I am not saying that I can name specific foreign investors who are ready to pull out. But there must be a good number of them. This I surmise from a joint letter to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima from the heads of various foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines.
One of the frequently asked questions regarding investment scams is: Why do people continue to fall for such scams, despite numerous education or financial literacy campaigns, notices, advisories, alerts and warnings from public and private organizations as well as the media?
Entice investors with the promise of extremely high returns (ranging from a low 4 percent to a high 29 percent or even higher per month).
Filipinos have reason to face the new year bursting with hope. That is, insofar as the economy is concerned. From all indications, Asia’s best performer in 2012 is headed for another banner year.
I LIKE to describe Muslim Mindanao as a gem in the rough. I’ve already written on the region’s key assets as a prime investment area: superior agro-climatic conditions, abundant primary resources, large tracts of idle lands, and wage rates lower than elsewhere in the country. And with the Muslim majority population in Southeast Asia, the region possesses a natural edge in meeting demands for goods and services in the wider Asean market.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, it is broke. The Philippines has been the poorest performing country among its comparable neighbors over the past 30 years. There are many reasons for this, but paucity of job-creating, wealth-creating investment is certainly one of the principal ones.
In the ongoing debate over the $1-billion loan pledged by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to the International Monetary Fund, the Aquino administration has taken the view that the Philippines is part of the global community where the more stable economies are bound to help those in need. But critics point out that millions of Filipinos are mired in poverty and that $1 billion can do wonders to ease their plight. Many say that the country would be better off using the money to build roads and classrooms, or pay its debts.
With or without the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona, foreign investors would still think twice before investing in the Philippines. Our outmoded Constitution should be amended, first and foremost its provisions pertaining to some relevant economic issues that impede the full development of our country. One main culprit is the full ownership of the land by a foreign investor, which our Constitution strictly prohibits.
WITH PRESIDENT Aquino’s receding popularity, few listened to his two Independence Day speeches, one at Kawit and the other at the Luneta. A sympathetic media solely reported on, well, his “announcement” of the start of a new graft-free chapter of our nation, as if that herculean task had already been achieved. Maybe that was for [...]
Some years back, I wrote about how the economies of Thailand and the Philippines had been virtual identical twins in 1970, but have since dramatically parted ways. The numbers tell the story quite clearly. In 1970, both countries had the same populations of 36 million each, growing at the same rate of 3.1 percent per [...]
