Willie N Ng
HEALTHY Filipinos living abroad would have invested .4 billion here to create 1.6 million jobs but were discouraged by "poor governance.’’
That is the opinion of former Sen. Ernesto Herrera, head of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the nation’s largest labor confederation.
It is not clear in what areas the overseas Filipinos are likely to invest or why they should invest here when they live oceans away.
What we know is that there is a growing number of Filipinos living in America who send home dollars to buy houses and condos now that they enjoy dual citizenship.
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In any case, overseas Filipinos have no record of being regular investors in their homeland.
It is foreign companies which invest here. Recently, a Japanese business leader cited labor militancy here as a disincentive.
Over the years, many foreign companies have moved out. They politely refuse to talk about their labor problems.
Foreign companies may not like the frequent increases in the minimum wage, but they find these wage increases less unacceptable than labor problems.
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Good governance, as suggested by Herrera, may be good to have, but just as important are curbs on what is euphemistically called "militant unionism.’’
No businessman can get used to endless discussions of aggressive demands which may end up in threats of a strike. These are stressful and are distractions to anyone running a business.
Contrast this with comments of Filipino-Americans who come home for brief visits. They talk about the need to be punctual and to work hard in US companies which rarely go on strikes.
The wealthy overseas Filipinos who can be enticed to invest here should be made to talk about work rules and unionism in America.
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