‘PH not ready for Maharlika Fund’ – Ang
CONCERNS over funding and safeguards continue to hound the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), which the Finance department insists is needed to accelerate the country’s development.
A just-released report highlighting crucial prerequisites was welcomed by the department on Tuesday and a senior official told a forum organized by The Manila Times and the Colegio de San Juan de Letran that the government remained committed to fine-tuning the plan.
But Manila Times Chairman Emeritus Dante A. Ang, who spoke at the forum, said it was not the time to push through with the Maharlika fund.
“I hope they [the government] forget about the sovereign wealth fund. It’s not for the Filipinos and it’s not for the Philippines,” he said.
Ang added that sovereign wealth funds should be funded by surpluses, which the country does not have.
“We are even borrowing funds from various countries in order for us to move forward, making it clear that we have no surplus for the sovereign wealth fund,” he said.
Ang noted that the outcry caused by initial plans to tap pension funds for the government and the private sector, and also the profits of state-owned firms, indicated a lack of coordination and planning.
Finance Assistant Secretary Eufrocinio Bernabe Jr., who also spoke at the forum, said that while the government could technically be said to be without a surplus, state-owned institutions like Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines had a surfeit of investable funds.
“We will ensure and safeguard the security of the provisions, and will continue to improve certain areas that need to be worked on,” Bernabe said.
The Finance department, meanwhile, said it welcomed Monday’s release of a Milken Institute report that called for clear funding sources, objectives and strategies; a robust governance structure and effective operational systems; and appropriate investments and performance metrics.
The report underscored the value proposition of the Maharlika fund for both the investors and the country, the department insisted.
“The MIF will provide an op
portunity to invest in critical infrastructure projects in the logistics, telecommunications and transportation sectors. These projects will increase the future growth potential of the Philippine economy.”
Ang, meanwhile, said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. should instead focus on pressing issues.
“President Bongbong Marcos must seize the moment. He should not waste his precious political capital on so-called big projects with nice sound bites like the Maharlika Sovereign Wealth Fund,” Ang said.