moromoro Sp. n. stage play depicting struggle between Moros and Christians. Syn. komedya. [Panganiban 1972]
“Magmoro-moro na lang kayo,” President Marcos the Senior is said to have instructed the Tanodbayan and a Sandiganbayan justice, once upon a time. As in, just put on a show. His parting words: “Thank you for your cooperation. I know how to reciprocate.” [G.R. 72670]
Iyan mismo ang datíng sa akin ng final deliberations on, amendments to, and passage of the Senate version of the controversial Php 500 billion Maharlika Fund bill na madaliang naganap Monday and Tuesday sa Senado. Madalian din ang bicameral conference na naganap Wednesday kung saan agad-agad inaprub ng Lower House ang Upper House version “in principle — subject to style.”
Para bagang nagpalabas lang ang mga senador, a show of resistance, with pahabol “safeguards” that may or may not work, may or may not be applied, but at least they tried? What’s for certain is that the 19 didn’t have the heart to say no to the president’s “urgent” request, bahala na si Batman, ehe, si BBM. Super galing naman kasi ang timing ni presidente: he certified Maharlika as “urgent” May 25, giving the senators exactly a week to get it passed and bicammed before the senate adjourned June 2 for a 50-day break.
ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN: Do lawmakers know the exact nature of the Maharlika fund that they have approved with impressive speed?
Investors will want to know where their money will be placed. International investment banker Stephen CuUnjieng says the measure was so hastily passed that provisions allow Maharlika to function both as a national development fund and a sovereign fund that can be invested in “everything everywhere all at once.”
It clearly didn’t matter to lawmakers. Proving (again) that it’s not only the House of Representatives that is a Malacañang rubber stamp, the Senate dutifully passed the bill creating the Maharlika fund in record time. The House, no surprise there, immediately adopted the Senate version. Truly, the two chambers are as thick as thieves. [https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2023/06/02/2270795/everything-everywhere]
Salamat kay Senator Koko Pimentel for doing the research and taking the time to explain his objections in very practical terms sa turno en contra (indeed, the road to hell is paved with good intentions). His pointed questions, many left unanswered, in the interpellation of the bill’s sponsor, were also most enlightening.
Salamat din kay Senator Chiz Escudero for the amicus curiae moment, warning his colleagues that certain requirements of the Constitution re the creation of a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) such as the Maharlika Investment Fund were not fulfilled. For the public good nga ba? Economiically viable and sustainable nga ba?
Salamat na rin kay Senator Risa Hontiveros for her lone categorical NO vote, even if largely symbolic.
As for Senate Prez Migs Zubiri, I would very much like to hear him defend the MIF in Plaza Miranda, warts and safeguards and all.
DIWA GUINIGUNDO: [T]he MIF is many things. One, it is untimely; two, its method of sourcing funds could destabilize public finance and ultimately raise our national debt; three, the BSP could be compromised as an autonomous and independent monetary authority; and four, it could further worsen governance and patronage. In other words, there is a great likelihood of market failure. [https://mb.com.ph/2023/02/17/maharlika-fund-some-fundamental-issues/ ]
Under the one single fund concept, whatever public money is earmarked for the Maharlika Investment Fund and away from the national budget, the national government will have to compensate for that. And to be able to do that, the national government will have to borrow or to impose higher taxes or more taxes. There is no other way [https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/5/31/Guinigundo-diverting-public-funds-to-Maharlika.html]
ALEX MAGNO: Through all the debate, supporters of the MIF never arrived at a clear statement of purpose for setting this up. If it is to grow capital for future generations for Filipinos, then it should be primed with enough nimbleness to outwit and outmaneuver the giant institutional investors out there. It should be enabled to roam all the world’s markets scouring for the biggest returns. It must be super profitable to make it worthwhile. Then the money it accumulates from its smart operation as an institutional investor should be locked in for future generations to enjoy. In which case, it contributes nothing to our near-term development goals.
If the purpose is to serve as a source of project funding for development projects, then it must be able to offer cheaper loans than other alternatives such as official development assistance (ODA) granted by friendly entities. Remember that most ODA earn nothing but goodwill for the countries and multilateral institutions lending them out. To provide a better option for ODA borrowing, the MIF must earn nothing. [https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2023/06/01/2270657/useless]
MARENG WINNIE MONSOD. What projects are this fund going to finance? If they want to finance what’s in the Philippine Development Plan, fine. … but this fund, what are they doing? They’re going to invest in blue chip stocks? What will that contribute to development? … What they’re trying to do, in investing in bluechip stocks, is supposedly to make a profit higher than government agencies can make…. I don’t understand it. Medyo confused sila eh. Martin Romualdez is confused, talking about the stock exchange etc.
