Angelou Daniel G.

Maquinta May 19, 2020

8.) Here are the given scenarios:

A. Agriculture is the main source of employment in your home province. The government has

recently decide to develop farmlands into real estate and exclusive subdivisions in order to

attract foreign investors to the country.

Putting up an investment in a specific area has its advantages and disadvantages. In the

given scenario, let us look both on its impact to the country and the Filipinos. The advantages

are – one, a real estate investment costs a lot and that “cost” would help the economy of that

specific area and as well as the economy of the Philippines. Since the investors are foreign,

dollar would enter the country in, thus increasing our dollar exchanges which is good for the

economy.

Two, this type of investment will somehow also increase employment because these

investors will hire local workers to build the infrastructure.

Three, It will slightly decrease the dependency ratio of the country. This is connected to

the employment where in, the number of people who are working are classified as

‘economically helpful to the government’.

Four, it would also create permanent jobs in the locality after the infrastructures has

been built – owners of this real estate will look for contractual and permanent workers to run

the place such as security guards, managers, maintenance workers, lobbyist and the like. Lastly,

when the real estate property has begun its operations, investors will still add up their

investment in the form of property upgrade and increase of shares. Also, the business will pay
taxes which the government will use for their future projects and programs; which taxes is also

known as the lifeblood of the nation.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of this real estate investment are – one, the

country’s number of agricultural lands are decreased. Philippines is known as to be an agrarian

country, the sources of tice and other root crops comes from these fields, therefore the

production of these products are reduced in the locality as well as it will affect the production in

the whole country which will lead to food insecurity in the country if not monitored. If that

happens, the country is forced to import rice from other countries and the selling price of this

rice is higher compared to the local produced rice. Two, farmers will lose their jobs, fields, and

even homes because it is already bought by these foreign investors. The government should

look for other areas that the farmers and their families could be relocated. If the government

will not give support, then these farmers are forced to look for shelter and food and thus will

give rise also poverty in the locality. Lastly, the provincial life of that area is altered and can no

longer be preserved due to the new infrastructure and the future inhabitants of that

subdivision. Urban life are brought to that rural area.

B) You decided to purchase a new shirt through an online shop based on London.

Online shopping is the trend emerging today. Most people, particularly the lazy and the

busy ones tend to resort to online shopping. In online shopping, products are just one click

away, no doubt that online shopping is on top right now. However, like any other things, it has

also pros and cons. The positive ones are: one, I could securely buy this shirt if this type of shirt
is not available in our local stores. Two, this shirt may have a variety of choice to choose. Lastly,

I can save time and money from transportation and trifling expenses.

For the negative ones: One, It takes time for the shirt to arrive since it comes from

London and it passes through different ports and lines. Two, even though the shirt came from

London, I still could not assure the quality because the shopping is done online. Three, if there

are problems with the shirt, the return will surely be very hassle and costly. Lastly, the shirt can

be lost along the way of the delivery.

A simple purchase of products from other countries would help the country’s economy

but sometimes it silently damage local and domestic stores. Imports provide the country with

access to goods and services from another nation. Without imports, the country would be

limited to the goods and services within its own borders and no country can be self-sufficient.

With this simple purchase of shirt from London, local stores will might affect their income as

well as the patronage of customers to local goods.

C) The Philippine government is being pressured by the current economic crisis to import rice

from Taiwan and other nearby countries in the region.

The economic crisis that I will refer in this situation is the current global condition of the

COVID-19. This pandemic has greatly affected the economy of the country that resulted into an

economic crisis. We all know that the Philippines has still lots of agricultural fields that could

produce rice products, however, with this rising demand of this product makes an imbalance

supply and demand for this. Even though there are provinces that could support in produce rice
however, this COVID-19 crisis is driving the country's rice supply at risk. But just the other day

when President Duterte addressed the nation, he said that the government assures the

Philippine nation that there is enough supply for every Filipino. It may be in the form of

imported rice as rice production in the country at the moment is already at risk due to relief

goods being distributed to every household.  

The COVID-19 crisis is foreseen to still last longer that is why the government is already

thinking about importing rice from other countries as an alternative. Rice is a staple food of

every Filipino and rice is not allowed to be missed on the table. If there will be a rice crisis,

many Filipinos will be hungry. That is why, the Philippine government considered this option to

support the rice supply of the country. It may increase the selling price but according to the law

of supply and demand, where in there is infinitely high demand for a certain product, the price

is no longer a factor. Hence, rice importation in the Philippines is a great help to sustain the

basic need of the Filipinos.

