about you? 2. Why does everyone here look for someone to blame instead of trying to make their own fortune or future? 3. How long will you wait for your government to help you? A famous quote in America “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what can you do for your country?”
The problem, unfortunately, is that quaint Pinoy idea of patriotism. Pinoys who, for instance, refuse to let their situations put them down and go to wherever they get a fair shake (abroad, most likely) are called unpatriotic for leaving at all.
Even if all the remittances are what props the country up.
Essentially, the ones who actually do something for the country instead of waiting for the country to do something for them are ironically seen as the most unpatriotic of all.
Labels like “colonial mentality” and “mabaho pa sa malansang isda” gets thrown around liberally.
Only the well-to-do in the Philippines can afford to be patriotic in the popular sense.
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”…from U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy was mired in the Vietnam war during that time. He was calling for draft , for young Americans to fight in the war. Kennedy was also suffering from debacle of the Cuban Bay of Pigs defeat. He sent Cuban exiles, to invade Cuba; then, he abandoned them.
The Kennedy phrase does not apply to companies folding up in the Philippines; and moving elsewhere.
This is Aquino, Mar Roxas and the rest of the political leaders faults. They are mainly to blame.
555Hyden007Toro9999.99,
This is why American, Australian, and European companies are weary of opening up businesses in the Failippines–albeit “call centers” because it is run on a contractual basis, with Failipinos/Chinese as owners and American companies as international clients–because they cannot compete with the Chinese-Failipino businesses who can, and do, play dirty on their own turf that push foreign competitors out (unless the foreign companies are part of the “Bamboo Network”).
Aeta
You forget the second line of the phrase. “It is now the moment …to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return.” 1.JFK was not the first one to say the phrase. 2. he said it during his first speech as new president. He was not mired in anything yet. 3. The belief and the question is the same. What are you doing to make this country or yourself better so that you do not have to depend on the government?
OH NO THEY ARE NOT, Not everyone, and definitely NOT ME !!!
China is still the 3rd world, dont let em fool you. They’re technology sucks(get on a Motorstar Motor-cycle or one in mainland China, they fall apart as you drive downn the road) from Cars to Motorcycles to cellphones…its all crap.They still cant bulid a jet engine to use in their own air-force’s jets FFS.
the only stuff coming out of China that is any good is the stuff that is designed in the West, and the West’s Corporations have chinese slaves build it, coz they work for noodles.
Vinny, Hyden etc: Chinese EXPORTS are crap. They build it cheap and useless because that’s what bulk buyers want. The middleman simply wants to fill his 40ft container with something that looks like a product and offload it onto Wal-Mart, who will then offload it onto the unsuspecting consumer.
The LOCAL market is a bit different. It’s 80% crap. 20% of it is pretty good stuff. Not world-class, but pretty good. And yes, it has been mostly copied from the West.
Chinese are paid U.S. $1 an hour. The Average minimum wage in the U.S. is U.S. $10 an hour…
Chinese products are cheap, but the quality is very low.
China is like a large “sweat shop” for greedy U.S. businessmen. The U.S. companies, design products. Make the products be manufactured by the Chinese, accepting low pay. Then,the greedy U.S. businessmen sell them to U.S consumers, at high prices, with enormous profits.
So who’s smarter?
A) The Americans who make a killing on profits
B) The Chinese who now monopolize production
C) The Pinoys who simply buy all that A and B produce without having to toil in making them
zaxx,
I agree with “A” and “B” but disagree with “C.” “C” will work hard to get what “A” and “B” are selling—even at the cost of their country and one another. But everything boils down to who will save “C” in the end when “B” gets greedy, steps out of line, and “C” starts playing the victim. I will gurantee “B” will join the rank of “C” and also masquerade themselves as victims, until the air clears up and “A” back up and resume its spot. Then everyone recites their “ABCs” all over again.
Aeta
Zaxxs forgot answers
D. China who imports Filipino workers and pay the OFW;s half the price per hour and make profit doing nothing?
E. The Filipinos who get rid of these companies, because of the low paying wages then lets its people go work overseas as OFW’s in the same companies for half as much money as when the company was in the Philippines.
Everyone forget that 1 USD dollar a hour is 40 pesos on average. That means each person makes 400 pesos everyday. That is 2000 pesos a week. That is 8000 pesos a month without overtime working 5 days a week. That is a job many Pinoys who are jobless and OFW’s overseas would love to have here in the Philippines.