Where are we going? From one confused person to another confused person to a confused public. I mean, is that a way to pass a law? Why didn’t they make it transparent to everybody so that everybody could find out what is going on? You know. Now it’s such a well-guarded secret because they just want to pass it. Isn’t that terrible? [“Winnie Monsod: Passage of MIF strictly a political move, not an economic move” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzz68LDtT9Y]
And then, again, the 19 senators may know something the rest of us don’t know, maybe some inside info that’s particularly reassuring for their vested interests? Maybe it was as much a moromoro as it was an exercise in realpoliitik, moved by practical rather than moral considerations — a matter of political survival in this heavily toxic times? eyes on 2025 and 2028? Perhaps that’s why the whole affair smacked of suck-up politics. No doubt the prez would know to reciprocate.
BOO CHANCO: No self-respecting investment fund manager would accept an assignment with all these “safeguards” that leave little room to maneuver. Risk aversion, which is called for when dealing with public funds, is why experts were saying Maharlika is a bad fit for the government at this time. It is strange that the administration agreed to be shackled as tightly as these amendments suggest.
Maybe, the administration isn’t serious about an investment fund. Maybe it just wanted to flex its muscles. Even the Senate fell in line. Maybe they just wanted to highlight that point. That’s how to get political respect.
I heard a suggestion that the fund should be renamed Maalikaya because we are all going to get screwed.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2023/06/05/2271453/funding-maharlika
‘So much distrust naman’: Diokno defends Maharlika from UP economists
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/07/23/so-much-distrust-naman-diokno-defends-maharlika-from-up-economists
“Crony capitalism 2.0” By Van Ybiernas
… Guild concludes: It is quite unusual for the Philippines to want to maintain a sovereign wealth fund because there is no surplus needed to fund it.
Why, then, is the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hell bent on establishing a sovereign wealth fund in the form of the Maharlika Investment Fund?
Think about it, the Marcos administration has accomplished very little in its nearly one year in power. In fact, the President’s furious globe-trotting ways have hogged national and international attention this early in his term. Popular game show “Jeopardy!” even featured Marcos Jr. as a president who “has taken so many foreign trips a play on his name is ‘Ferdinand Magellan Jr’.”
Worse, according to news reports, the national government’s total outstanding debt ballooned to P13.91 trillion (as of April 2023) under Marcos Jr. Without much to show for it, Marcos Jr. managed to push debt higher by more than P1 trillion in less than a year in office. Yet, the government has focused much of its energies these past few months on pushing the Maharlika Investment Fund through Congress.
Again, why?
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno told the business community during a presentation on Feb. 24, 2023 that the Maharlika Investment Fund “is designed to promote economic development by making strategic and profitable investments in key sectors.” Diokno named examples of these “key sectors” as “public road networks, tollways, green energy, water, agro-industrial ventures and telecommunications.”
I have no doubt that Diokno is telling the truth. Still, I have a suspicious mind.
I suspect that investments will be made strategically as a very generous opportunity to primarily reward campaign contributors during the last May 2022 elections.
The beauty of investment compared to behest loans in previous iterations of crony capitalism is that investments do not need to be paid back, which was the case — in theory — with behest loans.
The sovereign wealth fund also opens the possibility for insider trading. Well-placed individuals with advanced knowledge of the Maharlika Investment Fund’s direction can play the stock market in anticipation of the fund’s future investment decisions and make a handsome profit from it all. In the local market, a robust investment amounting to billions of pesos in certain publicly listed corporations can push the value of its stock northwards. Thus, enterprising entities and individuals with advanced information can purchase stocks at low selling prices and sell high after the Maharlika Investment Fund makes its investment.
Opportunities abound for the unscrupulous equally as the unscrupulous abound.
News reports listed the following (among others) as areas where the Maharlika Investment Fund may be invested:
– Real estate and infrastructure projects
– Programs and projects on health, education, research and innovation, and other such investments that contribute to sustainable development
– Loans and guarantees to, or participation in joint ventures or consortiums with Filipino and foreign investors, whether in the majority or minority position in commercial, industrial, mining, agricultural, housing, energy, and other enterprises, which may be necessary or contributory to the economic development of the country, or important to the public interest
– Other investments with sustainable and developmental impact
I would not be surprised if a quid pro quo agreement already exists between powerful figures in the government who can influence the investment decisions of the Maharlika Investment Fund and key congressional figures whose families own corporations that can loosely qualify in the abovementioned categories for investment.
Why would I suspect such things? Well, I am a historian, the president is a Marcos, and this is the Philippines.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/06/09/opinion/columns/crony-capitalism-20/1895249