Weekly Brief
What does the Philippines stand for? Reflecting on that question provides important perspective with regard to the economic challenges Filipinos face.
In review and in prospect
A lot of the chatter of late is around the perceived looming threats to the Philippine economy — the falling value of the Philippine peso, inflation, and employment prospects. The latter two are being addressed according to tradition — government dole outs, begging for foreign investment, and deploying overseas workers. The pattern persists. Much of what attracts the most debate and “activism” amongst the “politically-passionate” involves how to “protect the poor” from these threats. None of this address the ultimate root of why the Philippines remains vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of the global economy — the fact that the Philippines’ economic output is ephemeral at best. There really is no substance that backs Philippine economic output — no substantial manufacturing, no brands that command premium prices in the world market, inefficient supply chains, low agricultural yields, and very little (if any) intellectual- or design-added-value.
In short, the Philippines remains a net importer of capital in every sense of the concept. Beyond financial capital, the Philippines is impoverished in all its other forms — human, intellectual, cultural, and infrastructural. This is the reason the foreign exchange rate is top of mind amongst consumers. Just about every product and service that contributes to household costs have big imported input into their production and delivery. As such, foreign exchange rates (the value of the peso relative to other currencies) matter so much and, as such, is a top candidate for politicisation. The dishonesty in that politicisation is in ignoring the fact that what are driving the factors that put pressure on Filipino households are predominantly external and the reason Filipinos are vulnerable to external factors is because of a lack of domestic substance in their economy.
This goes back to the old existential question Filipinos need to continue to face.
What does the Philippines stand for?
Are we just a nation of poor people that require “help” owing to our being self-described victims of global circumstance? Is politics in the Philippines and the intelligentsia that inhabit it up to the job of answering that important question?
Last week’s blog posts
Marcos Jr.’s foreign policy mirrors the Philippines’ realpolitik
October 17, 2022 by The Unpopular Opinion
"...economic growth and job creation has been the primary objective of the Marcos Jr. presidency, most specially in the manufacturing sector where the country currently lags the most."
What is wrong with the Philippine Opposition?
October 13, 2022 by benign0
"And the ol’ 'helping the poor' rhetoric? Filipinos are over that as well or, more to the point, they never really did care about the poor (Filipinos walk by scenes of poverty everyday and hardly raise a fake eyebrow to express even token 'concern'). 'Concern' for the 'poor' is a mere fashion statement..."
Humanity needs to rethink its search for the Perfect World
October 12, 2022 by ChinoF
"As it is a massive lashing out against reality, Marxism, not religion, is the real 'sigh of the oppressed' and 'opium of the people,' albeit a misguided and murderous sigh."