@ HT, Yes, and now its at the point in the USA that the economy is so sick and really dying that the Imports from China are coming down in price by 30-50%. It will not be much longer until there are no people to buy the Imports in the USA. That is what the Free-Trade agreements have done, wiped out the Middle-Class and the ‘Traumatized’ American workforce is now on Food-Stamps while Sam Walton’s (WALMART owner) family has gotten all the gains(alomg with the rest of the 1%) that should have gone to the Middle-Class.
Think of how great the Fails could have been had all the money siphoned off by corrupt officials and GCC directors(or even just 50% of it)? The Philippines had its chance and it blew it, the Failipino turned on each other and rather helping each other up after WW2, they stabbed each other in the back and the Oligarchs watched their fellow Failipino’s wear rags and eat shit and,did I mention: DIE?
@Aeta:
You are learning the so called , “Globalization” Effect…it does not help people. It helps big companies, have enormous profits. The Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, Filipinos, etc…are “sweat shop” workers.
If the “sweat shop” is complaining about : pays, benefits, etc…they will Move to another “sweat shop”…that is not a “pain in their asses”…
@ 888 HT 007 Yes,Glad you realize this. free-trade agreements have wiped out prosperity ‘GLOBALLY’, and its up to the 1st worlds vanquished Middle-Classes to do the deed to reverse the trend. It will not be easy.
888Hyden007Toro898989.99,
I am aware of the globalization effect; however, if the Failipinos still give an iota about saving their people, and a semblance of the Failippines as a nation from a complete domination by the Chinese, then they need to start doing something about it–instead of just bitchin’ about it–by boycotting what these hoarding Chinese businesses are offering and selling to them in the country.
Failipinos keep crying to America about the threats of Chinese invasion from the Spratly group of islands, when the real invasion has been taking place in their own backyard due to their aristocratic and self-serving way of life.
Let’s Get Real Failippines (Failipinos) about these loyalty to our country if we really mean what we preach. Otherwise, let’s just all shut the fuck up and shut this website down, because all these talks about Failipino politicians fucking up the country is only trying to “beat a dead horse back to life,” and not helping change a damn thing in the country. We’ll still be back in the same ‘Hell-Hole’ in which we started.
Aeta
It’s really pathetic how Aeta keeps shitting on the Chinese when he’s typing on a computer that is made and assembled in China unless of course he managed to scrounge up parts to build his own PINOY BRAND PC! He sure doesn’t believe in giving credit where it’s due, that much I know.
Kin,
You are going to have do better than that of invalidating my criticism of the Chinese in the Failippines. Chinese businesses are just as guilty as our corrupt politicians of making life in the country miserable, because they are the hidden forces that fuel graft and corruption.
They (Chinese-Failipinos and their Chinese cartels overseas) have the financing to remain anonymously neutral in the background, while their well-bribed Failipino politicians do the dirty work of raising the cost of living with bogus laws and policies to extract money, forcing the people out of the country to become expats and OFWs, destroying the cottage industries with their business conglomerates, and dissuading other foreign companies from directly investing in the country with news of continued political and economic scandals.
Aeta
As if no one else is incapable of doing any of that, regardless of race. Stop baiting, bro. Like I said before, you’re like Goebbels incarnate but instead of whining about the Jews manipulating business, it’s now the Chinese. Why don’t YOU do better.
Kin,
Take what I said or leave it; it really doesn’t matter. My message is for those Chinese and Failipinos whom it applies to, and, believe me, there are millions—even if they don’t want to admit it. My message will give them (even you) something to think about. Have a Nice Day.
Aeta
Kin,
I’m sorry, did I read you correctly? You’re comparing my criticism of the monopolizing Chinese to Nazi Goebbel’s prosecution of the Jews for having manipulate the world’s economy prior to World War 2.
Wow! some of us will compare irrelevant periods in history just to prove a point.
I’ll tell you what, let’s wait about 20 years from now–or perhps even less–and see if the Chinese turn out to be the persecuted Jews of World War or German Nazis that almost took over the entire Europe had they not been beaten in World War 2.
Aeta
A true gentleman is one who has set his heart upon the Way. A fellow who is ashamed merely of shabby clothing or modest meals is not even worth conversing with.