Block out noise
The proposed fund is patterned after those already benefitting 49 countries, including Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and East Timor.
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Daily TribuneThe proposed fund is patterned after those already benefitting 49 countries, including Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and East Timor.
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The unrelenting critics have already concluded that the creation of the Maharlika Wealth Fund, the government's first attempt at pooling its financial resources, would be prone to corruption even before it is realized.
A possible target of the vicious attacks is the foreign groups that are keenly following the development of the fund.
European Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Lars Wittig said those with an interest in investing in the Philippines are following the issue "with great interest."
Wittig said his trade group can't give a stand on the creation of the fund yet since there are "very few details on the table."
The bill creating the MWF had hurdled the House committee on banks and financial resources and will likely get the approval of the chamber soon. There is, however, no counterpart Bill yet in the Senate, where most of the strong opposition is being waged, of course, with the partisan view oriented towards the next national polls.
Speaker Martin Romualdez and Deputy Speaker Sandro Marcos filed the proposal to create the MWF through House Bill 6398.
As soon as the bill was made public, the specter of the 1MDB that Malaysian officials allegedly pilfered was cited as the probable fate of the MWF.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said safeguards will be installed to ensure that it will be transparent and well-managed.
"We are more transparent, and there will be a governing body that is entirely separate from the government. While some Cabinet members will be part of the advisory council, they will be independent," Diokno said in saying the Malaysian experience will not be repeated,
The best argument presented thus far in favor of the fund is that it can be used to prevent the plunder of financial resources such as the Malampaya fund scam in which P900 million were suspected to have been pocketed in a racket allegedly led by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
Experts said if managed properly, the MWF can help protect the proceeds of non-renewable natural resources "in a way that avoids the most destructive impacts of political corruption."
Experts referred to the government deriving benefits from the maritime and mineral resources and the proceeds will be used to build up the MWF instead of going straight to the Treasury.
Sovereign funds are also considered internationally a defense against the "resource curse," in which countries overflowing with the bounties of nature develop slowly compared to those bereft of resources.
Proceeds from the Malampaya natural gas beefing up the fund, however, would need an amendment of the law on the use of the money received from the offshore operations.
The proposed fund is patterned after those already benefitting 49 countries, including Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and East Timor.
Under the Romualdez bill, the MWF would have a governing board, composed of nominees of the contributing state-owned firms, which would oversee the management of the fund.
The huge potential of the fund negates the unfounded brickbats being hurled against it.
Similar noises led to the derailment of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant which was the solution to energy security way ahead when the current energy shortfalls were experienced.
The government should press ahead with the MWF and ignore counter-productive loudmouths.