D) A multinational corporation decided to close. Unfortunately, your father is one of its many

employees whose work has been terminated. However, he could still be employed if he were to

accept the offer to move or relocate to another country.

In our times today, having a job is very important. If this is the only option of my father

to keep his employment, then we are going to accept the deal. By accepting this arrangement,

there are opportunity costs seen in this situation – the choice of accepting this proposal already

sacrificed the chance to be with my father every day; even though my father is not in our side
physically, at least he is supporting us continuously. There will be emotional stress and

adjustment since he will no longer be with us soon but when we look at the positive side, my

father did not lose his job and he will still support us.

There are still lots of personal opportunity costs with in my family but the fact that my

father will become soon an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), he is also helping the economy of

the Philippines. It is known that OFWs are considered economic heroes of the country because

of their significant contribution towards the growth of the Philippine economy. Remittances

sent by OFWs which is my dad will do so, is accounted for of the total Gross Domestic Product

of the country. By this, my father could not only sustain our family but also the macroscopic

level of the national economy of the Philippines. Hence, It could not only sustain the household

income of the family, but it can rise the standard of living and the purchasing power of peso.

E) The global financial crisis has affected the investment funds of your mother that she can use

for her retirement.

In this situation a financial crisis refers to the asset prices see a sudden decline in value,

businesses and consumers are unable to pay their debts, and financial institutions experience

liquidity shortages. With the case of my mother, she is currently having an investment while she

is not retired. The best way to respond and adapt to this financial crisis is to stay in the

workplace for a few more years if she is still allowed to be able to earn enough money to cover
up the loss on her investment. If she is not allowed, we should learn to live less. It is not

advisable for my mom to withdraw her portfolio that is already down, this will worsen the bad

situation. One option to be also considered is to avoid the temptation to withdraw on her

portfolio for a couple of years and try to live with the same fixed income without compensating

for inflation. Those little changes can make a big difference in how long the money will last

because it keeps more capital working. Whatever the environment may be, my mother still

need to have some stocks in her portfolio for growth and to protect against inflation. By this, it

will save her investment and the current money held can be budgeted for a long period.

9. Film review: THE CORPORATION (2003 documentary)

Decades ago, corporations was relatively an insignificant entity. Today, it is an intense,

dramatic and pervasive presence in all our lives. The power of large, publicly-traded

corporations is overwhelming and deeply troubling. The directive of this type of institution is to

pursue its own self-interest — to make money for its stockholders, no matter what happens to

other people or to the world. This is determinedly direct and honest, covers an extensive range,

make you think a lot, and an innovative documentary directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer

Abbott that is based upon Joel Bakan's book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit

and Power. It was the Best Documentary winner at the Sundance Film Festival and a People's

Choice Award Winner at the Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto festivals.

corporations, a history that really begins to take off on the wings of the Industrial Revolution

and the alteration of legal definitions to provide corporations with more freedoms. The change

involves the evolution of corporations from entities formed to accomplish specific goals to the

acceptance of corporate business as "legal persons" entitled to the rights of other citizens. The

film shows how the 14th Amendment to the Constitution - the one outlawing slavery and

granting equal freedoms to all men, has been used more often than not to defend the rights of

corporate "citizens" rather than individual citizens. It is an eye-opening material, and scattered

among all the interviews with some of the usual such as Howard Zinn, Michael Moore, and

Noam Chomsky, about whom co-director Mark Achbar previously made Manufacturing

Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media; and not so usual such as Milton Friedman, various

whistle-blowers, and titans of industry.

The Corporation employs excellent portrayal of reality through its creative cinematic

way to hit its points and keep things interesting at the same time entertaining. The thrust of the

movie’s case is that corporations, if indeed they wish to be judged as legal persons, are

pathologically antisocial beings, legally bound to put their owners’ and shareholders’ interests

above the public good. They engage in psychopathic behaviors that would get ordinary

individuals tossed behind bars. Somewhere around the movie’s midpoint, the filmmakers turn

out to be caught up in their own persuasive speaking and writing techniques, and began

addressing and discussing topic that are not relevant to the main discussion about

consumerism and branding and other corporate evils. With this two-hour running time, these

side issues come across as unnecessary weight and threaten to turn off the very viewers the
filmmakers worked so hard and so ably to win over in the first place. It is a shame, because

there’s at least one great hour of filmmaking in The Corporation. The filmmakers, like the

corporations, need to learn that bigger is not always better.