[noplacelikehome]

IMO that's a gross oversimplification which ignores the actual problem.

In my (limited) experience of the Philippines, the greatest problem is the total lack of domestic opportunity, fuelled by the view of labour as an export. It's compounded by the high cost of education which parents are expected to cover. Graduates enter a world of retail and BPO jobs because they are overqualified. There is no social mobility. There is no middle class. Folks sell their homes and what little land their families hold to afford healthcare, which a few privileged doctors build private rental empires on.

Against this backdrop Duterte's popularity appears consistent with other populist figures -- a machismo strongman claiming to execute the people's will whilst stealing from them for his own gain. Add in extrajudicial killings and increasing militarisation of the police and it's hard to see him as anything other than a tyrant.

[CMCDragonkai]

Why is there a lack of domestic opportunity? Why do they keep exporting their labour instead of focusing on internal capital investment and inviting foreign capital?

[elevation]

Domestic opportunity is limited by corruption which causes unpredictability that small business can’t plan around.

Say you’re a software developer. You already do software freelancing but you’d like to hire a friend and grow your business into your own agency. You need a couple laptops with more DDR than you can find locally, but you find a $400 model online. Officially, it will cost you $200 in import duties, but when you ship the package, it doesn’t arrives because customs employees extorts recipients with claims of under declared value or unpaid taxes, then confiscate the contents for themselves. Other packages may arrive without an issue, until you open them to find the contents have been substituted for some worthless ballast. The first time this happens the online retailer may refund you, but at some point your money is lost. If customs notices that you’ve ordered several laptops to your home address they may accuse you of running an undeclared business (which you’re not doing yet since you lack the equipment) to extort you for an order of magnitude more fees.

Or one time, your package might arrive. You can’t predict it. Which makes it impossible to save/plan, especially on a shoestring budget.

Customs corruption kills small business ambitions and upward mobility in the cradle.