I sent an email to someone based in Manhattan who's actively promoting a global Filipino investment fund for national development. Here's an excerpt:
I have always had an interest in national development issues and my school of thought is:
1. I adhere to the social economy principles of Sismondi, Polanyi, H. Daly, Marc Lutz, etc. meaning the economy must be subsumed to the interests of society;
2. This implies a hybrid economy: individuals can be the best that they can be, but they have responsibilities to the community/nation. This translates into Amitai Etzioni's communitarianism and the good society concept;
3. I am a follower of Thads Bentulan aka Streetstrategist's (formerly of Businessworld) Hypwerwage Theory. It proposes that the minimum wage of lowest worker, household helper or the katulong, should be P20,000/mo. with corresponding adjustments for other workers/staff. This is a redistribution of wealth from GOV'T (deductible as payroll taxes) and from the elite. However, businessmen should see long-term growth from significant consumer spending...
4. Here at the U. of Arizona, my professors are aware of b2bpricenow.com initiatives on m-commerce/e-commerce. B2B has partnered up with Landbank and other MFIs on OFW remittances using the extensive agri, teacher, military coop networks. His model I think is the most sustainable....
5. Philippine Postal Corporation is gearing up for a major expansion in technology and branch modernization and wants to get into the remittance game. It has no congressional budget so it swims or drowns on its own....
6. We have put money in peer-to-peer lending networks like Kiva.org (no interest, for humanitarian purposes) and Prosper.com. In kiva we have been repaid 100% so far. At Prosper, we lent at market interest rates but way below check-advance or payroll interest rates. However, we have had 30-40% loans either in delay or default. It's a steep learning curve but I believe in the peer-to-peer lending concept....
7. We recently submitted a paper for publication on the Tucson gem, mineral, and fossil showcase which is about to start here. It is the biggest in the world with 5,000 dealers...I've done many environmental impact assessments for mining firms when I was in the Philippines and my paper comments on how the Philippines should be the counterpart in asia of the Tucson gem and mineral showcase...
8. I have high hopes for Gawad Kalinga. As they organize their 7K communities (1,400 to date), they are exploring ways of how to make each community a productive economic unit, maybe following the OTOP concept (one town one product). The challenge is how to tap into and collaborate with them....organic farms/cafe/spas? tool production units? BPO manpower sourcing? GK is developing the human resources and the future consumers, so how can socially conscious enterprises assist and work with them?
9. In my visits to the Philippines in the past two summers, I have met up with old friends and new acquaintances who are exploring renewable energy projects. My cousin-in-law, an engineer with an MBA from Manchester, just converted two MBenz using used vegetable oil. He's in talks with the jeepney groups and some car enthusiasts... the Bayawan, Neg. Or. mayor is encouraging jatropha on an experimental scale.... There are opportunities for solar and hydropower projects. I think there will be no one gigantic tech cornering the market, but several small ones regionally dispersed... We should look at a holding company with our fingers in different pies...
11. The Luzon quadrangle is poised for a boom because of the expressway expansion, airport modernization, Northrail etc. Land speculation is up. Subic, I feel, is prime for a nature and science based university, comprehensive hospital, and retirement area (as some have suggested)...
12. Lastly, the Philippine's major problem is logistics. It is too expensive to ship inter-island. We need a firm who will BOT/BTO/ toll-fee/ major bridges between the major islands. Fomer Pres. FVR has called for this. Who will take up the challenge?
I have always had an interest in national development issues and my school of thought is:
1. I adhere to the social economy principles of Sismondi, Polanyi, H. Daly, Marc Lutz, etc. meaning the economy must be subsumed to the interests of society;
2. This implies a hybrid economy: individuals can be the best that they can be, but they have responsibilities to the community/nation. This translates into Amitai Etzioni's communitarianism and the good society concept;
3. I am a follower of Thads Bentulan aka Streetstrategist's (formerly of Businessworld) Hypwerwage Theory. It proposes that the minimum wage of lowest worker, household helper or the katulong, should be P20,000/mo. with corresponding adjustments for other workers/staff. This is a redistribution of wealth from GOV'T (deductible as payroll taxes) and from the elite. However, businessmen should see long-term growth from significant consumer spending...
4. Here at the U. of Arizona, my professors are aware of b2bpricenow.com initiatives on m-commerce/e-commerce. B2B has partnered up with Landbank and other MFIs on OFW remittances using the extensive agri, teacher, military coop networks. His model I think is the most sustainable....
5. Philippine Postal Corporation is gearing up for a major expansion in technology and branch modernization and wants to get into the remittance game. It has no congressional budget so it swims or drowns on its own....
6. We have put money in peer-to-peer lending networks like Kiva.org (no interest, for humanitarian purposes) and Prosper.com. In kiva we have been repaid 100% so far. At Prosper, we lent at market interest rates but way below check-advance or payroll interest rates. However, we have had 30-40% loans either in delay or default. It's a steep learning curve but I believe in the peer-to-peer lending concept....
7. We recently submitted a paper for publication on the Tucson gem, mineral, and fossil showcase which is about to start here. It is the biggest in the world with 5,000 dealers...I've done many environmental impact assessments for mining firms when I was in the Philippines and my paper comments on how the Philippines should be the counterpart in asia of the Tucson gem and mineral showcase...
8. I have high hopes for Gawad Kalinga. As they organize their 7K communities (1,400 to date), they are exploring ways of how to make each community a productive economic unit, maybe following the OTOP concept (one town one product). The challenge is how to tap into and collaborate with them....organic farms/cafe/spas? tool production units? BPO manpower sourcing? GK is developing the human resources and the future consumers, so how can socially conscious enterprises assist and work with them?
9. In my visits to the Philippines in the past two summers, I have met up with old friends and new acquaintances who are exploring renewable energy projects. My cousin-in-law, an engineer with an MBA from Manchester, just converted two MBenz using used vegetable oil. He's in talks with the jeepney groups and some car enthusiasts... the Bayawan, Neg. Or. mayor is encouraging jatropha on an experimental scale.... There are opportunities for solar and hydropower projects. I think there will be no one gigantic tech cornering the market, but several small ones regionally dispersed... We should look at a holding company with our fingers in different pies...
11. The Luzon quadrangle is poised for a boom because of the expressway expansion, airport modernization, Northrail etc. Land speculation is up. Subic, I feel, is prime for a nature and science based university, comprehensive hospital, and retirement area (as some have suggested)...
12. Lastly, the Philippine's major problem is logistics. It is too expensive to ship inter-island. We need a firm who will BOT/BTO/ toll-fee/ major bridges between the major islands. Fomer Pres. FVR has called for this. Who will take up the challenge?
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