Enough for these Oligarchs Who Bleed us to Penury!

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

The Philippines is an economic laggard among most of its peers at the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in snaring foreign direct investment (FDI). This is a major reasons why most of the 114 million Filipinos are poor because jobs are limited in our country. The culprit why this happened because our restrictive Constitution prohibits or allows only 40 percent of the business equities in most industries to foreigners.

Photo is internet grabbed.

As a result, investors instead go to Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia and pour their monies there because those countries allow 100 percent FDIs.

Pouring monies to build factories and offices mean jobs and better pay for the people there.

That's how logical were my premises.

To stop this senseless penury in our country, let's pressure the Senate, particularly, to expedite the passing of the bill to change to 100 percent the xenophobic economic provision of our Constitution.

Let's check and expose too how the owners of those Filipino family owned corporation pressure the Senate not to act on the bill because they're threatened with the competition the FDI will give them.

Enough for the local Oligarchs' control of our lethargic economy!

You've been enriching yourselves at the expense of our blood, enough salamabit!

The following Philippines industries below need to be changed to 100 percent investment ownership for everybody:

The 2022 Foreign Investment Negative List ( FINL) bans foreign ownership/participation in the following activities: mass media (except recording and internet businesses); small-scale mining; private security agencies; utilization of marine resources; ownership, operation, and management of cockpits (cockfight venues); manufacturing of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices; manufacturing and distribution of nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons; and manufacturing and distribution of anti-personnel mines. Foreign professionals in the following fields are allowed to practice in the Philippines if their country permits reciprocity: medicine, pharmacy, nursing, dentistry, accountancy, architecture, engineering, criminology, teaching, chemistry, environmental planning, geology, forestry, interior design, landscape architecture, and customs brokerage.

The Philippines limits foreign ownership to 40 percent in the manufacturing of explosives, firearms, and military hardware; private radio communication networks; natural resource exploration, development, and utilization (with exceptions); educational institutions (with exceptions); operation and management of public utilities; operation of commercial deep sea fishing vessels; Philippine government procurement contracts (40 percent for supply of goods and commodities); contracts for the construction and repair of locally funded public works (with some exceptions); ownership of private land; and rice and corn production and processing (with some exceptions). The amended FIA includes 100 percent foreign ownership for enterprises with a minimum paid-in capital of USD 100,000 involved in advanced technology (as determined by the Department of Science and Technology), endorsed as start-ups or start-up enablers (pursuant to the Innovative Startup Act), and where a majority of direct hires (but not less than 15 workers) are local talent. The FINL cannot change prior laws related to foreign investments, such as Constitutional provisions which bar investment in mass media, “public utilities,” and natural resource extraction (but the government has implemented policies to permit 100 percent foreign ownership of investments in renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and geothermal).