The CARTONITE Syndrome...
It has become almost an annual cultural event to send boxes of pasalubong to our families back home. On an average, we spend $500 every year for air-cargo &/or pasalubong for things all but necessary? Dove soap, aluminum foil, detergents, shoes, even television etc etc all of which is available back home at lower prices if you know where & what to buy. But again, why buy these when cash is most useful in the Philippines?
This cartonite culture decreases the potential to pump the Philippine economy further. For example, if all of us would stop buying pasalubong & would just bring the $500 cash instead, that would translate into billions yearly that could have been used locally & pump our local economy.
By buying local products, it keeps our local industries healthy thus sustains our GDP & of course, the economy. So before you pack up those boxes, remember that our country needs cash more than celebrity cartons.
