Wise guy must stay retired
In the still-evolving bill creating the MWF, the initial capitalization was slashed by more than half to just P110 billion from P275 billion.
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In the still-evolving bill creating the MWF, the initial capitalization was slashed by more than half to just P110 billion from P275 billion.
Retired associate justice Antonio Carpio tried to be funny by branding the Maharlika Wealth Fund as the Maharlika Debt Fund, saying the seed money will come from the financial resources of the government while the nation "wallows" in debt.
Carpio is exactly among the critics whom Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno referred to as firing off their mouths without first reviewing the House proposal to create the fund.
Lately, the irrepressible hypocrites have banded to bring down the House effort to create the country's first state-owned investment fund.
Among the biggest ASEAN members, only the Philippines and Thailand have yet to create a sovereign wealth fund.
Bloc members' SWFs include the Brunei Investment Agency, GIC Private Ltd of Singapore, Indonesia Investment Authority, Sentosa Development Corp, of Singapore, Staten Capital Investment Corp. of Vietnam, Temasek Holdings of Singapore and 1Malaysia Development Berhad, and the Khazanah Nasional Berhad of Malaysia.
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As a member of the ASEAN bloc, which means that it lacks the financial muscle to be in the race for development in the region.
Based on House Bill 6398, the MWF will be an investment vehicle that will draw funds that lay idle among state institutions that Carpio's jaundiced view will not be able to appreciate.
The seed fund of course will have to be contributed by government bodies such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas but the goal is to use excess state funds such as royalties from the exploitation of natural resources.
Cited as an example is the Malampaya Fund which comes from royalties from the sale of natural gas but should have been a welfare fund.
Being resourceful would help Carpio imagine the other sources of financing which are, aside from mining, the radio frequency bandwidth fee or proceeds from the auction of reclamation projects.
In Carpio's restricted view, the debt level of more than 60 percent of the gross domestic product puts the country in a "danger zone in terms of capacity to repay our debt" which according to him militates against the creation of the wealth fund.
In the still-evolving bill creating the MWF, the initial capitalization was slashed by more than half to just P110 billion from P275 billion as a result of the premature flak that came from the pretentious mob.
Proponents of the bill gave in to the noise makers and dropped the Social Security System, Government, Service Insurance System and the national budget from its fund sources.
The President of the Philippines was also replaced by the Secretary of Finance as head of the MWF's governing board.
The likes of Carpio and the former Budget Secretary Butch Abad have the obvious aim of frustrating the initiative because of the sole reason that it has the full support of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos.
By making BBM look bad in their concoction of him leading an effort to rob the treasury through the MWF, the discredited bastards wanted a political resurrection.
The MWF proposal is headed towards approval in the House but the Senate is taking its time and no counterpart bill has been filed as members of the chamber's leadership said they would wait for the final version of the House bill.
The public deserves a sober debate of the MWF, without the partisan cacophony.
