It’s time to obliterate the 60-40% rule on foreign ownership of private properties in the Philippines. We must allow foreigners to own 100% of the businesses that they will establish in the country as long as they respect our laws and civil liberties. Now, what does this have to do with Filipinos learning to dream bigger?
Start With the Strengths
In rehabilitation science, one of the most important principles in improving people’s skills and attitudes is to build on their strengths. Without a doubt, one of the best attributes of Filipinos is our hospitality, especially towards foreigners. We’re not merely polite or accommodating towards them. We truly make them feel that they are one of us. We will shell out as much as we can to give them the best foods, provide them with the best accommodations, and bring them to our country’s best tourist destinations even if we barely have money for ourselves. Moreover, we strive to adopt foreigners’ traits, beliefs, tastes, lifestyles, cultural practices, and ambitions as our own because our collective temperament is inclined towards establishing common ground with others to promote harmony.
Foreign businessmen who can compete well and respect our freedoms will introduce to us new visions and new ways of doing things. Given our kapwa psychology, we will surely welcome many of the changes that they will bring. I’m sure some foreigners will introduce destructive practices. But making them compete in a relatively freer market will increase the chances that the most beneficial businesses will thrive more than those that offer sub-par products and services. This scenario is infinitely better than the Philippines’ current situation in which oligarchs control business monopolies.
Free Market Solutions
The 60-40% rule limited foreign investments that could’ve generated great wealth for our country. Moreover, it restricted Filipinos’ exposure to bigger aspirations and more innovative approaches. The oligarchs’ tight grip on local businesses trapped Filipinos into suffering under abusive work environments that are bogged down by outdated practices. That’s because they’d rather receive poor salaries and be maltreated than become unemployed. So because Filipinos are just supposed to maintain the status quo, even the most visionary and most upright of them are struggling to bring about positive changes across different industries.
Opening the local market to foreign businesses will increase Filipinos’ vocational prospects. They’ll feel more confident to resign from toxic workplaces because there will be more opportunities to land jobs in other establishments, thus rewarding private entities that espouse better practices. The latter will hopefully either compel the mediocre businesses to improve or kill them off altogether. As they work in respectable foreign firms, Filipinos will learn new ways of seeing the world, discover more innovative processes, gain new skills, and acquire a better work ethic. In exchange, foreign businessmen will earn money and will be treated like royalty by their Filipino workers who are eager to please them.
Sensors vs Intuitives
When the study about Filipinos not having dreams came out, my initial reaction was, “Yes, we don’t have dreams! Our goal is to apply as a dishwasher in a high-income country along with one thousand other immigrants and locals who are vying for the same job — even if we have engineering degrees!”
Then I realized that my thinking was unbalanced. Not completely wrong, but lopsided anyway. The truth is, most people are not visionary, especially here in the Philippines. There is nothing wrong about not having the natural inclination to dream big. Filipinos who are not good at envisioning the future could be better at getting people, especially foreigners, to enjoy and be comfortable in the present despite the dire circumstances. That’s actually why Filipinos are very adaptable, resilient, and humorous in the face of major crises, whether they may be poverty or volcanic eruptions. Being more attuned to the present sensory world is not inferior as long as one is open to visionary people who can impart their insights for everyone’s betterment. After all, why endure crises that can be averted by foresight?
(Photo by Dion Valdez)
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