cheapskate

one thing i dislike among us filipinos is the habit of always finding cheaper goods or services.  this is just rational economic behavior. however, we do not mind whether the product we are buying is substandard or underweight. we do not care whether what we are buying are sometimes stolen goods for as long as it is good enough. we buy cellphones off the streets knowing they are stolen. or we patronize the home-based petrol dealers. the ones who sell gas in 1 liter softdrink bottles. some of them even water down the petrol in the hope of  gainign more. we know these are stolen goods yet we patronize them.
we also buy the best china phones knowing well these are imitations of known brands. we shy away from known and reliable brands because they are expensive, and prefer relatively unknown brands which could really be re-labeled. cheapskates we really are!

this sends a clear message to manufacturers to make more of substandard goods.

this is a clear message to snatchers to steal more cellphones.

this is a message to home-based dealers to sell more of stolen gas.

this is a message to steal more from each other.